Dr Francisco J. Aparicio Navarro

Dr Aparicio Navarro is an Associate Professor in Cyber Security and Programme Leader for the BSc (Hons) Digital Technology Solutions Professional Degree Apprenticeship. He is an expert in Computer Network Security and Intrusion Detection. His research has advanced the state-of-the-art of network security by developing novel unsupervised Intrusion Detection Systems, and proposing statistical approaches to integrate Contextual Information and Situational Awareness into the cyber-attack detection process. Dr Aparicio Navarro worked as a Research Associate in the defence project UDRC, collaborating with the Dstl/MoD in the development of cyber security solutions for the networked battlespace, has delivered cyber security solutions for Connected Autonomous Vehicles, in partnership with Airbus, and has researched methods to detect Advanced Persistent Threats and Multi-Stage Attacks in networked environments. He has successfully led research and commercial projects, and has experience commercialising his research outputs. Dr Aparicio Navarro has presented his research at international conferences including IEEE MILCOM and IEEE ICC, flagship conferences for the IEEE Communications Society, and has been invited speaker at multiple international workshops and symposiums in Europe, America and the Middle East.

Research Skills / Expertise:

• Penetration Testing / Ethical Hacking
• Cyber Threat Intelligence
• Incident Response
• Data Mining, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
• Context and Knowledge Representation
• Computer Networks (Routing and Switching, CCNA)
• Intrusion Detection Systems
• Cross-layer Measurements and Data Fusion
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Full list of publications in Google Scholar

Selected Publications:

J. Edwards, F. J. Aparicio-Navarro, L. Maglaras, C. Douligeris, “FFDA: A novel Four-Factor Distributed Authentication mechanism,” in Proc. of the IEEE International Conference on Cyber Security and Resilience (CSR), 2022, pp. 376-381.

D. Kosmanos,  A. Pappas, L. Maglaras, S. Moschoyiannis, F. J. Aparicio-Navarro, A. Argyriou, H. Janicke, “A vovel intrusion detection system against spoofing attacks in connected electric vehicles,” in Elsevier Array, vol. 5, no. 100013, 2020, pp. 1-11.

I. Ghafir, K. Kyriakopoulos, S. Lambotharan, F. J. Aparicio-Navarro, B. AsSadhan, H. BinSalleeh, D. M. Diab, “Hidden markov models and alert correlations for the prediction of advanced persistent threats,” in IEEE Access, vol. 7, 2019, pp. 99508-99520.

F. J. Aparicio-Navarro, K. Kyriakopoulos, I. Ghafir, S. Lambotharan, J. Chambers, “Multi-stage attack detection using contextual information,” in IEEE Military Communications Conference (MILCOM), 2018, pp. 920-925.

I. Ghafir, M. Hammoudeh, V. Prenosil, L. Han, R. Hegarty, K. Rabie, F. J. Aparicio-Navarro, “Detection of advanced persistent threat using machine-learning correlation analysis,” Elsevier Future Generation Computer Systems, vol. 89, 2018, pp. 349-359.

F. J. Aparicio-Navarro, K. Kyriakopoulos, Y. Gong, D. Parish, J. Chambers, “Using pattern-of-life as contextual information for anomaly-based intrusion detection systems,” IEEE Access, vol. 5, 2017, pp. 22177-22193.

Cyberwar: An explainer

What your smart TV knows about you – and how to stop it harvesting data

Stalkerware: What it is, how it affects you and how to keep yourself safe

Safer Wireless Charging for Connected Electric Vehicles

Cyber and AI Experts Bring Ideas to Life to Help Combat National Security Concerns

Cyber Security Academic Startup Accelerator Programme

Cybersecurity: Future Challenge & Network Defenses

Cyber Defence and Anomaly Detection in Communication Networks

Network Security, Intrusion Detection Systems, Cyber Situational Awareness, Machine Learning

BSc (Hons) Digital Technology Solutions Apprenticeship - Programme Leader

Academic Year 2024/25:

CSEC2003 - Penetration testing (BSc) - Module Leader

CSEC5003 - Malware Analysis, Penetration Testing & Incident Response (MSc)

CTEC5804 - Penetration Testing & Incident Response (MSc) - Module Leader

Previous Leadership and Teaching:

MSc Digital Technology Solutions Specialist Apprenticeship - Programme Leader

CTEC2309 - Penetration Testing - Apprenticeship (BSc) - Module Leader

CTEC2914 - Penetration testing (BSc) - Module Leader

CTEC3410 - Web Application Penetration testing (BSc) - Module Leader

CTEC3605 - Multi-Service Networks 1 (BSc)

CTEC3606 - Multi-Service Networks 2 (BSc)

CTEC5603 - Artificial Intelligence for Cyber Security  (MSc) - Module Leader

CTEC5894 - Penetration Testing & Incident Response (MSc) DL - Module Leader

Ethical Hacking - Certified Security Testing Associate (CSTA), 7Safe

Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

• SACRED: System of Automatic and Configurable Web Crawler Detection (Innovate UK) - 10001821 - (Co-Investigator)
• Installation and Configuration of Cloud-based Environment - NCSC/GCHQ - (Principal Investigator)
• INSURE: Intrusion Detection System for Public Hotspot Cyber Security  - Phase 2 (Innovate UK) - 133894  - (Principal Investigator)
• INSURE: Intrusion Detection System for Public Hotspot Cyber Security - Phase 1 (Innovate UK) - 105350  - (Principal Investigator)
• FLOURISH: Empowerment through Trusted Secure Mobility (Innovate UK & Airbus) - 102582 - (Co-Investigator)
• Signal Processing Solutions for the Networked Battlespace (Dstl & EPSRC) - EP/K014307/1 & EP/K014307/2 (Research Associate)
• Cross Layer Techniques for Intrusion Tolerant Networks (EPSRC) - EP/H005005/1 (PhD Student)

• Cyber Security Consultancy
• Penetration Testing / Ethical Hacking
• Vulnerability Assessment
• Incident Response

• Tareq Ahmad Alhajahjeh, Cyber Threats Intelligence using BRNN-LSTM Framework to Detect Abnormal Network Behaviour-Attacks (1st supervisor)
• Ademola Elijah Owaraye, Zero-Trust Security in Fog Computing (1st supervisor)

Completed PhD Supervision:

• Dr Raphael Martin Juergen Riebl, (2021) Quality of Service in Vehicular AdHoc Networks: Methodical Evaluation and Enhancements for ITS-G5

Topic Editor Team: Sensors, MDPI Journal

Guest Editor:

Special Issue  - Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: Trends, Applications and Security Challenges  - Sensors, MDPI Journal

Special Issue  - Fog/Edge Computing Cyber Security  - Sensors, MDPI Journal

Special Issue  - Innovative Authentication Methods  - Computers, MDPI Journal

Programme Committee:

Program Chair - 3rd IEEE Symposium on Software Engineering for Smart Systems (SSESS) 2019, Leicester, UK

Invited Speaker:

Armython (2024), Amman, Jordan

Workshop on Research Scoping of Security and Privacy in RAS Health and Care (2022), Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK

UK ACE-CSR National Winter School (2020), [online]

CyberASAP Demo Day (2020), Level 39, Canary Wharf, London, UK

Workshop on Machine Learning for Cyber Security (2019), Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

Faculty of Technology Research Seminar Series (2018), De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

Workshop in Cybersecurity and Future Challenges (2018), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Data Science and Signal Processing Meeting (2017), The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK

Workshop in Anomaly Detection (2016), ANII, Montevideo, Uruguay

Media and Press Comments:

BBC Radio - Interview on Bluecoat School Data Breach, 11 Nov 2022

BBC Radio - Interview on Liz Truss phone hack, 31 Oct 2022

The Guardian - Article on Smart TV users' surveillance, 30 Jan 2022

BBC Radio - Interview on Stalkeware, 06 Dec 2021