Airbus is a Global leader in aerospace innovation and research, including work in the area of cyber security. Airbus has teamed with Cardiff University to develop new ways of detecting cyber-attacks using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, crucially, demystifying the perceived ‘black box’ nature of AI algorithms and the decisions they make.
Cyber threats are a global issue costing the world almost £460bn a year, with businesses worldwide incurring increasing losses as a direct result of cyber attacks. With the cost of defending against these threats affecting every organisation in some way (directly or indirectly in attacks against suppliers etc), solutions that can keep pace with this evolving landscape are crucial.
Cardiff University, as a leading global institution for the development of AI applications for
automated cyber defence, are a natural partner to assist Airbus in solving this global cyber security challenge.
In 2017, the Airbus Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Analytics was formed at Cardiff University; composed of researchers from both Cardiff University and Airbus employees from across the business and the globe – to carry out world-leading studies into machine learning, data analytics, and cyber attack detection for the benefit of Airbus and the wider global community.
The partnership has been publicly referred to as a “blueprint for academia and industry collaboration”, and is respected in many circles as the go-to place for data science and AI insights on vulnerability awareness and mitigation. To date, the partnership has led to publications in world-leading journals and conferences, a strong PhD track record and attracted a grant income of over £8 million to drive the generation of cyber insights and solutions.
The partnership also includes a mutual agreement to develop industry-relevant academic programmes in cyber security, to help fill the skills gap that exists in the field.
In August 2018 Cardiff University was named an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR) by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, becoming the first institution in Wales to be awarded this status.
The ACE-CSR works across industry, academia and government to provide a focus for cyber security analytics in the UK to address emerging challenges to cyber security.
The award was granted in recognition of the internationally excellent research developed at the University over a number of years and will allow academics to feed directly into the UK Government’s strategy of making the UK more resilient to cyber attacks.
In 2021, the Cardiff University and Airbus partnership forged an enhanced Knowledge Transfer Partnership (eKTP) to enhance the adoption of automated cyber-attack detection and response capabilities, by finding and testing new ways to ‘explain’ how an AI has decided there is a malicious presence on the network to security operations experts. The eKTP aimed to reduce the cost of cyber attacks and strengthen Airbus’ leading cyber security expertise.
Part-funded through Welsh Government and Innovate UK, the eKTP funding led to a search for an individual with a particular set of skills and capabilities to tackle this particularly challenging problem. The associate Matthew Hopkins was chosen and over the last 3 years he has been integrated to work within Airbus and embed new knowledge and capability into Airbus’ frontline cyber security operations.
Associate Matthew Hopkins:
The work generated from this eKTP will further promote Wales’ reputation and the reputation of both Cardiff University and Airbus excellence in cyber security and AI.
Whilst also boosting innovation across the country, the eKTP supported its aims to set the direction and pace for cyber security research initiatives and academic research partnerships.
So far, the partnership has garnered significant attention, both with industry and politically, and is regularly held up by UK Government as a model of good practice for innovation between industry and academia, including providing written and oral evidence on the cyber threats associated with online social networks to a Home Affairs Select Committee in Westminster.
As well as ‘explaining’ the decision an AI makes, the eKTP successfully developed novel methods to test the resilience of AI methods to detect evolving cyber-attack techniques that tend to change over time, as well as resistance to attempts to ‘confuse’ the AI by manipulating the algorithms into making an incorrect decision.
The knowledge developed will underpin acceptance and uptake of AI more generally across Airbus through advancements in explainable, resilient, and secure AI.
Professor Pete Burnap - Professor of Data Science & Cybersecurity at Cardiff University, and former member of the UK Gov AI-Council, tasked with supporting the uptake and success of the UK industrial strategy in AI and data:
The aim of this project was to develop new ways to support human understanding of why an AI considers behaviours on a computer network as malicious, to support the integration of AI into daily practices in cyber defence. With such a mission-critical task at hand, there is no way AI will be adopted within it, unless people within the business can question and accept how the AI has returned a particular decision.
We’ve engaged extensively within the Airbus business, and Matt has really championed the new methods we’ve developed to explain AI decisions, and indeed to ensure there are flags raised when the AI deviates from expected behaviour. The activity has been so successful that the Airbus cyber innovation team are now involved in multiple discussions across the European Airbus footprint around securing and explaining AI beyond cyber security and into other parts of business.
This project played a vital role in ensuring the “black box” of AI is unlocked and the algorithmic decisions made by these models are made more transparent. Thus, helping to engender trust and confidence in the outcomes and increase adoption in AI-augmented cybersecurity operations.
The work derived from this project will continue to strengthen the relationship between Airbus and the University as they continue to collaborate on a wide range of activities around safe and trusted AI.