John (‘JC’) Chapman

 

john.g.chapman@bristol.ac.uk

Year 3 Student – 2021 Intake – Cohort 3

I have wide experience, having completed a full career in the Royal Air Force as a pilot, retiring as a group captain; then 12 years with Dell Corporation, finishing as Chief Information Security Officer for their UK Public Sector.  My academic background includes a BSc in Pure Maths/Computing Science, a BA in theoretical physics/cosmology, an MA in International Defence Studies and an MSc in the Design of Information Systems; I am also a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional).  My PhD thesis is investigating the potential effects on Smart Cities from the emergent capabilities of Quantum Computing, and how possible increases in Smart City cybersecurity vulnerabilities may be mitigated. 

PhD Project

Cybersecurity Considerations for the Implementation of Quantum Technologies in Smart Cities

Smart Cities (SC), or Connected Places (CP) in UK Government terms, promise to deliver many benefits for its citizens; however, strengthening and maintaining cyber resilience within the technological systems that underpin the SC services is crucial. Although this has been recognised for some years, and mechanisms to protect SC infrastructures have been proposed, Quantum Computing (QC) capabilities may provide methods to undermine, or even circumvent, such protection mechanisms.

This thesis will assess what emergent QC capabilities are likely to threaten the cybersecurity of SC and propose new or enhanced methods to mitigate prioritised threats. To do this the thesis will: 1) Review the technical and data enterprise architectural frameworks of SC and the current techniques offered to mitigate cybersecurity threats against their underlying CIS infrastructure and data repositories; 2) Provide a quantitative assessment of QC as a capability, in systems engineering terms, identifying what services, relevant to SC cybersecurity vulnerabilities, QC is likely to deliver, with what level of assurance and in what time frame; 3) Provide a threat analysis and highlight those areas/technologies of SC that are likely to be most at risk from emergent QC capabilities; and 4) Propose potential new or enhanced solutions to mitigate identified QC cybersecurity threats to SC.

Supervisor: Professor Theo Tryfonas (Bristol)

Events Attended

  • UK National Quantum Technologies Showcase, London, 11 Nov 22.
  • Conference: Responsible Quantum Technologies, 6-7 Dec 22; Karlsruhe, Germany (online)
  • techUK online webinar: "Quantum Computing in Energy & Utilities", 26 Jan 23
  • Bristol Quantum Information Technologies Workshop; 24-27 Apr 23
  • Online seminar: "Responsible Quantum Technologies in Switzerland"; 22 May 23
  • Online seminar: University of Kent Institute of Cyber Security for Society; 25 May 23
  • Workshop: Creating Smart Cities with Edge Strategy - sponsors: Intel & Dell Corporation; 29 Jun 23
  • Conference: Responsible Quantum Technologies, 27-28 Jul 23, Karlsruhe, Germany (online)
  • Presentation at conference on Quantum Sensing, Delft University, The Netherlands; 4-6 Oct 23
Academic and Industry Placements (Year 1)

Industry Placement: National Cyber Security Centre, Paper entitled "Reference Architectures for Smart Cities - An International Review". Jun-Aug 2022


Academic Placement: Sana Belguith, Paper entitled: "Data Protection Regulations and the RTBF in an AI/ML Context". Jun 2022

Studies completed as part of PhD thesis
  • MIT Course: "Introduction to Quantum Computing"; 23 Jan to 20 Feb 23
  • MIT Course: "Quantum Algorithms for Cybersecurity, Chemistry and Optimisation", 27 Feb to 28 Mar 23
  • Coursera / IGLUS: "Smart Cities": Aug - Oct 23
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