4417 - Research Fellow in Secure AI for Domestic Life

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Faculty of Engineering & Science
Location:  Greenwich Campus
Salary:  £30,487 to £36,024 plus £5269 London weighting per annum
Contract Type:  Fixed Term - 11 months
Release Date:  Friday 02 February 2024
Closing Date:  Friday 16 February 2024
Interview Date:  To be confirmed
Reference:  4417

An opportunity has arisen for a researcher with software development and AI expertise to work in the EPSRC project CHAI project, which is a £2.4 Million research project led by the Centre for Sustainable Cyber Security (CS2) at the University of Greenwich, in collaboration with UCL, University of Bristol, Queen Mary University of London, and Reading University. 

When a user faces a security threat such as receiving a phishing email or visiting a watering hole website, there are often visual and behavioural cues that can raise their suspicion, and there are known cyber hygiene measures they can follow. In contrast, for AI enabled Internet of Things devices, such as those found in a smart home, this is rarely the case, because they are designed to be minimalist and seamless. CHAI's aim is to help the individual protect themselves against security risks in AI enabled environments. In AI enabled domestic life, new cyber hygiene measures need supporting by diagnostic tools that allow users to identify security attacks and appropriate training. CHAI focuses on the social housing sector, which is introducing several AI initiatives, such as housing management chatbots, building maintenance bots, and smart thermostats to tackle fuel poverty. While these initiatives can result in cost cuts and facilitate property management, residents have no control over these changes and often do not have the digital literacy to respond to security risks and breaches.

The specific research post relates to the experimental assessment of cyber security threats against AI applications and corresponding countermeasures that involve the human. Specifically, the role holder will use the results of an analysis of existing attacks on AI models that has already been carried out in the project to implement these attacks and assess which indicators of these attacks are observable by non-expert users. The principle has been shown on a small range of attacks and will next be evaluated in a more complex AI environment. This work will be carried out under the supervision of Professor George Loukas and Professor Manos Panaousis.

You will need to be a highly competent software developer with expertise in AI. 

Before applying, you may wish to contact Professor George Loukas ([email protected] ) for informal enquiries.

Should you have any recruitment related queries please contact the People Directorate Operations Team on [email protected]  

Further details of the fantastic benefits and what we offer can be found here: Our benefits - what we offer | Jobs and careers | University of Greenwich and information on the university’s working principles: Working Principles and Guidelines | Documents | University of Greenwich

To apply, please visit the University of Greenwich vacancies page and complete all details, including the supporting statements Current Vacancies - Jobs at Greenwich  

Employment Visa: Under the UK Government Points Based System scheme this role does meet the criteria to be sponsored for a Skilled Worker Route application. 

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