Cyber Threat Laboratory

A warning sign superimposed on top of red binary code

With the growth of the Internet and billions of connected devices, opportunities are greater than ever for sophisticated and targeted attacks. Gaining an understanding of how attackers operate is crucial in the prevention of further compromise and exploitation. The Cyber Threat Laboratory is an environment built in partnership with Lancaster University which grants unparalleled insight into the emerging threat landscape as it unfolds.

Fujitsu Enterprise & Cyber Security and Security Lancaster have partnered to create a flexible research facility that enables threat analysis and identification of sophisticated attacks to be tested.

The Cyber Threat Laboratory hosted at Lancaster University is designed to provide a collaborative platform that allows analysis of threats and behaviour to take place, in a safe and controlled environment.

The laboratory provides centralised infrastructure enabling multiple projects and experiments operating simultaneously inside the lab to benefit from mature industry-standard tools. Comparable to any research with unknown volatile outcomes, experiments into cyber threats and malware also needs to be handled in a controlled environment with appropriate safeguards and equipment. Lancaster University with industry input from Fujitsu is now able to offer this to its users through the Cyber Threat Laboratory.

Image of Lab set-up

The Lab

The laboratory consists of multiple inter-connected components which provide a framework for projects to analyse vast amounts of malicious data garnered by myriad sources. This data proves fruitful in understanding the manner in which attackers operate and will ultimately be used in the prevention of such attacks. The method in which the data is retrieved and how this is dissected is dependent upon each experiment’s procedure. This allows a wide range of possible techniques which benefit from a shared infrastructure that promotes collaboration.

Various experiments have been conducted in the Cyber Threat Laboratory and many more have been offered as part of academic research such as undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral thesis proposals. Not only does this foster interest in the security field for young students, but it also benefits the laboratory as a whole by contributing additional data to consider.

accordion

Future Work

The Cyber Threat Laboratory aims to act as the facilitator for various cyber threat intelligence frameworks that can adjust over particular stakeholder scenarios. The Laboratory conducts innovative experiments to gather novel data relating to emerging threat actors. This data is intrinsic to the creation of countermeasures that provide a safeguard against sophisticated attacks that would otherwise wreak havoc among enterprise systems. This perpetual back and forth battle between malware authors and defence architects means that efforts in prevention have to be constant and rigorous, considering all available data.

Our Team

Loading People

Publications & Projects

View Publications

View Projects

KTP in Threat Intelligence Analytical Software
12/08/2019 → 11/08/2021
Research

SL: KTP: Xyone Ltd
12/08/2019 → 04/03/2021
Research

Pozibot: Quantum-secured remote monitoring and data logging technology that enables a dynamic insured warranty for battery packs
01/03/2019 → 31/05/2021
Research

Large-Scale Cloud Resource Allocation
01/02/2019 → 31/01/2020
Consultancy

Contact Us

By post

Cyber Threat Lab (Dr Angelos Marnerides)
InfoLab21
Lancaster University
Lancaster
United Kingdom
LA1 4WA

By phone

+44 (0)1524 510310

By email

cyberthreatlab@lancaster.ac.uk

If you would like to collaborate or find out more about the Cyber Threat Lab or have a general query, please use the form below. 

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

Your details

Lancaster University will hold and use the information which you supply in line with our privacy policy. This will be used to contact you in response to your enquiry. We would also like to send you information that is relevant to your enquiry. Please tick here if you would like to hear from us:

Don’t worry, if you change your mind at a later time, please let us know by emailing us at and we will remove/change your information.

Find Us