Edinburgh Napier University

Cyber Security at Edinburgh Napier

Edinburgh Napier University has been a leading hub for cyber security research and teaching for over a decade, driving forward innovation at the forefront of this essential field.

National cyber security centre logoOur pioneering Masters was among the first of its kind in the UK, established in 2010 as MSc Advanced Security & Digital Forensics and now named MSc Cyber Security. This course is certified by the National Cyber Security Centre, and can be studied full-time, part-time or fully online. It's since been joined by our undergraduate degree, BEng Cybersecurity & Forensics.

Both our teachers and researchers are experts in the field, with years of experience and many exciting innovations created from within our walls. Gordon Russell developed LinuxZoo, a virtual lab to help with teaching, and Bill Buchanan founded the Blockpass Identity Lab, a team which focuses of areas of digital identity and cryptography.

We are one of only two Universities in Scotland recognised as a Centre of Academic Excellence for Cyber Security Education by the National Cyber Security Centre, reflecting the prestige of our courses, the impact of our outreach and the passion of our staff. In 2024, we achieved our Gold award, making us one of only 11 in the UK to do so.

We are home to the Centre for Cybersecurity, Internet of Things & Cyberphysical Systems, which produces internationally leading research and spin-outs, highlighting the way we translate research ideas into real-world difference. Our successful spin-out companies are impacting the world, from helping to detect illegal content online to sharing data securely internationally.

Our courses

As the demand for trained professionals with the expertise to enter the field of cyber security grows, our teaching has also grown to meet that need. We provide the skills and knowledge students need to succeed at different stages, and in different models, but always to the highest standard.

Our undergraduate and postgraduate courses are certified by the National Cyber Security Centre, meaning students can be sure their education will meet the standards of the industry. Our teaching is underpinned by our research and informed by external partners in law enforcement, the cyber security industry, financial institutions and other knowledge transfer activities.

Undergraduate coursesStudent at work

Postgraduate courses

Graduate apprenticeships

Facilities

At Edinburgh Napier University, we offer state-of-the-art facilities to support our cyber security students. These consist of physical spaces with powerful computers, where students meet, collaborate and learn together at our Merchiston campus. We also offer students the chance to use virtual learning environments, so students can gain hands-on skills in the latest technology in a safe and controlled space.

Virtual Learning Environments

SOCLab opening

vSoC (Virtual Security Operations Centre): Our uniquely designed Virtual Security Operations Centre (VSOC) mimics the real-life SOC environment. Through the virtualised system, students can safely identify real world risks and explore tools and techniques in scenarios including exploitation, malware, insider threats and data loss.

LinuxZoo: LinuxZoo is a unique environment developed to provide temporary virtualised infrastructure including servers, networks, and desktop machines on demand to students. Users gain access to a set of virtual computers and networks dedicated to that user, which are built dynamically as required. This is like a hands-on traditional computer lab, where resource is allocated to each user for the duration of a lab session, but here the resource from the user’s viewpoint is completely cloud-based.

On Campus spaces

SOCLab: The Security Operations Centre Lab facility (SOCLab) is a training and teaching facility, located at our Merchiston campus. It incorporates real world security operations using playbooks, incident response, and many other areas relevant to industry and law enforcement.

C27 CyberLab: The Cyber Lab on our Merchiston campus has 50 computers available for students to use. It is used as a teaching space, and a general hub for cyber security students to carry out practical learning activities, either in a group or individually.

Pavlos Papadopoulos in front of the True Deploy logo

Research

Edinburgh Napier University is the top Scottish modern university for both research power and research impact, with 68% of our research assessed as 'internationally excellent' or 'world leading' in the Research Excellence Framework in 2021. Our research in the field of cyber security contributed significantly to these results.

See some examples of how our cutting-edge research projects are impacting the real world and transforming lives.

Centre for Cybersecurity, Internet of Things & Cyberphysical Systems

We translate research ideas into real-world difference in our Centre for Cybersecurity, IoT & Cyberphysical Systems, producing internationally-leading research and spin-outs that make an impact.

Our Staff

At Edinburgh Napier University our faculty includes award-winning professionals and leading researchers who are at the forefront of cybersecurity innovation.

Bill Buchanan

Bill was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2017, the first person in the UK to receive an award for Services to Cyber Security. In 2024, Bill was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). His main research focus is applied cryptography, digital privacy/trust and digital identity. His work has led to many patents and highly successful spin-out companies like Zonefox, Symphonic and Cyacomb.

Bill Buchanan

Bill was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2017, the first person in the UK to receive an award for Services to Cyber Security. In 2024, Bill was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). His main research focus is applied cryptography, digital privacy/trust and digital identity. His work has led to many patents and highly successful spin-out companies like Zonefox, Symphonic and Cyacomb.

Dr Petra Leimich

Petra leads the Graduate Apprenticeship MSc in Cyber Security, is a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and an active researcher. Her growing reputation in the area of cloud forensics led to an invitation to speak at the ScotSecure Summit in 2020. Her research focuses on Digital Forensic Triage, Big Data, Cloud and Distributed Systems Forensics and Incident Response (IR).

Dr Petra Leimich

Petra leads the Graduate Apprenticeship MSc in Cyber Security, is a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and an active researcher. Her growing reputation in the area of cloud forensics led to an invitation to speak at the ScotSecure Summit in 2020. Her research focuses on Digital Forensic Triage, Big Data, Cloud and Distributed Systems Forensics and Incident Response (IR).

Dr Gordon Russell

Gordon has been involved with the development of our cyber security degrees, in particular the online MSc Cyber Security. His research investigates decrypting messages using keys extracted from active virtual machines, forensic triage techniques to improve the speed of forensics analysis, and detecting cyber attacks on industrial systems including public water supplies.

Dr Gordon Russell

Gordon has been involved with the development of our cyber security degrees, in particular the online MSc Cyber Security. His research investigates decrypting messages using keys extracted from active virtual machines, forensic triage techniques to improve the speed of forensics analysis, and detecting cyber attacks on industrial systems including public water supplies.

Dr Nick Pitropakis

Nick is a core member of the Blockpass Identity Lab, with a strong research background in attacks against machine learning. His research interests include adversarial machine learning, trust and privacy using distributed ledger technology, advanced cyber attack attribution, and data science applied to cyber security and IoT device security.

Dr Nick Pitropakis

Nick is a core member of the Blockpass Identity Lab, with a strong research background in attacks against machine learning. His research interests include adversarial machine learning, trust and privacy using distributed ledger technology, advanced cyber attack attribution, and data science applied to cyber security and IoT device security.

Rich Macfarlane

Rich has been working in the areas of cyber security and digital forensics since 2009. Rich played a key role in the creation and development of the GCHQ certified MSc Cyber Security and leading the course from 2014. He has worked on developing online teaching platforms which provide students with virtualised practical learning environments, such as vSOC.

Rich Macfarlane

Rich has been working in the areas of cyber security and digital forensics since 2009. Rich played a key role in the creation and development of the GCHQ certified MSc Cyber Security and leading the course from 2014. He has worked on developing online teaching platforms which provide students with virtualised practical learning environments, such as vSOC.

Audience at a SOC eventTalks & Events

We are a thriving community of cyber security professional and students, with a broad network spanning the industry. We therefore host a range of events, from getting world-renowned experts on our campus to share their unique perspectives with our students, to sharing the world of cyber security and its many challenges and opportunities with schools.

We host annual events like expert talks, summer workshops, Christmas lectures, and Cyber Scotland Connect (CSC), featuring industry and academic speakers. These events provide excellent networking opportunities, enhance employment prospects, enrich teaching, and foster research collaborations. Successful projects, including KTP initiatives, real-world research, and student internships have emerged from these events.

Guest lectures

For both our undergraduate and postgraduate students, we invite some of the world’s leading figures in Cyber Security to give talks about key issues and the future of the industry. Some prestigious speakers from the last few years include:

Bruce Schneier

American cryptographer, computer security professional, privacy specialist, and writer. Bruce spoke on understanding privacy and trust in the digital age, exploring encryption concepts such as Public Key Encryption and RSA, analysing the impact of automation and complexity on cybersecurity, and real-world examples of security failures.

Bruce Schneier

American cryptographer, computer security professional, privacy specialist, and writer. Bruce spoke on understanding privacy and trust in the digital age, exploring encryption concepts such as Public Key Encryption and RSA, analysing the impact of automation and complexity on cybersecurity, and real-world examples of security failures.

Whitfield Diffie

One of the greatest Computer Scientists ever. Whitfield (with Marty Hellman) was one of the first to propose the usage of public key encryption and co-created the Diffie-Hellman (DH) key exchange method. Diffie-Hellman method is still used in most every Web connection. In 2015, Whitfield was awarded the ACM Turing Prize, the Nobel Prize equivalent in Computer Science.

Whitfield Diffie

One of the greatest Computer Scientists ever. Whitfield (with Marty Hellman) was one of the first to propose the usage of public key encryption and co-created the Diffie-Hellman (DH) key exchange method. Diffie-Hellman method is still used in most every Web connection. In 2015, Whitfield was awarded the ACM Turing Prize, the Nobel Prize equivalent in Computer Science.

Troy Hunt

World-leading cyber security professional, Troy explored his career and passion for cyber security. He created and runs website, Have I Been Pwned?, which details some of the most significant data breaches on the Internet. He has also developed security tools, such as ASafaWeb, which automated the security analysis of ASP.NET Web sites.

Troy Hunt

World-leading cyber security professional, Troy explored his career and passion for cyber security. He created and runs website, Have I Been Pwned?, which details some of the most significant data breaches on the Internet. He has also developed security tools, such as ASafaWeb, which automated the security analysis of ASP.NET Web sites.