Director
Max Smeets is the Director of the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative and a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. He is the author of ‘No Shortcuts: Why States Struggle to Develop a Military Cyber-Force’(Oxford University Press & Hurst, 2022) and published widely on cyber statecraft, strategy and risk. Max was previously a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at Stanford University CISAC and a College Lecturer at Keble College, University of Oxford. He has also held research and fellowship positions at New America, Columbia University SIPA, Sciences Po CERI, and NATO CCD COE. Before his academic career, Max worked in finance in London and Amsterdam.
Senior Researcher
Jakob Bund is a Senior Researcher in Cyber Conflict and Statecraft at ECCRI. Jakob is also an Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), where he serves as threat intelligence liaison in the build-up of the European Repository of Cyber Incidents (EuRepoC). His research focuses on evolutions in state responses to malicious cyber activity. Until 2022, he headed the Cyberdefense Project at the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich, advising the Office of Cyberdefense Policy at the Swiss Department of Defense. Previously, Jakob worked as researcher at the University of Oxford and the EU Institute for Security Studies, assessing the inclusive development of cybersecurity strategies for the British Foreign Office and the World Bank and supporting the EU’s track-two dialogues with strategic partners.
Content Manager
Arthur Laudrain is the Content Manager at ECCRI. He is also a DPhil candidate in Cybersecurity at the University of Oxford (Wolfson College). His research investigates why and how democracies respond to cyber-enabled foreign electoral interference. His work is supported by UK Research & Innovation and The Rotary Foundation. Before joining the University of Oxford, Arthur gained first-hand experience of international security in government and think-tanks (IISS, ETH Zurich). He has published articles in outlets such as Lawfare, BBC Science Focus, NATO CyCon US and Revue Défense Nationale, and is an expert contributor at Oxford Analytica. He received a Master of Arts from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and a Master of Laws from Leiden Law School.
Fellowship Manager
Sally Daultrey is the Fellowship Manager at ECCRI. She is a UK-trained research analyst with 19 years’ experience in science diplomacy and global research collaboration (2003 – 2015), geopolitical risk analysis and research on cyber threat intelligence sharing (2013 – 2023). She has worked with universities, companies and international organisations in 17 countries including the US, the UK, Central Asia, Australia, India and Singapore. Her research methods draw upon international relations theory, intelligence analysis, systems theory and security studies.
Project Manager
H.P. Gia Nguyen (Boro) is a PhD Candidate in the Department of International Relations at the University of Sussex. He holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford and a BSocSci in International Relations and Peace Studies from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan. Boro is also a Doctoral Tutor in the Department of International Relations and the School of Global Studies.
Board Members
Dennis Broeders is Full Professor of Global Security and Technology at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs of Leiden University. He is also Senior Fellow of The Hague Program on International Cyber Security and project coordinator of EU Cyber Direct. His research and teaching broadly focuses on the interaction between international security, technology and policy, with specific areas of interest in global security, international cyber security governance, and emerging technologies.
Frédérick Douzet is Professor of Geopolitics at the University of Paris 8, director of the French Institute of Geopolitics research team (IFG Lab) and director of the Centre for Geopolitics of the Datasphere (GEODE). She is a Commissioner of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (cyberstability.org) and is a member of the French Defense Ethics Committee since January 2020. In 2017, she was part of the drafting committee for the Strategic Review of Defense and National Security.
Myriam Dunn Cavelty is a senior lecturer for security studies and deputy for research and teaching at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. She studied International Relations, History, and International Law at the University of Zurich. She was a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies (Brown University) in 2007 and fellow at the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung in Berlin, Germany 2010–2011. Her research focuses on the politics of risk and uncertainty in security politics and changing conceptions of (inter-)national security due to cyber issues (cyber-security, cyber-war, critical infrastructure protection) in specific. In addition to her teaching, research and publishing activities, she advises governments, international institutions and companies in the areas of cyber security, cyber warfare, critical infrastructure protection, risk analysis and strategic foresight.
Jason Healey is a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs specializing in cyber conflict, competition and cooperation. Prior to this, he was the founding director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative of the Atlantic Council where he remains a Senior Fellow. Jason has unique experience working on issues of cyber conflict and security spanning fifteen years across the public and private sectors. As Director for Cyber Infrastructure Protection at the White House from 2003 to 2005, he helped advise the President and coordinated US efforts to secure US cyberspace and critical infrastructure. He has worked twice for Goldman Sachs, first to anchor their team for responding to cyber attacks and later, as an executive director in Hong Kong to manage Asia-wide business continuity and create the bank’s regional crisis management capabilities. Starting his career in the United States Air Force, Jason earned two Meritorious Service Medals for his early work in cyber operations at Headquarters Air Force at the Pentagon and as a plankholder (founding member) of the Joint Task Force – Computer Network Defense, the world’s first joint cyber warfighting unit. He has degrees from the United States Air Force Academy (Political Science), Johns Hopkins University (Liberal Arts) and James Madison University (Information Security).
Monica Kaminska is co-founder of ECCRI. Monica is an Assistant Professor at The Hague Program on International Cyber Security at Leiden University – Institute of Security and Global Affairs. She holds a PhD in Cyber Security from the University of Oxford, an MPhil in Geographical Research from the University of Cambridge, and a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics. Monica’s research examines international cyber conflict, particularly states’ responses to hostile cyber operations.
Previously, at Oxford, Monica was a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Technology and Global Affairs, where she coordinated the work of the Cyber Studies Programme, and served as an expert contributor for Oxford Analytica. Monica is also part of ECCRI’s Big Cyber Ideas Festival management team.
Lucas Kello is Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford. He serves as Senior Lecturer/Director of the Centre for Technology and Global Affairs, a major research initiative exploring the impact of modern technology on international relations, government, and society. He is also co-Director of the interdisciplinary Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security at the Department of Computer Science. His publications include The Virtual Weapon and International Order (Yale University Press), “The Meaning of the Cyber Revolution: Perils to Theory and Statecraft” in International Security, and “Security” in The Oxford Companion to International Relations (Oxford University Press).
Christian-Marc Lifländer serves as the senior cyber policy official of NATO’s International Staff. As head of the Cyber Defence Section, he is responsible for leading the development and implementation of cyber defence policy across NATO. Before joining NATO, Mr. Lifländer held executive and senior advisory level positions within the Estonian Ministry of Defence, including Acting Deputy Undersecretary for Defence Policy, Director of Policy Planning, and Adviser to the Minister of Defence. Mr. Lifländer also served as a Defence Counselor at the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in the United States and as a Defence Counselor at the Delegation of the Republic of Estonia to NATO. Mr. Lifländer received a direct commission in the Estonian Defense Forces (Infantry) and has been awarded the Estonian Defence Forces Distinguished Service Decoration as well as Distinguished Service Decorations of the Estonian Ministry of Defence. Mr. Lifländer received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering from the United States Military Academy, West Point. He received his Master of Arts in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies (CSS) in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
James Shires is co-founder of ECCRI and Senior Fellow at Chatham House. He was previously an Assistant Professor in Cybersecurity Governance at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, University of Leiden. He is a Fellow with The Hague Program on International Cyber Security and the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council. He has written widely on issues of cybersecurity and international politics, including cybersecurity expertise, digital authoritarianism, spyware regulation, and hack-and-leak operations. He is the author of The Politics of Cybersecurity in the Middle East (Hurst/Oxford University Press 2021).
Tim Stevens is Reader in International Security at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London and head of the KCL Cyber Security Research Group. He has researched and published widely on cybersecurity politics, policy and strategy and is presently researching the political economy of cyber risk management. Tim is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Senior Fellow and Associate Researcher at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Cnam), Paris. He is also Senior Academic Fellow at the UK Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security and visiting professor at UNED, Madrid. His latest book is What is Cybersecurity For? (Bristol University Press, 2023).
Big Cyber Ideas Festival Management (2022 edition)
Taylor Grossman is a Senior Researcher in the Cyberdefence Project with the Risk and Resilience Team at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. Prior to joining CSS, Taylor was a Senior Research Analyst and Project Manager in the Cyber Policy Initiative at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., where her work focused on capacity-building and financial inclusion. She has also held roles in research at the Hoover Institution and in consulting at a small firm in Silicon Valley. Her other research interests include cyber norm development, ethics of war, and bureaucratic politics in national security decision making. She holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford and a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University.
Lena Riecke is a PhD candidate at Leiden University’s Institute of Security and Global Affairs. Her research focuses on the governance of dual-use cyber surveillance technologies –viz., spyware– and is situated at the intersection of law, intelligence studies, and cybersecurity. She holds a BA in Law from the University of Cambridge as well as a LLM in Public International Law from Leiden University.
Organizers previous BCIF editions:
Jamie Collier is a Cyber Threat Intelligence Consultant at FireEye. He was previously the Cyber Threat Intelligence Team Lead at Digital Shadows and has completed a PhD in Cyber Security at the University of Oxford, where he remains active as a Research Affiliate with the Centre for Technology and Global Affairs. Jamie is also on the leadership team of the non-profit information security publication SecJuice. Jamie was previously based at MIT as a Cyber Security Fulbright Scholar and has previous work experience with the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Oxford Analytica, and PwC India.
Florian J. Egloff (DPhil Oxford) is a Senior Researcher in Cybersecurity at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. His research focuses on the politics of cyber security, particularly with regard to intelligence policy and the role of non- and semi-state actors in cyber security. Florian is also a Research Associate at the Centre for Technology and Global Affairs at the University of Oxford. Florian’s current research projects focus on the politics of public attribution, the role of non- and semi-state actors in cyber security, and the use of cyber intrusions for political purposes. In addition to his teaching and research activities, Florian provides strategic consultancy, expert advice, and training, including on cyber foreign policy, attribution, and cyber security, to public and private sector entities.
Robert Gorwa is a fellow at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) in Berlin and a DPhil Candidate in the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford. He works on platform governance, content moderation, and other transnational digital policy challenges, and has held research positions and fellowships looking at these issues at the WZB Berlin Social Science Centre, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the Oxford Internet Institute, Stanford University’s Project on Democracy and the Internet, and the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. His academic work has recently appeared in Information, Communication & Society, Big Data & Society, and Internet Policy Review, as well as popular outlets like the Los Angeles Review of Books and WIRED Magazine UK
Cyber Security Seminar Chairs
Lennart Maschmeyer is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto and an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford. Lennart’s research examines the subversive nature of cyber power, and the parallels between the operational mechanisms and strategic value of cyber operations compared to covert operations. His other research interests include the role of non-state actors in cyber conflict, specifically private threat intelligence providers. Lennart is the founder co-chair of the FIRST Threat Intel Coalition SIG, an initiative to assist vulnerable civil society organizations in preventing, detecting and mitigating cyber attacks.
Lilly Pijnenburg Muller is a PhD candidate at the War Studies Department at King’s College London and co-coordinator of the Cyber Security Research Group. In addition, she is an Associate Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). Lilly previously worked as a James Martin Fellow at the Global Cyber Security Capacity Building Centre (GCSCC) at the University of Oxford.
PARTNERS
