Prof. Robert Black

Rob has taken up a role as a Professor in Systems and Software Security at the University of Manchester in October 2024 following quite a varied career across a range of different cyber roles. Rob left the UK government in 2015 after over a decade supporting the development capabilities for British and allied military and cyber operations. Since then, Rob has been a Lecturer in Information Activities at Cranfield University, part of the UK Defence Academy where he taught on the UK MoD’s Cyberspace Operations MSc. From 2020 to 2024, Rob was the Director of the UK Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge and is now Director of the UK Cyber Leaders Challenge aimed at identifying and nurturing cyber security leadership talent through encouraging the development of leadership or complementary skills. He was also Deputy Director of the UK National Cyber Deception Laboratory since its inception in 2019 to 2022, where he encouraged the development of a proactive approach to cyber defence through the use of deception techniques and other novel measures to confuse and disrupt cyber attackers. In late 2024, he launched the Global Institute for Cyber Deception aiming to continue exploring novel techniques for disrupting attackers’ behaviour with stakeholders from all corners of the globe.  He remains involved in shaping policy dialogue on issues such as national security, cyber and intelligence through his role as an Associate Programme Director at Wilton Park, part of the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. In addition to this, Rob also acts as a senior advisor to KPMG’s International Information Integrity Institute (i-4), a strategic cyber security ‘think tank’ and peer-to-peer knowledge exchange for CISOs and cyber security leaders of global corporations and acts as a Cybersecurity Events Host for RANT where he shapes and facilitates invaluable conversations between vendors and CISOs. 

At the 2024 National Cyber Awards, Rob was crowned the UK Cyber Citizen of the Year for being an “incredibly passionate cyber citizen in the UK and well respected by so many within the community, especially when advocating for the next generation of cyber security professionals coming through. Rob is a great example of high-impact leadership and role modelling with vision and impact.”