KTP Associates in Cybersecurity/Cryptography Security (Red Team & Blue Team)

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Carrying out coding and review of relevant areas of cryptography.
• Present work to external stakeholders in the form of research papers, presentations and progress reports.
• Contributing to project management with the KTP project.
• Design, evaluate and report on experimental work related to the application of cryptographic methods.
• Attending project meetings and collaborating with researchers from the Blockpass ID Lab.
• Any other duties as may be reasonably assigned by the line manager.
• Role model the University’s values & behaviours.
• Be responsible for ensuring that the information and records processed (received, used, stored, and destroyed) on behalf of the University are managed in compliance with all applicable legislation, codes and policies e.g. Data Protection, Information Security and Records Management.

Additional Duties (Blue Team)

• Develop advanced app defences using cryptographic methods (e.g., Post Quantum Cryptography and homomorphic encryption) and integrate them into new and existing Approov products.

Additional Duties (Red Team)

• Establish an Advanced Threat Testbed (based on models like MITRE ATT&CK) with an AI-driven toolchain for static and dynamic app and API interrogation. This capability allows Approov to stress-test their products in a continuous cycle, ensuring maximum resi lience against new and zero-day threats.

Experience/Qualifications

Essential

• Postgraduate qualification or 2:1 Hons Degree in a Computer Science or Engineering area.
• Experience of successful implementation of software projects, with a working knowledge of at least one programming language.
• A passion for cryptography and a core interest in implementation within new products and services.
• Good project management skills and strong levels of organisations.
• Excellent communication skills and report writing

Desirable

• Post graduate qualification in an area related to cryptography or cybersecurity.
• Experience of development in a cybersecurity area. An interest and understanding of mobile technology stacks and capabilities.
• Good knowledge of cryptography methods. Experience and interest in low-level programming for CPUs and/or GPUs.

Edinburgh Napier University are partnering with Approov Limited, a Scottish cybersecurity company that provides end-to-end mobile app and API protection, to recruit two KTP Associates in Cybersecurity/Cryptography Security, who will have the opportunity to take on essential work embedding cutting-edge academic expertise to develop a next-generation, binary-to-binary application protection framework.

There are two available posts:

• KTP Associate (Blue Team) will conduct R&D into novel protection techniques, leveraging Edinburgh Napier University’s expertise in privacy-enhancing cryptography (e.g. homomorphic encryption and post-quantum cryptography) to create a product that is uniquely resistant to tampering.
• KTP Associate (Red Team) will design and implement an Advanced Thread Testbed. This automated, AI-driven framework will continuously evaluate the Blue Team’s defences by simulating real-world attacks based on models like MITRE ATT&CK.

This duel approach ensures the creation of an industry-leading product, rigorously tested and validated in-house, securing sensitive transactions and communications for millions of mobile users.