News story

Securing against the insider threat

Case study from Coventry-based Project4 Technologies Ltd who pitched their ideas at the CDE Marketplace on 5 February 2015.

• From: Centre for Defence Enterprise and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
• Published: 5 February 2015
• Last updated: 25 February 2015 — See all updates

Project4 Technologies Ltd was formed in 2014 after successfully submitting an idea to the Centre for Defence Enterprise. It is based at Coventry University and pulls together experts from academia and industry.

Project 4 at CDE Marketplace

It has received funding from CDE for 2 projects – both related to ‘insider threats’, a term used to describe attacks from within an organisation. One project is related to cyber-attacks. Following a research programme with the psychology and behavioural science faculty of Coventry University, Project4 has been able to define areas that are indicative of insider attack behavior through the monitoring of a user’s ‘digital pattern of life.’ It uses a unique algorithm, capable of processing key behaviors, to express threat in a dynamic manner.

For the second project, Project4 developed a personal learning simulator, which was initially developed to help UK forces in Afghanistan identify a potential physical insider attack. Working with the same faculty at Coventry University, Project4 found a way to identify notable behavioural cues that could be used to spot and prevent potential attacks. It has now created a personal learning simulator for use on tablet devices, which is built around a Forward Operating Base created especially for the project.

Chief Executive Officer, Matt Lewis, says:

We are truly a CDE-born organisation. Without their vision for high-risk, high-technology solutions we simply would not have been able to build our business. Today we have multiple products ready for development, we have also been able to seek out innovations from other suppliers and bring them into our business. Our vision is to become a key defence and security SME. With the support of CDE this vision has become truly possible

View the pitch presentation slides.

Centre for Defence Enterprise

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Harwell Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX11 0QX

Email cde@dstl.gov.uk

Telephone +44 (0)30 67704236

Alternative number +44 (0)30 67704237

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Published 5 February 2015
Last updated 25 February 2015 + show all updates

1. 25 February 2015

   Video added - Project 4 at CDE Marketplace

2. 10 February 2015

   Pitch presentation slides added.

3. 5 February 2015

   First published.