- A307, 22 Portland Square, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
- +44 1752 586305
- kimberly.tam@plymouth.ac.uk

Profiles
Dr Kimberly Tam
Lecturer in Cyber Security
School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
Biography
Biography
I am currently a lecturer in cybersecurity and researching maritime cybersecurity around ship IT/OT/IoT security, port security, autonomous vessels, and offshore structures (e.g. renewable energy). I still continue to do some research on smartphone security through my master students.
Qualifications
- Ph.D. (2016) in Information Security, Royal Holloway University of London, UK
- B.S. (2012) in Computer and System Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA
- 2017-2019. Research Fellow University of Plymouth in Maritime Cyber Security
- 2015-2017. Research Engineer, Security and Manageability Lab, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Bristol, UK
- Summer 2014. Research Engineering Intern. Malware Lab, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Bristol, UK
- Summer 2012. Cyber Security Intern. MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts, USA
- Summer 2011. Cyber Security Researcher. James A Clark, Univeristy of Maryland, Maryland, USA
- Summer 2010. Engineering Intern. Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, USA
Professional membership
Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (PGCAP/PDAP 2019)
Teaching
Teaching
Teaching interests
Research
Research
Research interests
I am interested in many of the "newer" niche areas of cybersecurity. My PhD was focused around smartphone security (Android) and my current research is on maritime, which broadly includes IT, OT, and human elements. I enjoy working with other disciplines outside of computting including (but not limited to), maritime, psychology, history, statistics, gaming, robotics, and (homomorphic) cryptography.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamk3/
Research degrees awarded to supervised students
Currently supervising 7 Research Fellows / Research Asssistants across four projects, and seven PhD students (2 international). As of 2022, 3 RF/RAs have moved on to new and exciting opportunities. I've had three visiting researchers from China, Turkey, and Norway, and I've hosted summer work experience stays.
Grants & contracts
Cyber-MAR will develop simulation environment for maritime logistics, combining a knowledge-based platform and decision support tool, incorporating novel risk analysis and econometric models. 13 Maritime logistics organizations will increase cyber-awareness and validate their business continuity management in a 6 Million Euro Project of which 650K Euro will go to Plymouth. I am a named Co-I on this project. (3 RAs + 1 Project Admin Assistant)
RED Cyber-SHIP LabPublications
Publications
Key publications
Kimberly Tam, Kemedi Moara-Nkwe, Kevin Jones "A Conceptual Cyber-Risk Assessment of Port Infastructure" World of Shipping Portugal, An International Research Conference on Maritime Affairs 2020
SK Dash, G Suarez-Tangil, S Khan, K Tam, M Ahmadi, J Kinder, Droidscribe: Classifying android malware based on runtime behavior 2016 IEEE Security and Privacy Workshops (SPW), 252-261
Kimberly Tam, Kevin D Jones " A Cyber-Security Review of Emerging Technology in the Maritime Industry " International Conference of Maritime Science & Technology NAŠE MORE 2019/10/17
Enhanced Transparency: Improving Maritime Cyber Governance. R Hopcraft, K Tam, K Moara-Nkwe, K Jones. MARESEC 2021.
The Development of a Cyber Safety Culture. R Hopcraft, K Tam, K Moara-Nkwe, K Jones. ErgoSHIP 2021
Key publications are highlighted
JournalsTam K, Jones K. "Situational Awareness: Examining Factors that Affect Cyber-Risks in the Maritime Sector" International Journal On Cyber Situational Awareness (IJCSA). 2019 ISSN: (Print) 2057-2182 ISSN: (Online) 2057-2182 DOI: 10.22619/IJCSA
Tam K, Jones K. "MaCRA: A Model-Based Framework for Maritime Cyber-Risk Assessment", WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, 2019. DOI:10.1007/s13437-019-00162-2
Tam K, Jones K. "Maritime cybersecurity policy: the scope and impact of evolving technology on international shipping". Journal of Cyber Policy, Accepted 03 Aug 2018, Published online: 29 Aug 2018 DOI:10.1080/23738871.2018.1513053
Kimberly Tam, Ali Feizollah, Nor Badrul Anuar, Rosli Salleh, and Lorenzo Cavallaro. "The Evolution of Android Malware and Android Analysis Techniques". ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 49(4), 2017. DOI: 10.1145/3017427
K Tam, N Edwards, L Cavallaro "Detecting Android malware using memory image forensics" Engineering Secure Software and Systems (ESSoS) Doctoral Symposium 2015 [ResearchGate]
[Thesis] Analysis and Classification of Android Malware 2016 [ResearchGate]
Personal
Personal
Reports & invited lectures
Department of International Trade (DIT) Marine Cyber Security Demo, Cyber-SHIP, 2nd March 2022
UK Marine Autonomous Systems Regulatory Working Group Meeting Jan 2022: https://app.swapcard.com/event/maritime-autonomous-systems-regulatory-conference-2022
Supergen ORE research group chat: Cyber security in Critical National Infrastructure Nov 8th
Cyber-SHIP 2021 Annual Symposium Oct 21&22, organiser but also speaker for 2 panels.
MRS (Maritime Risk Symposium) 2021 International programme committee and speaker
DefCon Hack the Sea. August 21 2021. https://hackthesea.org/schedule-2021/
WEBINAR: Naval Autonomy, AI and Human Factors. July 15th 2021. https://www.imarest.org/events/category/webinar-naval-autonomy-ai-and-human-factors
Emerging Challenges in Cybersecurity (BCS) June 24th 2021, https://community.computingatschool.org.uk/events/9265
Cyber-SHIP lab Research Festival June 2021: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/plymouth-research-festival/2021-cyber-ship-lab
NATO ASW Conference April 2021
Where port security meets cyber security (Riviera) August 4 2020. https://www.rivieramm.com/webinar-library/cyber-security/where-port-security-meets--cyber--security
"Digital perils and risks at sea" The Insurance Institute of London (Old Library, Lloyd's) 04 February 2020.
Marine Tech Expo 2018. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/marine-tech-expo-day-1-summary-chris-girdlestone
Tam K, 6th Annual Industrial Control Cybersecurity Europe, London October 2019, panel.
Presented at the UK embassy in Athens Greece on maritime cyber-security [Hellenic Shipping News link] March 2019
Maritime Cyber Threats and Awareness Symposium, CyMar London 2 November 2018
Identifying Cyber-Threats, Devonport Naval Base Engineering & Science Forum, June 2018
Jones K, Tam K. UK Security Expo 2017, Maritime & Transport security Conference. November 2017Conferences organised
Maritime Cyber Threats and Awareness Symposium, CyMar London 2 November 2018