AI-Enhanced Threat Intelligence Sharing for Privacy-Preserving Analytics and Coordinated Cybercrime Response
Develop an AI-based privacy-preserving framework for sharing threat intelligence and coordinating responses to online harms and crypto crimes. Explore federated learning and secure analytics to enable cross-sector collaboration without revealing sensitive data.
AI-generated overview
Project Description
Project Overview
Online harms and crypto-enabled crimes increasingly exploit crypto payments and dark-web platforms for abuse, such as crypto sextortion, ransomware, and fraud marketplaces. Intelligence needed to counter these crimes is fragmented across sectors, and privacy and trust constraints delay information sharing. This project aims to develop a privacy-preserving intelligence-to-action framework using AI-enhanced analytics empowered by federated learning, homomorphic encryption, and blockchain to support timely, coordinated detection and response without sharing raw sensitive data.
What You Will Do
You will analyze open-source case studies, OSINT, blockchain, and dark-web data to derive crime typologies and baseline detection indicators. Semistructured interviews with law enforcement, industry, and national bodies will inform framework requirements. You will develop and evaluate a proof-of-concept federated socio-technical system that supports interoperable intelligence exchange via STIX and TAXII standards under governed workflows, ensuring auditability and lawful data handling.
Expected Outcomes
The project will deliver a federated analytic framework that enables actionable and accountable sharing of threat intelligence, facilitating coordinated disruption, victim alerts, and recovery workflows. The framework will align with UK cyber resilience strategies and governance models to promote sector-wide uptake. Assessment will focus on feasibility, actionability, governance compliance, and impact on reducing online harms and crypto crimes.
Why This Matters
This research addresses critical gaps in collaborative cybercrime disruption by enabling privacy-compliant, real-time intelligence sharing and coordinated response. It supports national cyber priorities and the UK Government Cyber Action Plan, potentially transforming how public and private entities protect against, respond to, and recover from crypto-enabled crimes and digital harm.
Entry Requirements
How to Apply
Eligibility
Supervisor Profile
Dr Asma Patel and Dr Bogdan Adamyk are researchers at Aston University's College of Business and Social Sciences focusing on cyber security innovation. Their work involves interdisciplinary approaches combining AI, privacy technologies, and governance frameworks to tackle cybercrime and online threats. They collaborate extensively with government, industry, and academic partners to drive impactful, applied research in threat intelligence sharing and cyber resilience.