Bill Buchanan | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Born | Scotland |
| Education | PhD, Edinburgh Napier University, 1996 |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Employer | Edinburgh Napier University |
Bill Buchanan is a Scottish computer scientist. He is a professor at Edinburgh Napier University, where he leads the Blockpass ID Lab, and the Centre for Cybersecurity, IoT and Cyberphysical [1] [ non-primary source needed ] and the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Digital Trust and DLT. [2] In 2017, he received an OBE for services to cyber security [3] and was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [4]
Buchanan's work focuses on applied cryptography, blockchain, cybersecurity, citizen-focused health care and digital identity. In 2012, along with Dr Jamie Graves, he co-founded a university spin-out named Zonefox, [5] and which was aquired by Fortinet in 2018. [6] He also co-founded a university spin-out named Symphonic Trust in 2014, [7] and which aquired by Ping ID in 2020. [8]
On 6 May 2015 he launched The Cyber Academy at the Merchiston Campus of Edinburgh Napier University with a goal of "bringing together industry professionals, law enforcement and academics with a view to combining strengths to combat the growing threat of criminal use of hacking software to steal money, data and intellectual property." [9]
In November 2015, Buchanan and his team set up a fake Web site for hackers to gain access to, as part of a BBC Panorama programme. [10] In 2016, Buchanan was also included in the FutureScot list for the "50 Scottish Tech People Who Are Changing The World". [11]
In 2018 Buchanan was the lead academic on a project designed to improve the security of Internet of Things (IOT) devices. The aim was to test how vulnerable IOT devices and networks are to hacking. [12] Buchanan is the creator and sole author of the Asecuritysite.com web site. Asecuritysite was a shortlisted finalist at the Security Training Programme of the Year at the Computing Security Excellence Awards 2024. [13] On 3 December 2025, he gave evidence on the Digital Assets (Scotland) Bill [14] in the Scottish Parliament. [15]
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