Dr Fauzia Idrees Abro

Director MSc Information Security and Director of Distance Learning Programme at Royal Holloway, University of London

Dr Fauzia Idrees Abro’s interest in cybersecurity was sparked when she chose a project on cellular mobile security using a scrambling technique while studying for her Bachelor of

Engineering (Electronics & Communications

Engineering) degree at Pakistan’s Mehran University of Engineering and Technology.

That was in 1995 and the project won her the Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Pakistan (IEEEP) Gold Medal. This at a time when, Dr Abro says, “cybersecurity was still evolving and not many people were sure about its future.”

Nonetheless, she pursued her passion, researching different cybersecurity topics and undertaking formal education in Information Security: a master’s degree in cryptology and information security from Pakistan’s National University of Sciences and Technology and a PhD in information security engineering from City, University of London.

Her passion for cybersecurity grew while working in the military and with it grew another passion: spreading cyber awareness and advocating about its importance. She says her current role as director of postgraduate degrees in cyber/information security at Royal Holloway, University of London, gives her a platform to reach out to the wider community to extend cybersecurity education and skills.

She says the most rewarding aspect of her role is “being able to contribute to developing a force of future cybersecurity experts to protect our increasingly vulnerable digital world.”

And similar considerations would be the dominant factor in any future role. Dr Abro says her main consideration in deciding to accept a role would be that it would be “in a world-recognised academic institute where I can contribute to designing and delivering cyber education on par with the current market challenges.” She adds: “I would like to play a role in preparing the cyber experts of the future who can protect our digital world from malicious attacks.”

These future cyber experts will face some new and significant challenges, Dr Abro says. “The most significant cyber security development over the next two years will be the extended use of AI for offensive and defensive security. I think quantum computing will also bring a paradigm shift in the current threat landscape.”

www.linkedin.com/in/fiabro