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Colonel Graham Fairclough (retd)

Collaborator
Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford

Graham Fairclough is a DPhil candidate in cyber security at the University of Oxford. Prior to commencing his studies, he was a career soldier in the British Army, reaching the rank of Colonel. Throughout his career he was employed on intelligence and security duties, which included operational tours in Northern Ireland, Belize, The Balkans, Iraq and Cyprus. Senior appointments included three years in the United Kingdom’s Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ), responsible for the delivery of intelligence architecture and capability in Iraq and Afghanistan during the period 2007- 2010 and as the first Chief of Staff to the United Kingdom’s Chief of Defence Intelligence between 2010 - 2013. He has served on a number of occasions in operational appointments with the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and has worked closely in a number of roles with other elements of the United Kingdom’s Intelligence Community and its international partners. Graham possesses a MSc in Knowledge Management Systems from Cranfield University and a MA in Defence Studies from Kings College, London. His DPhil research is focused upon the adoption of a strategic active cyber security posture by the United Kingdom in its National Cyber Security Strategy. Where his worked is based upon ‘elite interviews’ of members of the UK’s cyber security community. In addition, he undertakes research concerning the impact of the operational cyber environment on the future character of war, how cyber security incidents are understood by decision makers and the empowerment of non-state actors through the low-barriers of entry that exist for cyberspace. He is a Research Associate with the Changing Character of War Programme based in Oxford where he is the lead on cyber and future technology issues. He is a participant in NATO’s future Urbanisation Warfare Programme in which he provides specialist advice on the operational and tactical requirement for cyber capability and its potential employment by commanders. He is also a member of NATO’s Allied Commander Transformation (ACT)’s Innovation Team in a cyber capacity. In addition, he is a standing member of the United Kingdom’s Chief of Defence Staff Strategy Forum and an advisor to the Ministry of Defence’s Global Strategic Trends Programme