Dr Kay Atefi

Dr Kay Atefi is the Program Director and Lecturer in Cyber Security within the School of Computer Science at the University of Hull. He leads the University of Hull Cyber Security programme (BSc & MSc), designing and developing Cyber Security modules, overseeing programme quality, student experience, and industry-relevant curriculum development. He is also a member of the Dependable Intelligent Systems (DEIS) Research Centre at the University of Hull, led by Professor Yiannis Papadopoulos, a foremost international expert on the safety of computer systems, including AI and intelligent systems, who has led a research group on Dependable Intelligent Systems for over 25 years. Dr Kay Atefi has extensive expertise spanning Cyber Security, digital forensics, ethical hacking, and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven anomaly detection. His career seamlessly bridges the gap between enterprise security operations and cutting-edge academic scholarship.

Prior to his appointment at Hull, Dr Kay Atefi established a formidable track record across higher education and senior industrial leadership. He recently served as a Research Fellow in Machine Learning and Cyber Security, where he spearheaded critical research into the vulnerabilities of machine learning models trained on sensitive data within Trusted Research Environments (TREs). His industrial portfolio includes senior executive roles, including Director of Research and Development, where he led enterprise-scale vulnerability mitigation, established robust identity management frameworks for IoT environments, and designed technology-driven ventures across the healthcare, automation, and real-estate sectors.

Dr Kay Atefi earned his PhD in Cyber Security, specialising in the optimisation of AI-based Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS). An internationally recognised scholar, he has published extensive peer-reviewed research in leading IEEE venues and international journals covering adversarial attacks, Cyber Security, and software transparency. Beyond his research and academic leadership, Dr Kay Atefi serves as a prolific scientific reviewer for over thirty prestigious international IEEE symposia and global computer science journals.