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Project

The Hybrid Cyber Range (HCR) Project

Unit(s) of assessment: Computer Science and Informatics

Research theme(s): Digital, Technology and Creative

School: School of Science and Technology

A Cyber Range is an environment that enables organisations to replicate, in full or in part, any IT or OT infrastructure to offer a wide variety of uses (cyber combat training simulation, development, testing, benchmarking, and validation of system & network solutions)

Hybrid Cyber Range is a powerful tool to replicate existing information systems, to test and develop abilities such as:

  • Pen-testing
  • Network protection
  • System hardening
  • Incident response
  • TTPs (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures)

HCR Objectives

Our project intends to deliver multiple benefits against a business-as-usual counterfactual, including:

  • Improved cyber resilience – our colleagues will be better prepared to deal with cyber incidents, reducing the potential impact to customers and saving money in downtime costs.
  • Reduced training costs – By providing the training scenarios and cyber-attack plans the cost of training will be reduced through in-house solutions.
  • Reduced Risk – Improved cybersecurity measures reduce the risk and impact of service disruptions. Our project aids in minimising these potential impacts.
  • Increased confidence in new technologies – we can share information on operational performance of new technologies with other organisations within the sector, reducing the overall cost and effort of validating new devices and systems.
  • Best practice sharing – network and system solutions shown effective in other organisations can be tested by organisations in a controlled environment to increase trust in solution.
  • More effective colleagues – with more applied training, our colleagues will be better able to respond to threats and deal with incidents.

Industrial Partner and Funder: Northern PowerGrid

Northern Powergrid logo

Northern Powergrid manage the electricity network that powers everyday life for more than 8 million people across 3.9 million homes and businesses in the Northeast, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

Company Website:  www.northernpowergrid.com

HCR Expectations

Establishing a Hybrid Cyber Range – That is representative of our systems and easily adaptable to simulate new systems and attack scenarios that will deliver:

  • Greater in-house capability – to provide cyber security through colleagues whose skills have been developed to meet our needs.
  • Improved Regulatory compliance – we will be able to demonstrate our commitment and activity to improve security in relation to the NIS regulation.
  • Training packages e.g., Incident Response – can be vendor agnostic, instead of focussing on skills applicable across the sector and wider CNI.
  • AI policies for Operational Technology – determining where AI can be used to assist humans in their decision making.
  • Incident Response capability – tailored for our Industrial Control Systems (ICS), with greater emphasis placed on the impact on the industrial process.
  • Increased protection of legacy systems – open-source logging and monitoring solutions can be shared amongst our industry colleagues and be tailored to specific sectors / OES.  Currently most legacy equipment is not monitored, or specific tools are not implemented.

HCR Work Packages

  1. Hybrid Cyber Range Environment
  2. Resilience and Risk
  3. Training Framework
  4. Dynamic Incident Risk Response
  5. Logging and Monitoring
  6. Repeatable Testing
  7. Assistive Safe Artificial Intelligence

ICSS Lab

The ICSS Laboratory at Nottingham Trent University is a specialised research facility focused on securing and enhancing industrial control and smart cyber-physical systems. It supports critical infrastructure sectors such as energy, smart grids, and industrial automation, with industry backing from partners including Northern Powergrid.
Equipped with virtualised and physical Cyber Range testbeds, the laboratory enables:
  • Realistic simulation of industrial processes and cyber-attack scenarios
  • Development and testing of AI-driven security and monitoring solutions
  • Evaluation of system resilience under adversarial and fault conditions
  • Hands-on training and capacity building through cyber range environments
Using advanced cyber range testbeds, the ICSS Lab enables realistic simulations, AI-driven security testing, resilience evaluation, and hands-on training. It plays a key role in bridging academic research with industry needs and advancing cyber defence capabilities for critical infrastructure.

NTU Research Team

This project is led by a team of experienced researchers, bringing together expertise in cyber security, digital innovation, and applied research. The team works collaboratively to shape the project’s direction, deliver impactful outcomes, and ensure strong academic and industry relevance.

Below you can find the academic staff involved in the project, with links to their individual staff profiles for further information on their research interests and expertise.

Project Lead: Tawfik Al‑Hadhrami
Project Co‑Investigator: David Brown

Tawfik Al-Hadhrami

Dr Al-Hadhrami is an Associate Professor(Smart Systems and Cybersecurity) in Computer Science Department, Nottingham Trent University. He is the lead for Industrial Control & Smart Systems (ICSS) Research Lab . He is a Fellow of Higher Education Academy a full Member of EPSRC Peer Review College. He has previously taught Networking Fundamentals, IoT, Security and Computer Hardware.

David Brown

Professor in Interactive Systems for Social Inclusion

School of Science & Technology

Abdallah Naser

Senior Lecturer

School of Science & Technology

Omprakash Kaiwartya

Associate Professor

Computer Science

HCR project team

Collaborate with us

cyberrange@ntu.ac.uk

Industrial Control and Smart Systems (ICSS)
Nottingham Trent University 
Mary Ann Evans Building room 216 
Clifton Campus
Nottingham
NG11 8NS