Dr Jacques Ophoff

Contact info

j.ophoff@abertay.ac.uk

01382 308169

Biography

Accepting PhD Students.

I'm a Professor of Cybersecurity and Resilience in the Department of Cybersecurity and Computing where I teach various security-related topics at undergraduate and postgraduate level, including security in software engineering, information security management, and human aspects of security.

My research focuses on all levels of cybersecurity from individual to national level. I'm particularly interested in management and human aspects of security. To date I have supervised 70+ postgraduate research projects to completion.

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Teaching
Research

Module leader: Software Engineering Practice (CMP307); Engineering Resilient Systems (CMP417, CMP510); Understanding the Cybersecurity Threat (CYB393)

Interests

My research focuses primarily on information and cybersecurity. This includes a broad range of topics ranging from technical implementations, to management, and behavioural factors. Individuals are often considered to be the weakest link in security and I have a particular interest in human factors in (also called behavioural) security. Current problems I’m investigating are how to motivate secure behaviours in individuals and organisations, and understanding resistance to security recommendations. I also have an interest in the related area of information privacy.

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Esteem

I hold an Honorary Research Associate position at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (2020-present). I'm Chair of IFIP Working Group 11.8, which focuses on information security education (2026-present). I'm a member of the editorial advisory board for the Information and Computer Security journal (2026-present). I'm a Scotland regional co-ordinator for the CRANE network (2026-present). I was the SICSA Cyber Security research theme co-lead (2021-2025).