Dr John-David ‘JD’ Marsters of the ECS Systems Team appeared on BBC Technology News Online yesterday (Thursday 22 April), commenting on the latest version of the ZeuS virus.

In a story on the return of the virus, which steals online banking details from infected computer users and is prevalent in the online banking community, JD warns of the danger to computer users whose anti-virus software is not up to date: ‘There are plenty of opportunities for people to purchase access to these systems through underground chat rooms,’ he says.

‘It's a game of cat and mouse between anti-virus vendors and botnet developers.’

After the story appeared on BBC News, JD was contacted by BBC Cambridgeshire who then interviewed him for one of their radio shows.

‘I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to discuss this issue,’ says JD, ‘as I strongly believe that education is vital in reducing the growth of online fraud. Every time we connect a computer to the internet, there is a social implication. Every time someone falls victim to an online scam or confidence trick, others are put at risk. Learning to use the internet with care is something for which we all need to take responsibility.

JD completed an undergraduate Masters degree in Computer Engineering in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, and went on to gain a PhD from the School, in Information Security and Biometrics.

He now works in one of the busiest and most high-pressured areas of the School – the ECS Computing Lab in the Zepler Building. Along with Toby Hunt and a team of ECS student helpers, JD ensures that students have access to a wide range of computing resources for coursework and projects, and provides a drop-in support service for all staff and students in the School. He also designs and builds information systems, like the one pictured which informs students which computers are offline or in use at any particular time.

He maintains his academic interest in security and has a particular interest in cybercrime and its implications for Web Science. He comments: ‘Education is crucial if we are to slow the growth in online fraud, and it is important that we begin to understand the social implications of connecting computers to the internet. We are only just beginning to understand the Web as a social phenomenon, something which Web Science research will attempt to tackle over the coming years. Nevertheless, every time we bring an internet connection to our homes and offices we should remember that we are inviting in strangers.’

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453

As MailScanner, the world’s most widely-used email security and anti-spam system prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary on 1 May, its developer has just launched ScamNailer, a programme designed purely to spot phishing attacks.

Julian Field, Systems Administrator at the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science first developed MailScanner back in 2000 and since then it has been used in 226 countries and has become a world-leading email protection system; supporting more virus scanning engines than any other with over 1.3 million downloads.

Now, backed by one of the largest corporations on the Internet, Julian has launched ScamNailer.

The programme, which can be downloaded free, tackles spear phishing, a technique used by spammers and scammers to try to get an individual’s username and password, so that they can then send out millions of spam messages from their email address.

ScamNailer has compiled two lists of addresses which are commonly used in phishing attacks and from these it generates a set of SpamAssassin rules that detect the presence of these addresses, which can be used in MailScanner or SpamAssassin to stop the spear-phishing attacks completely. "The advantage that ScamNailer has over any similar programmes is that its backer has provided access to a list of phishing email addresses and websites much larger than any other available, so when people download the package, they can block these addresses from their own site," said Julian.

ScamNailer, which can be downloaded free, is attracting an average of three million downloads a month.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453

A system of computerised agents which can manage energy use and storage in homes won a Best Paper Award at an international conference on autonomous agents yesterday (12 May 2010).

The award was presented to researchers from the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at AAMAS 2010, the 9th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, which takes place from 10 to 14 May in Toronto, Canada, and was chaired by Professor Michael Luck of King's College London, and formerly of the School of Electronics and Computer Science..

The award was for a paper entitled Agent-based Micro-Storage Management for the Smart Grid, which beat 684 other submissions. The paper describes a system developed by ECS researchers, Dr Krishnen Vytelingum, Dr Thomas Voice and Dr Sarvapali Ramchurn, to optimise individual electricity usage and storage, in order to improve efficiency of the electricity grid and to reduce emissions. Having already developed agents that can trade on the stock market and manage crisis communications, the team, led by Dr Alex Rogers and Professor Nick Jennings, have now developed an agent-based micro-storage management technique that allows homes to adapt their energy use to match market conditions.

“The AAMAS 2010 adjudication committee described our system as an excellent example of bringing deep theory together with an exciting and innovative application that really marked this as an outstanding paper,â€? said Professor Jennings. “They said that it clearly demonstrated the potential of agent technology in this major new domain and should open the door for much future work in this area.â€?

According to Dr Rogers, who earlier this year launched an iPhone application, named GridCarbon, to measure the carbon intensity of the UK grid, this system will make it possible to install smart software into electricity meters. This will mean that the agents will be able to optimise the usage and storage profile of the dwelling and learn the best storage profile given market prices at any particular time.

“This approach focuses on the system dynamics where all agents in the system are given the freedom to buy electricity whenever they see fit and, building on this, they can then learn the best storage profile in a market place where prices keep changing,â€? says Dr Rogers.

“Another advantage is that if most homes in the system start using storage and manage to reduce peak demand, the overall cost of generating electricity is reduced.â€?

The ECS group had 11 full papers accepted for this year's AAMAS conference, which is a record for the event.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel. +44(0)23 8059 5453.

Professor Dame Wendy Hall and Professor Nigel Shadbolt are key speakers at FutureEverything 2010 which takes place this week (12-15 May) in Manchester.

FutureEverything is an art, technology and social innovation organization that runs year-round innovation labs and an annual festival of art, music and ideas. This year Web Science features on the programme with two major sessions devoted to global networks and the science of the Web.

Nigel Shadbolt is a panel member and Keynote Speaker in GloNet, a new type of Globally Networked Event, which connects Manchester with Sendai (Japan), Istanbul (Turkey), Sao Paolo (Brazil), and Vancouver (Canada), in a series of specially staged events and forums. He will be talking on the of promise of open data and about lessons learnt in the work he and his colleague Sir Tim Berners-Lee have been undertaking as Government Information Advisors opening up non-personal public sector information.

"There is a real momentum around the idea of opening up data from governments, local bodies, cities and a wide range of organisations", says Nigel Shadbolt. "Making this data available on the Web will lead to new opportunities in the creation of economic and social value.

"A linked Web of data can make government more transparent, and public and private services more efficient and accountable. It can empower individuals in new ways. We need to anticipate and understand these opportunities. We need a Science of the Web to do this." Wendy Hall is giving a Keynote address in the ‘Imagine Everything’ strand of the conference, which focuses on the Web and our lives online, covering music, the Semantic Web, intergenerational communication, open source, and activism on the Web.

‘This is a hugely exciting event,’ she said, ‘bringing creative energy to the interface of music, art, and ideas. It’s a real honour to be part of it and to be able to talk about Web Science in this context.

‘Web Science is something that touches on just about every aspect of our lives and our futures and I look forward to the interaction and insights that FutureEverything will stimulate.’

Professor Dame Wendy Hall is one of the founders of Web Science and is Managing Director of the Web Science Trust; she and Nigel Shadbolt are both Professors at the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. Nigel Shadbolt is also one of the founders of Web Science and a Programme Director of the Web Science Trust. He is currently working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to establish a new Institute for Web Science at the Universities of Southampton and Oxford, which is being funded by BIS with a grant of £30M over four years.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel. +44(0)23 8059 5453.

Engineers at the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) are working to develop prototype insulation systems that could lead to new high-efficiency electrical generators.

Professor Alun Vaughan, Dr Paul Lewin and Dr Gabriele Gherbaz of the ECS Electrical Power Engineering group are leading the University’s role in the €3 million EU-funded ANASTASIA (Advanced NAno-Structured TApeS for electrotechnical high power Insulating Applications).

The aim of the three-year project is to develop radically innovative electrical insulating tapes for use in generators and motors to improve the energy conversion efficiency of electrotechnical systems across Europe.

The team predicts that, at a European scale, a 0.2 percent gain in generator conversion efficiency could save the equivalent of 1000 MW (megawatts) which is comparable to one nuclear power plant or €1.5 billion. “The current insulation systems used in generators are old fashioned and are rather thick, poor thermal conductors,â€? said Professor Vaughan. “Our aim is to replace the current insulation tapes with new materials integrated with nanofilters to increase the ability to dissipate heat and withstand high electric field strengths.â€?

The team will test three different approaches to come up with a prototype that will form the basis for use in new power networks; the ECS team will test the electrical properties of the schemes in the Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory.

The other consortium members for this project are:

Von Roll Switzerland AG Alstom Hydro Laborelec-Electrabel Politecnico di Torino University of Montpellier 2 Institut de Recherche Hydro-Québec Nottingham Trent University

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

Some of the world’s leading broadcasters, film-makers and television equipment manufacturers visited the IT Innovation Centre’s technology showcase at the National Association of Broadcasters exhibition held last month in Las Vegas.

Representatives of CBS, Turner Broadcasting System, TV Globo, Nickelodeon, Disney and Pixar Animation Studios learned how IT Innovation’s expertise in cloud computing, workflow management and content preservation is helping the industry tackle some of its hottest challenges.

"American broadcasters are grappling with just the same issues as those here in Europe", commented IT Innovation Centre Media Group manager Paul Walland. "Complex multicentre digital production demands new planning and workflow management tools, while the need to store vast quantities of high-bandwidth HD and 3D footage are stretching broadcast archives to breaking point."

IT Innovation’s Media Group already has an enviable reputation in the UK broadcast industry for delivering relevant, high-quality, rapidly exploitable R&D. They are now keen to forge new transatlantic R&D partnerships. "Our location on the NAB International Technology Park, alongside other world-class academic and industrial research groups, was a fantastic place not only to develop international exploitation opportunities for our current projects like MUPPITS, but also to kick-start exciting new collaborations", said Paul.

IT Innovation is an applied research centre advancing a wide range of information technologies and their deployment in industry and commerce. It is part of the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. The group researches, develops, architects, engineers and integrates innovative IT systems.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

A new project which will help shape the UK's energy and transport infrastructure over the next 30 to 50 years will focus closely on resilience and cross-sector interactions in structural planning.

Resilient Futures is a multi-centre project which will consider the shape and planning of future developments in the UK's energy and transport infrastructure - in particular the resilience of these systems to malicious as well as environmental and systemic threats and hazards. The £1.75M project features in the BBC Radio 4 programme “Dragon’s Labâ€? on innovative research (Wednesday 19 May 2010).

Dr Seth Bullock, Head of the Science and Engineering of Natural Systems Group at the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science, and a Director of the University’s Institute for Complex Systems Simulation (ICSS), will lead a team of academics spread over six institutions, with a further 18 project partners drawn from industry, the public sector, and the emergency services.

Resilient Futures was developed following reports from the Institute for Public Policy Research, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Council for Science and Technology, and the Cabinet Office, all of which stated that sustaining resilience is the key challenge facing the UK's critical infrastructure. The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Over a three-year period Resilient Futures will engage directly with relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors to focus on future rather than current UK infrastructure. The researchers are looking for a paradigm shift in resilience thinking – moving away from a short-term and protectionist approach in which agencies seek to preserve their own assets, to one which acknowledges the complex interdependencies in a constantly evolving system.

The UK’s energy and transport infrastructure is a major area of study for the Institute for Complex Systems Simulation. PhD students are already using the University of Southampton's supercomputer, one of the fastest in the world, to model this important part of the UK economic structure in support of their research.

"This focus on the future is crucial if we are to ensure that our efforts towards achieving resilience now do not compromise future resilience," said Dr Bullock. "We want to see a paradigm shift in resilience thinking - from a fragmented short-termism based on defending current practices to a longer-term, interdependent perspective.�

The Dragons’ Lab programme is a repeat and can be listened to at: http://www.sound101.org/misc/dragons_lab_tx.mp3

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

Professor Nick Jennings of the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton has been elected a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). The official citation mentions Professor Jennings’ “significant contributions to the theory and practice of multi-agent systems, including industrial applications, practical coordination techniques, and market-based control mechanisms.â€? The Fellowship will be officially conferred in Atlanta in July.

Professor Jennings is an internationally-recognised authority in the areas of agent-based computing and intelligent systems. His research covers both the theory and the application of such systems. Specifically, he has undertaken fundamental research on automated bargaining, auctions, markets, mechanism design, trust and reputation, coalition formation and decentralised control. He has also pioneered the application of multi-agent technology; developing some of the first real-world systems (in domains such as business process management, energy systems, sensor networks, disaster response, telecommunications, and eDefence) and generally advocating the area of agent-oriented software engineering. With over 32,000 citations in Google Scholar, he is the most cited researcher in the area of artificial intelligence.

Over the last 10 years Professor Jennings has built up one of the world’s largest and most successful research groups in agent technologies at the School of Electronics and Computer Science. The group’s work has been recognized by a series of awards and prizes including, most recently, the Best Paper Award at AAMAS 2010, the leading international conference on autonomous awards, held last week in Toronto.

Over the last five years Professor Jennings has led the ALADDIN project, a multi-million pound, multi-disciplinary research project funded by a strategic partnership between BAE Systems and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). ALADDIN involves a number of leading research groups from Imperial College London, University of Southampton, University of Bristol, and Oxford University. In December 2009 ALADDIN was described as “a stunning collaboration … which truly captures engineeringâ€?, when it won the Aerospace and Defence Award at the Engineer Technology and Innovation Awards.

In addition to his roles as Head of the Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, and Associate Dean (Research and Enterprise) for the University’s Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics, Professor Jennings is also currently a Scientific Advisor to the UK Government.

“I am honoured to be elected to the Fellowship of the AAAI, and to receive such distinguished recognition for my research,â€? he said. “It is a measure not only of our solid achievements in agent-based computing at Southampton, but also an indication of the extent to which we have been able to demonstrate the value of agent technologies in many new areas, from supply chain management to energy use.â€?

For further information contact: Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

The School of Electronics and Computer Science is ranked 2nd in the UK for Electrical and Electronic Engineering in both the Times Good University Guide, published today (Thursday 27 May) and the Independent's Complete University Guide, published last week (Thursday 20 May). Computer Science and IT is ranked 4th in The Times Guide and 5th in The Independent Guide.

The subject tables are based on a number of criteria: Student Satisfaction, Research Assessment, Entry Standards, and Graduate Prospects. In Electrical & Electronic Engineering ECS scores 98/97 (out of 100), the highest score in the table for the subject.

Professor Alun Vaughan, Deputy Head of School (Education), commented: "We are pleased to see these excellent results for the School of Electronics and Computer Science. They reflect our strong commitment to creating a very high-quality student experience within the context of world-class research activity.

"Our students are being trained to develop future technologies and they are very much in demand by employers for the breadth of their technical understanding, and also because the unique qualities of the ECS programmes ensure that our students will be able to maximize their potential."

The University of Southampton was ranked 14th in the UK in The Independent Guide and 19th in The Times Guide. University Open Days take place this year on Saturday 3 July and Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 September. ECS will be running a programme of talks, tours, presentations, and demonstrations throughout the day, which also includes talks about all aspects of University life, including finance, accommodation. The University's Open Day web site is now open for bookings for activities in ECS and throughout the University. Book now.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

Evidence of the strength of employers’ demand for ECS Electronics and Electrical Engineering students is provided in the Complete University Guide 2011, published in The Independent on Thursday 20 May and the Good University Guide, published in The Times on 27 May.

Electronics and Electrical Engineering at the University of Southampton is ranked second in the UK in both tables,, and contributing strongly to this is the Graduate Prospects ranking (indicating the percentage of students in graduate jobs or further training six months after graduation). At a level of 98/97 per cent it is highest in the subject table, and among the top ten rankings in the UK for any subjects (outside Medicine and Healthcare).

The percentage is derived from the figures compiled each year by the official 'Destination of Leavers from Higher Education' survey, a national agency which collects information from graduates. The percentage expressed in the Complete University Guide is aggregated from two years of data (2007 and 2008). The only other subjects in which an equally high percentage was reached are: Education (Huddersfield), Chemistry (Nottingham Trent), Civil Engineering (Dundee, Imperial College London, Durham), Town & Country Planning (Reading and Birmingham City), and Geology (St Andrews).

‘It’s essential that we produce graduates who have the skills and understanding to play an effective role in developing future technologies,’ says Professor Alun Vaughan, Deputy Head of School (Education). ‘As a School we have worked hard over recent years to ensure that our courses are providing our students with the skills needed in the workplace. We also place a very high value on our employer liaison activity, including our annual Careers Fair and our Careers Hub web site.

‘This enables students to work closely with companies who can sponsor projects and course modules, to take up summer internships and work placements in vacations, and to have the best possible information about employment opportunities.’

The School’s 2011 Careers Fair (video) will be held on Wednesday 2 February. To find out more, or to become affiliated to our Careers Hub, contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.