Charles Weir
@securedevelopment.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University and software consultant. https://charlesweir.com/ https://securedevelopment.org
Still time to sign up for our future of #cybersecurity public sector event on Thursday... ☺️ focus.governmenttechnology.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 5:55 PM
Still time to sign up for our future of #cybersecurity public sector event on Thursday... ☺️ focus.governmenttechnology.co.uk
Here's a trivial way to make passwords that are convenient to use and satisfy #cybersecurity and the @ncsc.gov.uk, now with a simplified word list:
securityessentials.github.io/ThreeRandomW...
securityessentials.github.io/ThreeRandomW...
ThreeRandomWords
Generates three random words for a password, locally to your web browser, ensuring no one else can have access to the results.
securityessentials.github.io
February 2, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Here's a trivial way to make passwords that are convenient to use and satisfy #cybersecurity and the @ncsc.gov.uk, now with a simplified word list:
securityessentials.github.io/ThreeRandomW...
securityessentials.github.io/ThreeRandomW...
I'll be speaking on the future of #cybersecurity at this public sector event shortly. focus.governmenttechnology.co.uk
January 26, 2026 at 6:01 PM
I'll be speaking on the future of #cybersecurity at this public sector event shortly. focus.governmenttechnology.co.uk
The Veeam 2025 #ransomware report shows the importance--and rarity--of verified backups to recover from a #cyberattack. www.veeam.com/analyst-repo...
January 19, 2026 at 5:13 PM
The Veeam 2025 #ransomware report shows the importance--and rarity--of verified backups to recover from a #cyberattack. www.veeam.com/analyst-repo...
Intriguing rant from Cory Doctorow on the economics of the
#AIbubble. A very worrying set of financial facts... pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...
#AIbubble. A very worrying set of financial facts... pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...
Pluralistic: The real (economic) AI apocalypse is nigh (27 Sep 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net
January 12, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Intriguing rant from Cory Doctorow on the economics of the
#AIbubble. A very worrying set of financial facts... pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...
#AIbubble. A very worrying set of financial facts... pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...
Happy Christmas Holidays!
December 22, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Happy Christmas Holidays!
Interesting analysis on the full cost of #cyber #disasters, and in particular the danger of 'pivot' organisations not recognised as essential:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The cost of cyber hacking on UK business is greater than it seems
Are this year's major attacks the
www.bbc.co.uk
December 15, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Interesting analysis on the full cost of #cyber #disasters, and in particular the danger of 'pivot' organisations not recognised as essential:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Good to see helpful #ncsc timelines for migration to #postquantum #cryptography www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/pqc.... Basically 2028-33...
Timelines for migration to post-quantum cryptography
Activities which organisations must carry out to migrate safely to post-quantum cryptography in the coming years.
www.ncsc.gov.uk
December 8, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Good to see helpful #ncsc timelines for migration to #postquantum #cryptography www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/pqc.... Basically 2028-33...
We're offering support with modifying your systems to help weather #cyber #disasters – for free! Might you be interested?
www.securedevelopment.org/cyber-contin...
www.securedevelopment.org/cyber-contin...
December 1, 2025 at 5:11 PM
We're offering support with modifying your systems to help weather #cyber #disasters – for free! Might you be interested?
www.securedevelopment.org/cyber-contin...
www.securedevelopment.org/cyber-contin...
Even Cory Doctorow, a leading #cybersecurity expert, can get phished. So 'phishing training' won't do very much for any of us!
pluralistic.net/2025/04/05/t...
pluralistic.net/2025/04/05/t...
Pluralistic: How the world’s leading breach expert got phished (05 Apr 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net
November 24, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Even Cory Doctorow, a leading #cybersecurity expert, can get phished. So 'phishing training' won't do very much for any of us!
pluralistic.net/2025/04/05/t...
pluralistic.net/2025/04/05/t...
Here's a nice little earner 😀! #KTPs provide pay most of the cost of a good worker to do research, supported by the research clout of a university. Interested in a software- or security- based research project? Drop me a line...
www.lancaster.ac.uk/research/res...
www.lancaster.ac.uk/research/res...
For Businesses - Lancaster University
www.lancaster.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Here's a nice little earner 😀! #KTPs provide pay most of the cost of a good worker to do research, supported by the research clout of a university. Interested in a software- or security- based research project? Drop me a line...
www.lancaster.ac.uk/research/res...
www.lancaster.ac.uk/research/res...
Interested in realistic #riskassessment for #cybersecurity? We're planning to give small to medium companies (#SME s) the probability numbers on a plate... 😀 www.securedevelopment.org/how-likely/
How Likely Is a Ransomware Attack?
How likely is any kind of cyber attack on any small to medium UK company?
www.securedevelopment.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Interested in realistic #riskassessment for #cybersecurity? We're planning to give small to medium companies (#SME s) the probability numbers on a plate... 😀 www.securedevelopment.org/how-likely/
The #NCSC produces strong evidence that we *will* be hacked despite our #cybersecurity defences, then concludes that we should ...errr... build defences! It's poor strategy; clearly we'll do better to prepare for what happens *when* we are hacked! www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/n...
Don't wait for the breach: why don't organisations act earlier?
The role of leadership, culture, and behavioural science in encouraging proactive approaches to cyber security.
www.ncsc.gov.uk
November 3, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The #NCSC produces strong evidence that we *will* be hacked despite our #cybersecurity defences, then concludes that we should ...errr... build defences! It's poor strategy; clearly we'll do better to prepare for what happens *when* we are hacked! www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/n...
Delighted that EuroUSec, the usable #cybersecurity and #cyberprivacy workshop, went well 😀. If you missed it, here's a write-up:
www.securedevelopment.org/eurousec25/
www.securedevelopment.org/eurousec25/
The Fun of EuroUSec 2025
Recently we at Security Lancaster had the pleasure and stress of hosting the EuroUSec 2025 conference. The event provides a valuable European venue to cover the research gap between hard cybersecurity...
www.securedevelopment.org
October 27, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Delighted that EuroUSec, the usable #cybersecurity and #cyberprivacy workshop, went well 😀. If you missed it, here's a write-up:
www.securedevelopment.org/eurousec25/
www.securedevelopment.org/eurousec25/
The number of serious #cyberattacks has more than doubled in the past year. www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/uk-expe...
UK experiencing four 'nationally significant' cyber attacks every week
Latest Annual Review reveals that the cyber threats facing the UK continue to escalate.
www.ncsc.gov.uk
October 20, 2025 at 3:54 PM
The number of serious #cyberattacks has more than doubled in the past year. www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/uk-expe...
I'm speaking on the future of #cybersecurity at this webinar next week focus.governmenttechnology.co.uk . Should be good!
October 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM
I'm speaking on the future of #cybersecurity at this webinar next week focus.governmenttechnology.co.uk . Should be good!
Amused to see my portrait on a Lancaster LinkedIn site... 😃 If you wondered what I spend my time doing, here it is...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/spotli...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/spotli...
Spotlight Post
Our Spotlight this week turns to the School of Computing and Communications and to Dr Charles Weir, a Senior Lecturer in Security and Protection Science. He now leads research at Security Lancaster on...
www.linkedin.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Amused to see my portrait on a Lancaster LinkedIn site... 😃 If you wondered what I spend my time doing, here it is...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/spotli...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/spotli...
Do you use Microsoft Word for documents with images or tables? Try the free FrameFlow plugin to lay them out easily on Windows or Mac:
charlesweir.github.io/FrameFlow/
charlesweir.github.io/FrameFlow/
FrameFlow
Microsoft Word Plug-in to support Desktop Publishing: easy updating and positioning of figures and tables.
charlesweir.github.io
September 29, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Do you use Microsoft Word for documents with images or tables? Try the free FrameFlow plugin to lay them out easily on Windows or Mac:
charlesweir.github.io/FrameFlow/
charlesweir.github.io/FrameFlow/
Looking forward to the workshop I'm running on Thursday at @leanagilescot.bsky.social in Edinburgh
September 23, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Looking forward to the workshop I'm running on Thursday at @leanagilescot.bsky.social in Edinburgh
Good to remember the NCSC have guidelines for #cybersecurity in AI development:
www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/g...
www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/g...
Guidelines for secure AI system development
Guidelines for providers of any systems that use artificial intelligence (AI), whether those systems have been created from scratch or built on top of tools and services provided by others.
www.ncsc.gov.uk
September 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Good to remember the NCSC have guidelines for #cybersecurity in AI development:
www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/g...
www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/g...
Remember the @NCSC #cybersecurity advice to use Three Random Words for your passwords? It makes them easy to remember enough to enter on a PC or phone even if you use a password manager. Here's a simple utility to create them when you're feeling lazy: securityessentials.github.io/ThreeRandomW...
ThreeRandomWords
Generates three random words for a password, locally to your web browser, ensuring no one else can have access to the results.
securityessentials.github.io
September 8, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Remember the @NCSC #cybersecurity advice to use Three Random Words for your passwords? It makes them easy to remember enough to enter on a PC or phone even if you use a password manager. Here's a simple utility to create them when you're feeling lazy: securityessentials.github.io/ThreeRandomW...
I'm doing a fair bit of public speaking, so I enjoyed @martinfowler.com's piece on how to fit a talk to a timescale without the need to practice... martinfowler.com/bliki/Expans...
bliki: Expansion Joints
a bliki entry for Expansion Joints
martinfowler.com
September 1, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I'm doing a fair bit of public speaking, so I enjoyed @martinfowler.com's piece on how to fit a talk to a timescale without the need to practice... martinfowler.com/bliki/Expans...
Do you know what it means to make #software that's #resilient to disasters? I'll be running a workshop in Edinburgh at Lean Agile Scotland to help work out the answers...
August 25, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Do you know what it means to make #software that's #resilient to disasters? I'll be running a workshop in Edinburgh at Lean Agile Scotland to help work out the answers...
Join me perhaps? I'm speaking at this event in Salford in September.
igpp.org.uk/event/Public... (discount code PSC-MD if you want).
igpp.org.uk/event/Public... (discount code PSC-MD if you want).
Public Sector Cyber Security Conference and Exhibition 2025 | IGPP
igpp.org.uk
August 19, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Join me perhaps? I'm speaking at this event in Salford in September.
igpp.org.uk/event/Public... (discount code PSC-MD if you want).
igpp.org.uk/event/Public... (discount code PSC-MD if you want).