Dr Abubakar Bello is a Senior Lecturer in Criminal Justice and the Program Leader for Criminal Justice at the School of Law, Policing, and Criminal Justice, Edge Hill University.

He was previously an Academic Program Advisor at a Senior Lecturer grade, and a Lecturer in Cyber Security and Behaviour at the School of Social Sciences, Criminology and Policing discipline, Western Sydney University.

Abubakar received his doctorate degree in IT with a technical and social focus on Cyber Criminology, Cyber Security and Privacy from Murdoch University, Australia; MBA with a focus on Business Law and Technology from Western Sydney University, Australia; and MSc and BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from the University of Wolverhampton, UK.  He has extensive teaching experience across various topics on cyber security, cyber crime and criminal justice, cyber laws, governance, risk and compliance management. His strong leadership and innovation in curriculum-design, student engagement and support, and dedication to research and teaching excellence was recognised when he received an “Award for Teaching and Learning That Has Contributed to Public Good”.

Abubakar’s research tackles deficits in theory and practice of managing cyber crime and cyber security risks and vulnerabilities, leading to implementation of threat intelligence models and control techniques for secure and dependable systems. He takes an interdisciplinary approach by integrating criminology, psychology, and criminal justice with computer science to holistically address technical and behavioural challenges facing society.

He has won external grants and funding for several projects including:

• “Social Engineered Payment Diversion Fraud” - New South Wales Cyber Security Network
• “Brain-Inspired Algorithm for Network Anomaly and Intrusion Detection” - Department of Defence – DST group
• “Application of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for cyber security” – Google
• “Usable Security Digital Inclusion Study Among CALD Population” – WSU
• “Cyber Security Awareness and Education Framework for Stimulating Security Consciousness and Practice for Protection Against Ransomware Attacks” - ECR grant

He has worked across several corporations, privately held entities and government organisations in Australia where he provided consultancy services around security, Artificial Intelligence, cyber investigations, risk and incident management. He has been featured in a Future-Makers’ magazine; invited as a jury consultant for corporate espionage cases; a keynote speaker on Ransomware for Urban Living Futures and Society research showcase; and a panellist for Security and Privacy workshops. As an expert, he has led Cyber Invesitgations and Forensics engagements at law enforcement agencies, and Western Cyber Aid and Community Engagement centre working with victims of cyber crime. He continues to engage with local and international communities as a security advisor.

Abubakar is also a member of the International Centre on Racism, Centre for Applied Criminal Justice Research, and other several professional and academic societies and bodies, and has been an ad hoc reviewer of academic journals.

Current Research Interest

His current research interests lie within the application of an experimental and applied approach supported by theory-laden concepts to combat cyber crime, and develop cyber security and artificial intelligence controls that foster trust, privacy, security compliance, and law enforcement in the cyber space.

Current Teaching

• LAC1000 – Cyber Security Fundamentals and Ethics
• LAC2000 – Cyber Crime and Criminal Justice
• PLN3003 – Digital Policing and Cyber Crime
• LAC3000 – Cyber Risk and Incident Management
• LAW4025 – Cyber Crime: Detection, Investigation and Enforcement
• Supervision:
  • LLM Artificial Intelligence, Digital and Cyber Law
  • Master of Applied Management of Offending Behaviour
  • PhD in Cyber Crime, Criminal Justice, and Cyber Security