Stephen J McCombie | Professor of Maritime IT Security
NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences

Stephen has worked as a practitioner and researcher in cybersecurity for over 25 years.  Since 2021 he has led the Maritime IT Security research group at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.  During that time the research group has worked with numerous global maritime stakeholders including the EU Coast Guards Forum, the US Coast Guard, the UK Department of Transport, the NATO Centre of Excellence in Maritime Security, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. He is a former Senior Lecturer in Cybersecurity at the Department of Security Studies at Macquarie University.  He worked full-time for the department from 2009-2012 and 2018-2021.  Between those periods he was an adjunct lecturer and honorary research associate while working elsewhere in the cyber security industry. Stephen's current research interests are in maritime cyber threats, cyber influence, cybercrime, digital forensics, cyber threat intelligence and cyber conflict.  He has published numerous academic articles on these topics and is currently research active.   His research draws on a diverse background in policing, security and information technology.  Prior to working in industry and academia he spent 14 years in the NSW Police as a Detective and was instrumental in the establishment of their first computer crime investigation team.  He has also held management roles in cybersecurity with a number of organisations including IBM, National Australia Bank, and RSA Security (Dell). His PhD thesis examined the impact of Eastern European cybercrime groups on Australian banks.  Stephen has been involved in a large number of funded research projects and has received research funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), Horizon Europe and the Dutch Research Council (NWO). He has also secured direct funding from numerous government and commercial organisations He is also currently a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP), a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and an Information Systems Security Management Professional (ISSMP).