Fifteen years ago we moved our research emphasis to how to retrofit those ideas to disrupt and pull down the adversary teams our customers faced. One by one we transitioned to academia joining Cranfield University’s Defence and Security School at the UK’s Defence Academy in Shrivenham.

At the Defence Academy we research and teach Masters level courses in: Cyber and Information Operations; Psychological and Information Warfare; and Military and Cyber Deception. Our international military student cohorts face unprecedented complexity in the operational theatres they are deployed to. Our mission is to support their professional practice at all levels of the fight.

Darren Lawrence

As well as being a founder and Director of Artifice Ltd, Darren is also a Senior Lecturer in Behavioural Science in the School of Defence & Security at Cranfield University, based within the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

Darren has worked in the field of psychological warfare since 2002. He developed and ran Cranfield’s postgraduate programme in Information Operations (Info Ops). Darren is the Head of the Information Operations Group, Course Director for the MSc in Cyber Operations, and Director of the National Cyber Deception Laboratory. Prior to taking up his post at Cranfield University he was a Senior Applied Psychologist and Project Manager within QinetiQ (formerly DERA) specialising in Psychological and Information Operations.

Simon Henderson

Simon is our Associate Technical Director and a co-founder of Artifice. Before this he spent 24 years in the MOD and its commercial spin-off, QinetiQ, researching the psychological bases of sensemaking, decision-making, teamwork, influence and deception, in both military and civilian organisations. This was followed by six years researching and teaching influence and deception at Cranfield University at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

Simon has spent over 15 years focusing on the study and application of deception, working on topics including: illusory presence; camouflage, concealment and decoys; design approaches for hiding in plain sight; inter-personal and inter-organisational deception; deception planning; counter-deception; the design and delivery of deception education; and deception and influence in cyberspace. Over the course of his career he has supported various UK and US military, government and law enforcement initiatives, has contributed to military deception doctrine, and has undertaken a wide range of deception consultancy and training.

Rob Black

A member of the Artifice team, Rob is also a Lecturer in Information Activities at the School of Defence and Security at Cranfield University, based within the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

Rob has worked in the field of Influence and Information Operations since 2003. At Cranfield University, he leads a series of modules on the UK MoD’s classified MSc in Cyber Operations, as well as supporting the UK Defence Cyber School in educating senior MoD Leaders of Warfare in the Information Age. His research interests are focused on looking at the nexus of Cyber, intelligence and warfighting, exploring concepts such as the legality of cyber operations today and the role of Influence and Deception in the Information Age, in support of the National Cyber Deception Laboratory. Prior to joining Cranfield, Rob worked for DSTL exploring building and developing Cyber Influence Capabilities, and was involved in operational planning and delivery in support of the UK government’s cyber operations. He also worked in the field of co-ordinating Human Science capability development across the UK’s 5EYES partners.

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