For academia & research
Academic CV
Postdoctoral & lecturing profile, academic appointments, education, 13+ publications, IEEE reviewer roles, teaching modules and references.
Dr. Chanaka Lasantha Nanayakkara
PhD · MSc · BIT · MBCS · City & Guilds
Security Architect & vCISO with 25 years protecting banks, enterprises & governments across three continents. Ready to lead your security & AI defence, starting now.
Senior Lecturer in Blockchain / Cybersecurity / Information Security · Postdoctoral Researcher in Artificial Intelligence · Visiting Lecturer (UK & Sri Lanka) · Security Architect.
info@drchanaka.com +94 71 580 7577 Colombo, Sri Lanka
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PhD+ Postdoc (AI)
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Professional Summary
Research-informed teaching meets enterprise security leadership
Postdoctoral Researcher in Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity academic with 25 years of experience. Holds a PhD in Information Security and Forensics, an MSc in Network and Information Security with Distinction, and a BIT. Currently undertaking a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Artificial Intelligence at SR University, with an active research programme on AI and machine-learning driven cybersecurity. Serves as a Senior Visiting Lecturer at several UK and Sri Lankan universities, delivering postgraduate and undergraduate modules in cybersecurity, malware analysis, cloud security and artificial intelligence. Maintains a strong research record, with thirteen peer-reviewed journal and conference publications and a contributed book chapter, and contributes to the scholarly community as an IEEE conference reviewer and technical programme committee member.
Biography
A security leader who builds, teaches and defends
Dr. Chanaka Lasantha Nanayakkara is a distinguished cybersecurity strategist, academic and researcher with over 25 years of progressive experience spanning enterprise security architecture, governance, risk and compliance (GRC), artificial intelligence, cloud security and higher education. Serving as a Security Architect, he integrates advanced cybersecurity practice with cutting-edge AI and machine learning to address the most complex modern security challenges.
His technical depth runs across Zero Trust Architecture, SOC operations, malware analysis, cloud security, intrusion detection, threat intelligence and multi-framework compliance, including ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI DSS, FedRAMP and NIST. He has led large-scale security transformations across AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, delivering measurable improvements in resilience, compliance maturity and threat mitigation through AI-driven detection and automated response.
Academically, he holds a PhD in Information Security and Forensics, an MSc with Distinction in Network and Information Security from Kingston University (UK), and a Bachelor of Information Technology from the University of Colombo School of Computing. His research focuses on machine-learning-driven cybersecurity, adaptive defence mechanisms, cloud security intelligence, IP reputation validation and advanced anomaly detection.
He is also an international lecturer in cybersecurity, blockchain, AI, cloud-computing security and advanced malware analysis, and an active contributor to the global research community through peer-reviewed publications and IEEE conference reviewing, bridging the gap between rigorous research and real-world, production-grade defence.
Expertise
Where 25 years of depth shows up
A rare full-stack security profile, from board-level GRC to packet-level analysis and the AI models that automate defence.
Security Architecture & Zero Trust
Designing resilient, identity-centric architectures that shrink the attack surface and assume breach, from greenfield builds to legacy hardening.
GRC & Compliance
End-to-end programmes across ISO 27001:2022, GDPR, PCI DSS, NIST and FedRAMP, from gap analysis and risk treatment to audit readiness.
SOC, SIEM & Threat Intelligence
Building and tuning security operations, detection engineering, threat hunting and incident response that scales with the threat landscape.
Cloud Security
Securing multi-cloud estates across AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, from posture management to workload and data protection.
AI/ML-Driven Defence & Data Science
Applying machine learning to detection, automated response and analytics, turning raw telemetry into adaptive, intelligent defence.
Malware Analysis & Anomaly Detection
Reverse engineering, behavioural analysis and advanced anomaly detection to surface stealthy threats before they cause damage.
Academia & Research
Beyond consulting, advancing the field
Equally at home in the lecture hall and the SOC, contributing to the next generation of security professionals and to the global research community.
Senior lecturing
Cybersecurity, Information Security, Telecommunications, Satellite Communications, IoT and Data Science, delivered to university and professional cohorts.
Research supervision
Official MSc & PhD research supervision and co-supervision, plus structured internship training with recognised universities and companies.
Peer review & community
Active IEEE conference reviewer and peer-reviewed author, contributing to standards of rigour across the international research community.
Professional & Industry Experience
25 years delivering measurable security outcomes
Security architect and leader for banks, enterprises and governments across three continents, with proven impact, ready to deploy. Available now for senior roles and consulting.
Apr 2023 - Present
Security Architect (GRC & AI Research), Kerner Norland Ltd, Sri Lanka
Cut security incidents by 93% and MTTR from 4 hours to 45 minutes; 100% compliance across ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI DSS, FedRAMP & NIST; Zero Trust across AWS/Azure/GCP; hybrid ML for IP-reputation validation with AWS WAF & GuardDuty; led a security team across five locations.
Feb 2021 - Apr 2023
Security Architect (GRC), BlackSwan Technologies Ltd, Israel
Automated pentesting engine (-60% testing time); MITRE ATT&CK across SOC; enterprise Zero Trust & ML threat-hunting (>1 TB logs/day); automated DR reducing RTO from 24h to 2h with 99.99% uptime.
May 2020 - Feb 2021
Lead Consultant, Infrastructure & Security, Virtusa Ltd, Sri Lanka
Led 15-member team on Vodafone ISP programme; secure CI/CD (Jenkins, Git, Docker, K8s) with SAST/DAST (-80% deploy vulns); WSO2 SSO/MFA for 10,000+ users across AWS; -65% post-production issues.
Sep 2013 - May 2020
ICT Consultant Level 3 (IT Manager), Commercial Credit & Finance PLC, Sri Lanka
Hardened SAP/Oracle ERP (5,000+ users); secured 200+ ATMs and 500+ POS across 100 branches; Oracle Grid HA & DR for 50+ apps (99.95% uptime, 15-min RPO); centralized SIEM (500 GB+/day).
Sep 2007 - Jan 2010
Senior System Engineer, Cloud, Security & Linux, Globe Internet Ltd, Malawi
Nationwide ISP for 8,000+ customers; 4G LTE/WiMAX/SCDMA across three cities; OpenStack hybrid cloud & GlusterFS; IDS/IPS/ASA HA and SOC/SIEM.
Mar 2005 - Sep 2007
Network System Engineer, Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka
RHEL/CentOS & Microsoft estates, VMware ESXi; Cisco routers/switches/firewalls/VPNs; SLPA Mega Port fibre-optic security & Dialog call-centre rollout.
Jan 2001 - Feb 2005
Marine Electronics & Telecommunication Technician, Queens Radio Marine Electronics, Sri Lanka
Marine navigation & satellite communication systems; auto-pilot, safety and defense systems aboard high-speed and deep-sea vessels.
Academic Appointments
Lecturing & academic roles
Senior Visiting Lecturer at leading UK and Sri Lankan universities, delivering research-informed postgraduate and undergraduate modules in cybersecurity, AI, malware analysis and cloud security.
May 2026 - Present
Visiting Lecturer, University of Wolverhampton, UK
MSc programmes (Level 7). Module: Incident Management and Response.
Sep 2023 - Present
Visiting Lecturer, University of Gloucestershire, UK
MSc & BSc (Hons): Secure Software Systems Architecture; Reverse Engineering & Memory Forensics; ML-driven Malware Analysis; IoT Security & IDS; Cloud Computing Security (AWS, Azure, GCP).
May 2025 - Present
Visiting Lecturer, SLTC Research University, Sri Lanka
BSc (Hons): Cyber Warfare & Information Warfare; Blockchain and Applications.
Feb 2019 - Jan 2020
Visiting Lecturer, London Metropolitan University, UK
BSc (Hons): cloud computing security, network security protocols & policies, authentication mechanisms and security modelling.
Education
Academic qualifications
Feb 2026 - Feb 2027
Postdoctoral Fellow in Artificial Intelligence
School of Computer Science & AI, SR University. Research on AI & ML-driven cybersecurity, adaptive threat detection, cloud security intelligence, and translating research into applied security systems.
2022 - 2025
PhD in Information Security & Forensics
IIC University of Technology, Cambodia. Research: "Machine Learning Approaches for Adaptive IP Reputation Validation and Defense in Cloud Security."
2017 - 2018
MSc in Network & Information Security (Distinction)
Kingston University, UK. Thesis: "Security Enhancement in Database Grid Infrastructure for Storage Clusters."
2010 - 2013
Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT)
University of Colombo School of Computing, Sri Lanka.
2000 - 2005
Advanced Diploma in Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering
City & Guilds of London Institute, UK.
Research Interests
Where my research focuses
- AI and machine-learning driven cybersecurity and adaptive threat defense
- Cloud security, multi-cloud architecture and intelligent cloud firewall systems
- IP reputation intelligence, anomaly detection and moving target defense
- Malware analysis, reverse engineering and intrusion detection systems
- IoT and edge network security, federated learning and secure software architecture
Publications
13+ peer-reviewed journals, IEEE papers & book chapters
Several papers are co-authored; full author lists shown as "et al." where pending.
Indexed & Peer-Reviewed Journals
Dynamic Threat Prevention in Cloud Firewalls Using Hybrid Machine Learning for IP Reputation Intelligence
Hybrid RF / SVM / LR / KNN / XGBoost model; 98.04% accuracy.
Hybrid ML-Driven Cyberattack Prevention for Suspicious IP Reputation Validation in Geographically Isolated VPN-Tunnelled IoT Networks
Federated learning for privacy-preserving IoT security; 98% accuracy.
An Unsupervised Machine Learning Approach for Dynamic Anomaly Detection and Risk Defense in Cloud Servers
Isolation Forest, LOF and DBSCAN; 92% detection accuracy.
Defending Cloud Web Applications using ML-Driven Triple Validation of IP Reputation by Integrating a Security Operation Center
Double-blind peer-reviewed; Wazuh SOC and MITRE ATT&CK integration.
A Novel Framework for Real-Time IP Reputation Validation Using Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI generative models for AWS WAF threat intelligence.
Comprehensive Understanding of Psychological Traits in Entrepreneurial Achievements Through Insights from the Strategic Way
Comparative analysis of entrepreneurial leadership traits.
Enhancing Security in Database Grid Infrastructure for Storage Clusters
Oracle Grid Infrastructure security with GlusterFS and OpenVPN.
IEEE Conference Proceedings
Hybrid Supervised Machine Learning Driven Novel IP Reputation Validating Techniques for Cloud Firewalls
Ensemble RF / LR / SVM model for AWS cloud firewall IP reputation.
Hybrid Machine Learning Approach for Enhanced Vulnerability Detection in Cloud Environments Using NIST and MITRE Frameworks
Integration of NIST and MITRE ATT&CK frameworks for cloud vulnerability detection.
Hybrid Machine Learning and Moving Target Defense (MTD) for Comprehensive Switchport Attack Detection
Dynamic IP randomization with ML; evaluated on UNSW-NB15, KDD'Cup99, NSL-KDD.
Validating IP Reputation in Cloud Firewall Systems Using ML-Driven Signature Generation and Detection Techniques
AI and NLP-driven dynamic signature generation for AWS WAF.
Triple-Layer Validation of IP Reputation in Cloud Firewalls Using Machine Learning for Enhanced Web Application Security
16th Int. Conference on Computing, Communication and Networking Technologies, IIT Indore (IEEE EPS & AICTE).
Bridging the Gap: Leveraging Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Development in the Global South
Global Conference for Multidisciplinary Research.
Books & Book Chapters
Multidisciplinary Approaches in Artificial Intelligence
Contributing author on AI applications in cybersecurity.
Academic Service & Recognition
Reviewer roles & honours
IEEE Reviewer & TPC
- IATMSI-2026, Reviewer, IEEE MP Section & ABV-IIITM Gwalior
- 16th ICCCNT 2025, Reviewer, IIT Indore
- 4th ICDCECE-2025, Reviewer, BITM Ballari
- 5th ICARC 2025, Reviewer, Sabaragamuwa University
- 6th icSoftComp 2024, TPC Member, Springer Nature
- 9th ICATC 2024, Author & Presenter, University of Kelaniya
Awards & Certificates
- Certificate of Excellence in Reviewing, Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science (×2), 2025
- SLTC Appreciation, External Reviewer, IRC 2024
- IEEE SSITCON-2024, Certificate of Appreciation, Peer Reviewer
Community
- Member, British Computer Society (MBCS)
- International conference presenter
- Published author & technical writer
Professional Membership
Chartered professional recognition
Recognised professional membership of BCS, the UK's chartered institute for IT.
MBCS
Dr Chanaka Lasantha MBCS
Grade: Professional Member
Membership no: 995007328
Valid until: 09 June 2027
BCS · The Chartered Institute for IT
Verified Professional Member
BCS Professional Member (MBCS)
BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT · United Kingdom
Professional Member (MBCS) is BCS's grade for experienced IT and cybersecurity practitioners, recognising demonstrated competence, ethical practice and a commitment to continuing professional development.
Awards Album
Certificates, reviewer honours & academic recognition
A visual showcase of reviewer certificates, conference recognition and academic service records.
IEEE SSITCON-2024Certificate of Appreciation, Peer Reviewer
York Graduate CampusChief Guest, YGC Symposium 2026
ICDCECE-2025Reviewer Certificate
TPC RecognitionReviewer and programme committee record
Excellence in ReviewingAcademic reviewer recognition
Academic ServiceCertificate record
Reviewer HonourCertificate record
PDF
PDF CertificateOpen in the built-in reader
PDF
PDF RecognitionOpen in the built-in reader
Reviewer RecognitionCertificate record
Academic HonourCertificate record
Certificate RecordAward and service recognition
Certificate RecordAcademic recognition
Certificate RecordAcademic recognition
Certificate RecordAcademic recognition
Teaching Experience
Modules delivered
- Incident Management & Response, MSc (L7), University of Wolverhampton, UK
- Advanced Malware Analysis & Reverse Engineering, MSc/BSc, University of Gloucestershire, UK
- Secure Software Systems Architecture, MSc/BSc, University of Gloucestershire, UK
- ML-driven Malware Analysis; IoT Security & IDS, University of Gloucestershire, UK
- Cloud Computing Security (AWS, Azure, GCP), University of Gloucestershire, UK
- Cyber Warfare & Information Warfare; Blockchain & Applications, BSc (Hons), SLTC, Sri Lanka
- Cloud Security, Network Security & Authentication, BSc (Hons), London Metropolitan University, UK
Skills, Certifications & Memberships
Technical depth & credentials
Programming & Automation
Python (expert), C#, Assembly, Shell/Bash (expert), SQL, applied to ML/AI, security tooling, automation and reverse engineering.
Cybersecurity & Cloud
Security architecture, SOC, SIEM/EDR, Zero Trust and multi-cloud security across AWS, Azure and GCP.
Frameworks & Compliance
ISO 27001, NIST, PCI DSS, GDPR, FedRAMP and MITRE ATT&CK.
- Member, British Computer Society (MBCS), Cyber Security; ID 995007328, valid through 2027
- Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
- Advanced Engineering Diploma, Electronics & Telecommunications, City & Guilds (2005)
- Network Engineering & Data Centre Design (2005); Digital Satellite & Data Communications (2005)
- Intelligent Robotics (2006); National Competence in Electronics, NAITA (2001)
Career Objectives
Bridging research & real-world defence
In security architecture: to architect next-generation security solutions that integrate cutting-edge ML/AI with proven frameworks, resilient, scalable and cost-effective defence systems.
In academia: to bridge the academia-industry gap with practical, research-driven curricula that prepare the next generation of security leaders, while contributing to the global body of cybersecurity knowledge.
Languages
English, full professional
Sinhala, native