William (Bill) J Buchanan OBE FRSE is a Professor of Applied Cryptography in the School of Computing, Edinburgh and the Built Environment at Edinburgh Napier University. He is a Fellow of the BCS and a Principal Fellow of the HEA. Bill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to cybersecurity, and in 2024, he was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). Bill lives and works in Edinburgh and is a believer in fairness, justice, and freedom. His social media tagline reflects his strong belief in changing the world for the better: “A Serial Innovator. An Old World Breaker. A New World Creator.” He also has a strong belief in the power of education and in supporting innovation from every angle and currently leads the Blockpass ID Lab and the Centre for Cybersecurity, IoT and Cyberphysical. Bill works in the areas of cryptography, blockchain, trust and digital identity. He has one of the most extensive cryptography sites in the World (asecuritysite.com), and is involved in many areas of novel research and teaching. He has published over 30 academic books and over 450 academic research papers. Along with this, Bill’s work has led to many areas of impact, including a number of highly successful spin-out companies (including Zonefox, Symphonic Software and Cyan Forensics), along with awards for excellence in knowledge transfer and for teaching. He recently received an ”Outstanding Contribution to Knowledge Exchange” award and was included in the FutureScot “50 Scottish Tech People Who Are Changing The World” and was a regular keynote speaker at various conferences. Bill’s true academic passion is building, analysing and breaking cryptographic methods.
