EnglishEnglish  CatalàCatalà  EspañolEspañol

David Llamas

David LlamasI am a professional in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, with experience across different institutions, roles and areas of work. My background is broad, ranging from business strategy consultancy and solution architecture to project management. My research focuses primarily on technology security, with a particular interest in steganography — the art and science of information hiding (non-ciphered secret communication). I explore its real-world applications through a multidisciplinary lens, integrating a wide range of techniques, technologies, and areas of expertise.

Work Experience

  • 2020 - Current | Inchcolm (Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalonia - Spain, European Union) - Sector: Strategy and Development Consultancy in Technology Project. Position: Senior Manager Consultant.
  • 2002 - 2019 | Inchcolm (Edinburgh, Scotland - United Kingdom / Boston, Massachusetts - United States of America) - Sector: IT Consultancy, Information Hiding Security. Position: Founder & Managing Director.
  • 1999 - 2001 | KPNQwest (Madrid - Spain, European Union / Amsterdam - The Netherlands, European Union) - Sector: Internet Services Provider. Position: Web Solutions Director.
  • 1997 - 1999 | Siemens (Barcelona, Catalonia - Spain, European Union / Manchester - United Kingdom) - Sector: Automation Division. Position: Senior Project Architect.
  • 1986 - 1996 | Abacus BBS - Abaforum (Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalonia - Spain, European Union) - Sector: Internet Services Provider. Position: Sole Founder & Managing Director.

Education

  • 2012 - 2015 | Master in Business Administration (MBA) through self-study, online courses and real-world applications from MIT Sloan School of Management (Boston, Massachusetts - United States of America), Heriot Watt University Online Business School (Edinburgh, Scotland - United Kingdom) among other resources. Modules studied: Business Strategy, Finance & Accounting, Marketing, Leadership & Organizational Behavior, Operations Management, Economics, Data Analytics & Decision-Making and Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
  • 2005 - 2010 | University of St Andrews (St Andrews, Scotland - United Kingdom) - Doctoral studies at the School of Computer Science. The Kruptos project is about "Information Hiding / Steganography & Covert Channels in Internet Protocols". Director of studies: Dr Colin Allison. Second supervisor: Dr Alan Miller. Research groups: Centre for Privacy, Security & Trust, Systems Engineering and Networks Distributed Systems. This advanced security research project is sponsored by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory -DSTL- a part of the Ministry of Defence -MoD- of the United Kingdom.
  • 2001 - 2004 | Edinburgh Napier University (Edinburgh, Scotland - United Kingdom) - Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Software Technology, Class 2.1. The honours project is about "Covert Channels Analysis and Data Hiding in TCP/IP", 1st Class!. Supervisor: Professor William Buchanan. Second marker: Professor Peter Ross. Modules studied: Computer Networks and Distributed Systems, Evolutionary Computing, Real-Time Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Software Architecture, Software Project Management, Computer Games Software Engineering and others.

Papers Published in Proceedings

  • 2006 | "Using IPv4 ID Field for Passive OS Fingerprinting" - David Llamas, Colin Allison and Alan Miller. In proceedings of the 7th Annual Postgraduate Symposium about the Convergence of Telecommunications, Networking and Broadcasting -PGNET 2006- at the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University (Liverpool - United Kingdom).
  • 2005 | "An Evaluation Framework for the Analysis of Covert Channels in the TCP/IP Protocol Suite" - David Llamas, Alan Miller and Colin Allison. In proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Information Warfare and Security -ECIW 2005- at the University of Glamorgan (Pontypridd - United Kingdom).
  • 2005 | "Covert Channels in Internet Protocols: A Survey" - David Llamas, Colin Allison and Alan Miller. In proceedings of the 6th Annual Postgraduate Symposium about the Convergence of Telecommunications, Networking and Broadcasting -PGNET 2005- at the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University (Liverpool - United Kingdom).
  • 2004 | "Covert Channel Analysis and Detection with Reverse Proxy Servers using Microsoft Windows" - Buchanan, William J. and David Llamas. In proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Information Warfare and Security -ECIW 2004- at Royal Holloway, University of London (London - United Kingdom).

Articles Published in Journals

  • 2006 | "Network Forensics and Covert Channels Analysis in Internet Protocols" - David Llamas, Colin Allison and Alan Miller. In selected papers from Symposium on Intelligence in Security and Forensic Computing at the Centre for Mobile Computing and Security, School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University (Edinburgh, Scotland - United Kingdom) by British Computer Society, The Specialist Group on Artificial Intelligence. Special issue of Expert Update.

Presentations, Posters and Lectures

  • 2008 | "Network Forensics and Covert Channels Analysis in Internet Protocols" - David Llamas. Presentation at the IT Professionals Summer Conference at the University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, Scotland - United Kingdom).
  • 2007 | "Information Hiding: Covert Channels & Steganography" - David Llamas. Lecture to the Computer Security module class at the School of Computing Science, University of St Andrews (St Andrews, Scotland - United Kingdom).
  • 2006 | "A Distributed-System Approach to the Analysis of Covert Channels in IP Protocol Implementations at Planetary Scale" - David Llamas. Research talk at the School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews (St Andrews, Scotland - United Kingdom).
  • 2006 | "Covert Channels & Steganography in Distributed Systems Communication and Networks" - David Llamas. Research talk at the School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews (St Andrews, Scotland - United Kingdom).
  • 2005 | "The Silent Threat of Covert Channels"David Llamas. Presentation at the Postgraduate Reading Party (Kingussie, Scotland - United Kingdom).
  • 2005 | "Covert Channels & Steganography Analysis in the Internet Protocols" - David Llamas. Presentation at the 7th Information Hiding Workshop -IH 05- (Barcelona, Catalonia - Spain, European Union).
  • 2005 | "Covert Channels & Steganography in Public Communication Networks" - David Llamas. Research talk at the School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews (St Andrews, Scotland - United Kingdom).
  • 2005 | "Information Hiding Systems: Covert Channels & Steganography" - David Llamas. Research talk at the Distributed Systems & Networks research group at the School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews (St Andrews, Scotland - United Kingdom.
  • 2004 | "An Evolutionary Intelligent Agent Approach to the Prevention of Covert Channels in the TCP/IP Protocol Suite" - David Llamas. Presentation at the Symposium on Mobile and Complex Agent Systems at Merchiston Campus, Edinburgh Napier University (Edinburgh, Scotland - United Kingdom) by British Computer Society, The Specialist Group on Artificial Intelligence.

Publications Review

  • 2008 - 2010 | "Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security" (Wiley Press) - The "Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security" is an essential and timely collection of resources designed to support the effective communication of homeland security research across all disciplines and institutional boundaries.

Awards

  • 2009 - 2010 | Steering committee of the International Workshop on Network Steganography
  • 2007 | Session Chair (Information Hiding) of the 6th European Conference Information Warfare and Security at the Defence College of Management and Technology (Shrivenham - United Kingdom)
  • 2004 - 2007 | Steering committee of the European Conference on Information Warfare and Security
  • 2004 | Second Prize Winner at the Scotland Software Engineer of the Year, sponsored by Vision Consulting and Scottish Enterprise & organised by ScotlandIS.

Professional Areas of Interest

  • Strategic business consultancy: Blockchain and cryptocurrencies and their application and impact on finance. Capability Maturity Model (CMM) as an evolutionary approach to success. Algorithmic models in artificial intelligence for big data management and decision-making.
  • Academia / research: Information hiding & steganography - Secret communications based on absurdity. Prevention of detection. Operation in high performance environments. Bio-steganography.
  • Applied technology: Artificial Intelligence-driven automation in retail, business and industry sectors. Computer Networks: Design of protocols. Aerial and underwater acoustic networks. Swarm Intelligence: Architectures for collective behaviour of decentralised, self-organised systems. Real-Time Machine Learning. Evolutionary Computing: Learning Classifier Systems.

Personal Areas of Interest

  • Board Games: I have a strong passion for board games, which I believe enhance my strategic thinking, problem-solving and team collaboration skills. Without a doubt my favourites are the abstract strategy games such as Chess, Go, etc., but I also love Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and anyone with cards.
  • Archery: I enjoy archery as it requires a high level of discipline, concentration, and precision. Member of the Club d'Arc Montjuïc in Barcelona, Catalonia - Spain, European Union and of the University Archery Club in Edinburgh, Scotland - United Kingdom.
  • Private aviation: I am interested in private aviation because of its complex logistical and operational challenges, more than flying itself. Member of the Aeroclub Barcelona-Sabadell in Sabadell, Catalonia - Spain, European Union. My favourite aircraft is the Cessna Turbo Skylane.
  • Digital ham radio: Engaging in digital ham radio has enhanced my technical knowledge of radio communications, signal processing, and digital transmission protocols. My station EB3AGO developed the first Packet Radio mail <-> Internet Email gateway of the world.
  • Campanology: I am fascinated by campanology because of its rich historical and cultural significance. What I enjoy the most is what concerns the bell manufacturing and acoustics, the mechanisms used in bell towers including the automatic systems and the methods and patterns of sounding bells.

Languages

  • English: Professional
  • Catalan: Native
  • Spanish: Native

Contact

Please, click here to contact me.