Dr. Chanaka Lasantha Nanayakkara
Head of AI & Cyber Security
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. Currently serving as a Security Architect, he has established a strong reputation for integrating advanced cybersecurity practices with cutting-edge AI and machine learning technologies to address complex modern security challenges.
He possesses extensive expertise in Zero Trust Architecture, SOC operations, malware analysis, cloud security, intrusion detection systems, threat intelligence and multi-framework regulatory compliance including ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI DSS, FedRAMP and NIST. He has led large-scale security transformation initiatives across AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, delivering measurable improvements in operational resilience, compliance maturity and threat mitigation, with significant reductions in security incidents through AI-driven threat detection and automated response systems.
Academically, Dr. Nanayakkara holds a PhD in Information Security and Forensics, an MSc with Distinction in Network and Information Security from Kingston University (United Kingdom), 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.
AI & ML SecurityZero TrustSOC OperationsCloud SecurityGRCISO 27001PCI DSSNIST
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