Madrid, Spain · Available for academic & industry roles

Hi, I'm Esteban Armas Vega

Cybersecurity Researcher with 10+ years across applied research, software development and European R&D projects — specialized in cyber threat intelligence, computer vision and AI-assisted security.

⬇ Academic CV ⬇ Industry CV Get in touch

About Me

I'm a cybersecurity researcher with over a decade of experience spanning applied research, software engineering and European R&D projects. My work focuses on cyber threat intelligence, threat analysis, secure information sharing, OSINT-driven enrichment and AI-assisted cybersecurity. I combine academic depth — a PhD in multimedia forensics and computer vision — with hands-on engineering across Python, MISP, machine learning and cloud-native tooling. I've delivered technical work packages, prototypes, publications and proposals in multi-partner international consortia, and I teach in a Master's programme in Cybersecurity.

10+

Years experience

310

Citations

9

h-index

12+

EU projects

Work Experience

Cybersecurity Researcher (Half-Time)

Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR)

Dec 2024 – Present · Spain

Helps define UNIR's cybersecurity research strategy and runs hands-on experimentation.
Publishes academic results and co-writes competitive public/private research grant proposals.
Develops a new European cybersecurity academic programme; teaches AI, Cybersecurity and Programming.
Supervises Master's theses and contributes to curriculum design.

Researcher

ATOS Spain / Eviden — Research & Innovation

Nov 2020 – Present · Madrid, Spain

Designs and develops cybersecurity solutions for EU R&D projects (CTI enrichment, intelligence sharing, security automation).
Builds secure information exchange for sensitive cyber data using MISP.
Implements frameworks, APIs and analytics pipelines that enrich threat intelligence with OSINT and contextual data.
Contributes to deliverables, architecture, partner coordination and Horizon Europe proposals.

Researcher

Complutense University of Madrid — GASS Research Group

Nov 2016 – Feb 2022 · Madrid, Spain

R&D in EU-funded projects: multimedia forensics, SDN security, malware & phishing detection, applied ML.
Developed computer vision algorithms for image and video forgery detection.
Contributed to a multimedia forensic analysis platform and AI-based attack-pattern detection in SDNs.
Participated in European proposal preparation and collaborative technical reporting.

Developer

ESRI Geosystems

Nov 2015 – Oct 2016 · Spain

Built web and mobile applications combining ESRI technologies with open-source tools.
Custom solutions in Python, JavaScript, Swift, Objective-C, C#, Spring and MongoDB.
Explored integration of geospatial platforms with open-source technologies.

IT Manager

Armas Vega Asociados S.A.

Sep 2009 – Sep 2014 · Quito, Ecuador

Led software development and network deployment for inventory, accounting and enterprise systems.
Designed and managed office network infrastructure, servers and web-based project management apps.

Education

PhD in Computer Science

Complutense University of Madrid

Nov 2020

Thesis: "Passive Techniques for Detecting Manipulations in Digital Images"

M.Sc. in Computer Science

Complutense University of Madrid

Oct 2016

Thesis: "Tools for Dynamic Analysis of Vulnerabilities in Web Applications"

B.Sc. in Informatics Engineering

Technological University of Havana "José Antonio Echeverría"

Jul 2009

Thesis: "Software Management and Search System 'BuSo'"

Master Scholarship

Secretariat of Higher Education of Ecuador

Sep 2014 · 2 years · $50,000

Competitive scholarship awarded for graduate studies abroad.

Technical Skills

Programming

PythonJavaJavaScript RubySwiftSQL C#PHPC C++MaudeProlog

Machine Learning

PyTorchTensorFlowKeras Scikit-learnCaffe

DevOps & Cloud

GitDockerKubernetes JenkinsPrometheusGrafana LinuxWindowsmacOS AWSAzureGCP

Security & CTI

MISPYARACuckoo Sandbox OSINT toolsCTI workflowsSecure data sharing

Languages

Spanish (native)English (C1)

Scientific Publications

310 total citations · h-index 9 · i10-index 9 — View full profile on Google Scholar ↗

A Shared Cyber Threat Intelligence Solution for SMEs

M. van Haastrecht, E.A. Armas Vega, M. Spruit

Electronics · 2021

Copy-Move Forgery Detection Technique Based on Discrete Cosine Transform Blocks Features

E.A. Armas Vega et al.

Neural Computing and Applications · 2021

Passive Image Forgery Detection Based on the Demosaicing Algorithm and JPEG Compression

E.A. Armas Vega et al.

IEEE Access · 2020

Digital Images Authentication Technique Based on DWT, DCT and Local Binary Patterns

E.A. Armas Vega et al.

Sensors · 2018

Ransomware Automatic Data Acquisition Tool

A. Lopez Vivar, E.A. Armas Vega et al.

IEEE Access · 2018

Analyzing the Traffic of Penetration Testing Tools with an IDS

F. Román, E.A. Armas Vega, L.J. García Villalba

The Journal of Supercomputing · 2016

Image Tampering Detection by Estimating Interpolation Patterns

E.A. Armas Vega et al.

Future Generation Computer Systems · 2020

Benchmarking of Pentesting Tools

E.A. Armas Vega et al.

19th Int. Conf. on Information Technology, Paris · 2017

Uso de Características en la Identificación de la Fuente de Imágenes de Dispositivos Móviles

J. Rosales Corripio, E.A. Armas Vega et al.

RECSI · 2016

Herramientas de Análisis Dinámico de Aplicaciones Web con Snort

E.A. Armas Vega, F. Román, L.J. García Villalba

COMTEL, Lima · 2016

Poster: Evaluating Black-Box Testing Tools

E.A. Armas Vega et al.

IEEE EuroS&P, Paris · 2017

Poster: Internet Forensic Platform for Tracking the Money Flow of Financially-Motivated Malware

E.A. Armas Vega et al.

IEEE EuroS&P, Paris · 2017

Research Projects

European R&D projects (Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020, Digital Europe & COST).

DIGITAL4Security Active

Digital Europe Programme · 101123430

European Masters Programme in Cybersecurity Management and Data Sovereignty.

Oct 2023 – Sep 2027 · Website ↗

CYDERCO Active

Threat Intelligence Sharing

Threat intelligence sharing, enrichment, contextualization and sighting support.

Ongoing

CYLCOMED Completed

Horizon Europe · 101095542

Cybersecurity toolbox for connected medical devices.

Dec 2022 – Nov 2025 · CORDIS ↗

ELECTRON Completed

Horizon 2020 · 101021936

Resilient and self-healed electrical power nanogrid.

Oct 2021 – Sep 2024 · CORDIS ↗

HEROES Completed

Horizon 2020 · 101021801

Technologies against child sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

Dec 2021 – Nov 2024 · CORDIS ↗

GEIGER Completed

Horizon 2020 · 883588

Cybersecurity support and awareness tools for SMEs.

Jun 2020 – Nov 2022 · Website ↗

CyberSANE Completed

Horizon 2020 · 833683

Cyber security incident handling for European Critical Infrastructures.

Sep 2019 – Aug 2022 · Website ↗

CONCORDIA Completed

Horizon 2020 · 830927

Cyber security competence for research and innovation.

Jan 2019 – Dec 2022 · Website ↗

CyberSec4Europe Completed

Horizon 2020 · 830929

Cybersecurity Network of Competence Centres for Europe.

Feb 2019 – Jul 2022 · Website ↗

CRYPTACUS Completed

COST Action IC1403

Cryptanalysis of Ubiquitous Computing Systems.

Dec 2014 – Nov 2018

RAMSES Completed

Horizon 2020 · 700326

Internet Forensic Platform for Tracking Financially-Motivated Malware.

Sep 2016 – Sep 2019 · Website ↗

SELFNET Completed

Horizon 2020 · 671672

Self-Organized Network Management in Virtualized and Software Defined Networks.

Jul 2015 – Jun 2018

Get in Touch

Open to academic collaborations and industry opportunities.

Email
esteban.armas@outlook.com LinkedIn
in/esteban-armas-vega

Location
Madrid, Spain