A professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio won two grants totaling $1.5 million to boost security for the Internet of Things (IoT) and the critical infrastructure.
As a part of the grant Elias Bou-Harb, associate professor of cybersecurity in UTSA’s Carlos Alvarez College of Business, will collaborate with researchers at UTSA, Vanderbilt University, San Diego State University and the University of the Incarnate Word. The grants will include projects with two researchers who received their doctorate degrees from UTSA.
The grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) focus on research, development, operations and training.
Criminals Find a Way In
Businesses and consumers are drawn to these devices for their convenient features, but cyber criminals have found ways to utilize this technology for nefarious purposes.
“These devices are attractive targets for attackers and state-sponsored actors who abuse them to gain access into critical networks because of their lack of fundamental security measures, access policy controls and patch management capabilities,” said Bou-Harb, director of The UTSA Cyber Center for Security and Analytics, a university-wide center focused on cybersecurity research, development and training initiatives.
The first project, “Collaborative Research: CISE-MSI: Active and Passive Internet Measurements for Inferring IoT Maliciousness at Scale,” started up this month. The three-year $500,000 grant is dedicated to support research endeavors for minorities pursuing cybersecurity careers.
Using data-driven methodologies, the researchers will design and implement algorithms to fingerprint exploited IoT devices and discover their inherent security problems. Work will begin first on consumer devices, which are readily available, but will also include an analysis of sensors deployed in critical infrastructure systems such as power grids and water systems.
The researchers will develop mitigation tactics for improving Internet security on IoT devices.
Elias Bou-Harb, associate professor of cybersecurity in UTSA, earned two grants to further his work on helping secure IoT and critical infrastructure.
Source: UTSA
“We’ll tackle this project in two different ways. First, we’ll analyze IoT devices and report on our findings from studying the equipment in our laboratories. Then, we’ll analyze the network traffic from these devices to better understand their characteristic traits and security protocols remotely,” said Bou-Harb, who specializes in this type of network traffic research.
Virtual Labs
Following the research portion of the project, collaborating institutions will incorporate the knowledge they gain into the classroom through virtual labs and workshops focused on female and minority students.
“We hope to impact the domain by expanding the training in the future to professionals in the field and other institutions including community college students as well as high school students,” said Bou-Harb.
The second grant, “Collaborative Research Cyber Training Implementation: Medium Cross-Disciplinary Training for Joint Cyber Physical Systems and IoT Security,” is a $1 million grant co-led by UTSA faculty members Paul Rad, an associate professor, and Rita Mitra, a professor of practice from the UTSA Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security.
Studying cyber and physical attacks, the researchers will focus on critical infrastructure security in water systems related to water quality. The primary focus of this grant will be on enhancing the cybersecurity and data science workforce, with a complementary research component.
“For this project, we’re not just looking at the sensors, but we’re looking at how these sensors and the civil engineering infrastructure actually interact with each other and the security implications of this type of interaction,” said Bou-Harb. “Why is this important? Because typically security and physical control researchers conduct their research independently.”
The training objective for this project involves three components: Virtual labs with simulation toolsets, curriculum development and interdisciplinary workshops with private and public sector partners.
Protect Water Sector
“Most of today’s wars are not physical. They’re either economic or cyber wars,” Bou-Harb said. “By attacking critical infrastructures like a water system, you can paralyze a country. As an academic we get to address these evolving problems before they can become a reality. And while publishing is one outcome of this work, it is meaningless if it can’t be put into practice in society.”
Recognizing the security risks found in IoT devices, how can someone gain protection?
“Don’t adopt technology blindly,” Bou-Harb said. “Understand what security implications exist when you bring a new device into your home since all devices are vulnerable to exploitation. And, only choose products that you truly need.”