Visible to the public Automated Synthesis Framework for Network Security and Resilience - January 2021Conflict Detection Enabled

Submitted by mikeprosise on Mon, 01/11/2021 - 11:25am

PI: Matthew Caesar

Co-PI: Dong (Kevin) Jin

Researchers: Bingzhe Liu, Santhosh Prabhu, and Xiaoliang Wu

HARD PROBLEM(S) ADDRESSED
This refers to Hard Problems, released November 2012.

This project is developing the analysis methodology needed to support scientific reasoning about the resilience and security of networks, with a particular focus on network control and information/data flow. The core of this vision is an automated synthesis framework (ASF), which will automatically derive network state and repairs, from a set of specified correctness requirements and security policies. ASF consists of a set of techniques for performing and integrating security and resilience analyses applied at different layers in a real-time and automated fashion. This project is building both theoretical underpinnings and a practical realization of Science of Security. The proposed project covers four hard problems: (1) resilient architectures (primary), (2) scalability and composability, (3) policy-governed secure collaboration, and (4) security-metrics-driven evaluation, design, development and deployment.

PUBLICATIONS
Papers written as a result of your research from the current quarter only.

  • Isabella Lee, Vignesh Babu, Matthew Caesar, David Nicol, "Deep ML for Battlefield IoT", Mobiquitous 2020.
  • Yanfeng Qu, Xin Liu, Jiaqi Yan, and Dong Jin. Dynamic Data-Driven Self-Healing Application for Phasor Measurement Unit Networks. The Third International Conference on InfoSymbiotics/DDDAS, October 2020
  • Yanfeng Qu, Gong Chen, Xin Liu, Jiaqi Yan, Bo Chen, and Dong Jin. Cyber-Resilience Enhancement of PMU Networks Using Software-Defined Networking. The 2020 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm), November 2020. Best Paper Award
  • Yanfeng Qu, Xin Liu, Jiaqi Yan, and Dong Jin. Dynamic Data-Driven Self-Healing Application for Phasor Measurement Unit Networks. The Third International Conference on InfoSymbiotics/DDDAS, October 2020
  • Bingzhe Liu, Ali Kheradmand, Matthew Caesar, Brighten Godfrey, Towards Verified Self-Driving Infrastructure, ACM Workshop on Hot Topics in Networks (HotNets), November 2020
  • S.Uhlig, R. Holz, O. Bonaventure, M. Caesar, et al. "Update on ACM SIGCOMM CCR Reviewing", ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communications Review, October 2020.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Each effort should submit one or two specific highlights. Each item should include a paragraph or two along with a citation if available. Write as if for the general reader of IEEE S&P.
The purpose of the highlights is to give our immediate sponsors a body of evidence that the funding they are providing (in the framework of the SoS lablet model) is delivering results that "more than justify" the investment they are making.

In the current quarter, our project progress is centered on addressing SoS lablet hard problems primarily in resilient architecture. Key highlights are listed as follows.

  • We published four papers with one more paper accepted in the current quarter. One Ph.D. student graduated in December 2020 and will join Facebook. The team also received the Best Paper Award at the 2020 IEEE SmartGridComm conference with a news article at https://www.iit.edu/news/computer-science-professor-receives-best-paper-award-ieee.
  • We continue to explore self-healing network management to address the resilient architecture hard problem. We developed an optimization-based scheme to quickly recovery phasor measurement unit (PMU) network connectivity and restore power system observability. We implemented a prototype system and performed system evaluation using the IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 118-bus systems. Our scheme successfully recovers the power system observability for all test cases with fast recovery time. With 10% of the compromised devices, the model computational time is less than 87.6 ms for the 30-bus cases and 318.5 ms for the 118-bus cases. A paper describing the work was published at the IEEE SmartGridComm'20 and we received the Best Paper Award in the current quarter.
  • We continue to develop a simulation-based platform for cyber-physical system resilience and security evaluation, which addresses the resilient architecture and scalability hard problem. The best testbed combines physical computing and networking hardware for the cyber presence while allowing for offline simulation and computation of the physical world. In the current quarter, a paper describing this work has been accepted by ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation (TOMACS).
  • We continue to study the interdependence between the power system and the communication network with the goal of improving resilience in critical energy infrastructures, which addresses the resilient architecture hard problem. In the current quarter, we are conducting large-scale evaluation experiments on our proposed distribution service restoration algorithm with a power system consisting of thousands of buses. We are preparing a manuscript describing this work for the IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTS

  • Matthew Caesar was nominated for Vice Chair of ACM SIGCOMM 2020 and will appear on the ballot in 2021.
  • Matthew Caesar was listed as a Teacher Ranked as Excellent, At Highest Rank of Outstanding (2020). He was also nominated for the 2021 Rose Award for Teaching Excellence
  • Matthew Caesar is working with Serge Fdida and Jim Kurose on creating a community "channel" for computer networking and security. The channel will feature speakers and provide interactive content students across the world stuck home during the pandemic, and beyond.
  • Matthew Caesar was selected to serve as the General Chair for ACM SIGCOMM 2021. He will also serve as the sponsor chair and on the program committee.
  • Matthew Caesar created and operates a new Slack workspace for the SIGCOMM community. The platform serves as a mechanism for participants to discuss security and networking topics with other participants. The platform has a channel to discuss a variety of topics, and includes a channel to discuss topics related to the science of security. The platform now has over 1,400 members.
  • Kevin Jin organized a virtual Ph.D. colloquium as part of the ACM SIGSIM-PADS conference in June 2020. The Ph.D. colloquium included a keynote speech and multiple student presentations with 99 attendees. We applied and received the NSF student travel grant for the event. The grant has been extended to SIGSIM-PADS'2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic made this year's conference online.
  • Kevin Jin was selected to serve on the program committee for IEEE SmartGridComm 2020
  • Kevin Jin was selected to serve on the program committee for ACM SIGSIM-PADS 2021
  • Kevin Jin served as the web chair for the 2020 ACM SIGCOMM Symposium on SDN Research (SOSR)
  • Matthew Caesar helped create and served as co-chair for an ACM SIGCOMM workshop on "Teaching and Learning Computer Networking During the Pandemic". The workshop will provide support to the many universities who suddenly had to move online during the pandemic, and the many students who are grappling and facing many new challenges with working online. The workshop was a great success, attracting over 200 participants across academia and industry.
  • Matthew Caesar was selected to serve as the mentoring chair for ACM SIGCOMM 2021. As part of his duties, he is helping to design the conference to be the first "virtual" SIGCOMM conference ever held.
  • Matthew Caesar was selected to serve on the program committee for ACM CCS 2021, a top conference in computer security.
  • Matthew Caesar was selected to serve on the program committee for ACM NSDI 2021, a top conference in computer systems.
  • Matthew Caesar was selected as an Editor for IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking.
  • Matthew Caesar continues to serve as Chief Science Officer of Veriflow, a company commercializing technology spun out of our Science of Security lablet work. Matthew has worked with Veriflow to undertake multiple new deployments of our earlier technology at top commercial-sector firms this quarter. The most recent news about Veriflow is available on the Veriflow web site (http://www.veriflow.net).
  • Matthew Caesar has continued an engagement with the University of Illinois Center for Digital Agriculture towards securing our nation's food supply. His work leverages machine learning to detect anomalies in supply-chain operations. He is in the process of conducting a prototype deployment of his work within the ISRL farm on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus.

EDUCATIONAL ADVANCES

  • Umar Farooq, an MS student of Matthew Caesar, graduated in December 2020, and will join Amazon, working on cloud network security and virtualization. Bella Lee, an MS student of Matthew Caesar, also graduated in December 2020, and will join Google, working on core network infrastructure.
  • Xin Liu, a Ph.D. student of Kevin Jin, graduated in December 2020, and will join Facebook, working on network emulation and evaluation.
  • Christopher Hannon, a Ph.D. student of Kevin Jin, graduated in May 2020, and started to work in CRCL GmbH in June 2020.
  • Kevin Jin and Kyle Hale developed a new graduate-level cyber security class "CSP544 System and Network Security" for Spring 2020 at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT); and the TA, Gong Chen (one of Kevin's Ph.D. student) received the 2020 Best TA award in Computer Science at IIT.
  • Kevin organized a virtual Ph.D. colloquium as part of the ACM SIGSIM-PADS conference in June 2020. The Ph.D. colloquium included a keynote speech and multiple student presentations with 99 attendees. We applied and received the NSF student travel grant for the event. The grant has been extended to SIGSIM-PADS'2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic made this year's conference online.
  • Jiaqi Yan, a former Ph.D. student of Kevin Jin, graduated in Dec 2019, and started to work in Microsoft in Jan 2020.
  • Christopher Hannon, a Ph.D. student of Kevin Jin, received the College of Science Excellence in Dissertation Award at IIT.
  • Matthew Caesar was elected to become the Director of Education for ACM SIGCOMM. As part of his tenure, Matthew will work with universities across the United States to further rigorous education on cybersecurity.
  • Kevin Jin served as the Director of the new Master of Cybersecurity Program in the College of Science at Illinois Institute of Technology (https://www.iit.edu/academics/programs/cybersecurity-mas). The program will serve as one more platform to disseminate the educational and research outcomes of our Science of Security project.
  • Matthew Caesar has created a new class on Internet of Things at UIUC. The class contains extensive coverage of security in this important domain. The class is slated for public release this fall on Coursera's Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) platform. The course will be open for enrollment by anyone, even people not attending the University of Illinois. Based on the success of the first offerings of this class, Matthew has developed an entire IoT online course sequence, which covers how to design and build resilient and secure IoT infrastructures. This course sequence will be offered to business professionals across the nation and it is our hope it will have substantial impact in teaching our nation's workforce in building secure and resilient computing systems.
  • Matthew Caesar also continues to refine his Networking Laboratory class. He has developed a new set of Cybersecurity lectures for his class, covering important topics, and educating students on how to improve security of common networking deployments.
  • Matthew Caesar is currently constructing an online platform for working with IoT devices in the cloud. The platform virtualizes IoT devices, internally leveraging a new technology that extends virtual machines into the IoT domain. This work will probably take another year to develop, but when it is released, we hope to grow from small pilots to a platform that can allow students across the world to learn about and work with IoT security in a manner that greatly accelerates their ability to experiment and learn.
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