Research Infrastructure

As mobile and network technologies proliferate, so does society's awareness of the vulnerability of private data within cyberspace. Protecting private information becomes specially important, since researchers estimate that 87% of Americans can be identified by name and address, if their zip code, gender, and birthday are known to intruders. The goal of this proposal will be to develop a new set of verification tools, algorithms, and interfaces that enable secure, effective and unobtrusive management of users' private information.

Interoperable, reconfigurable systems of medical devices are the future of medical technology. They will improve care outcomes by catching common mistakes, reduce clinician cognitive workload by suppressing false alarms, and streamline and simplify continued care, especially when patients move between different medical facilities. As the penetration of "smart" networked medical technology increases, we will see increased problems with cybersecurity of such systems.

This project focuses on tackling the security and privacy of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) by integrating the theory and best practices from the information security community as well as practical approaches from the control theory community. The first part of the project focuses on security and protection of cyber-physical critical infrastructures such as the power grid, water distribution networks, and transportation networks against computer attacks in order to prevent disruptions that may cause loss of service, infrastructure damage or even loss of life.

Many compelling applications involve computations that require sensitive data from two or more individuals. For example, as the cost of personal genome sequencing rapidly plummets many genetics applications will soon be within reach of individuals such as comparing one?s genome with the genomes of different groups of participants in a study to determine which treatment is likely to be most effective. Such comparisons could have tremendous value, but are currently infeasible because of the privacy concerns both for the individual and study participants.

Safely managing the release of data containing confidential information about individuals is a problem of great societal importance. Governments, institutions, and researchers collect data whose release can have enormous benefits to society by influencing public policy or advancing scientific knowledge. But dissemination of these data can only happen if the privacy of the respondents' data is preserved or if the amount of disclosure is limited.