CAREER: Trustworthy and Adaptive Intrusion Tolerance Capabilities in Cyber-Physical Critical Infrastructures
Saman Zonouz
Lead PI:
Saman Zonouz
Abstract
Cyber-physical critical infrastructures integrate networks of computational and physical processes to provide the society with essential services. The power grid, in particular, is a vast and interconnected cyber-physical network for delivering electricity from generation plants to end-point consumers. Protecting power grid critical infrastructures is a vital necessity because the failure of these systems would have a debilitating impact on economic security and public health and safety.
Saman Zonouz

Saman Zonouz is an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech in the Schools of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Saman directs the Cyber-Physical Security Laboratory (CPSec) which recently hosted a U.S. Congressional visit to demonstrate its research outcomes. His research (supported by ~$136M collaboratively) focuses on security and privacy research problems in cyber-physical systems including attack detection and response capabilities using techniques from systems security, control theory and artificial intelligence. Saman recently delivered the Plenary Keynote in DOE’s Cybersecurity Conference to a large audience (~2,000 people). His research has been awarded by Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) by the United States President, the NSF CAREER Award in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), Significant Research in Cyber Security by the National Security Agency (NSA), Faculty Fellowship Award by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Google Hall of Fame Security Award, Provost Research Award, Outstanding Faculty Research Award by the Georgia Tech College of Computing, and Cybersecurity Fellowship by the Georgia Tech College of Engineering. His research group has disclosed several security vulnerabilities with published CVEs in widely-used industrial controllers such as Siemens, Allen Bradley, and Wago. Saman is currently a Co-PI on President Biden’s American Rescue Plan $65M Georgia AI Manufacturing (GA-AIM) project. Saman was invited to co-chair the NSF CPS PI Meeting as well as the NSF CPS Next Big Challenges Workshop. Saman has received two Georgia Tech Teaching Awards for his courses “Cybersecurity of Drones” and “Critical Infrastructure Security”. Saman has served as the chair and/or program committee member for several conferences (e.g., IEEE S&P, USENIX Security, CCS, NDSS, DSN, and ICCPS). Saman obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Performance Period: 05/15/2015 - 04/30/2020
Institution: Rutgers University New Brunswick
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1453046
EAGER: SCALE 2 (Safe Community Awareness and Alerting) - Extending a SmartAmerica Challenge Project
Nalini Venkatasubramanian
Lead PI:
Nalini Venkatasubramanian
Co-PI:
Abstract
SCALE2 explores the design of resilient, inexpensive cyber-physical systems (CPS) technologies to create community-wide smartspaces for public/personal safety. SCALE2 aims to demonstrate that community safety can be realized by augmenting CPS technologies with end-to-end resilience mechanisms.
Performance Period: 10/01/2014 - 03/31/2016
Institution: University of California-Irvine
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1450768
CPS: TTP Option: Synergy: A Verifiable Framework for Cyber- Physical Attacks and Countermeasures in a Resilient Electric Power Grid
Lalitha Sankar
Lead PI:
Lalitha Sankar
Co-PI:
Abstract
The electric power grid, a cyber-physical system (CPS), faces an alarmingly high risk of catastrophic damage from cyber-attacks. However, modeling cyber-attacks, evaluating consequences, and developing appropriate countermeasures require a detailed, realistic, and tractable model of electric power CPS operations. The primary barrier is the lack of access to models for the complex legacy proprietary systems upon which the electric power grid has relied for decades.
Performance Period: 03/01/2015 - 02/29/2020
Institution: Arizona State University
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1449080
CPS: TTP Option: Synergy: Collaborative Research: Calibration of Personal Air Quality Sensors in the Field - Coping with Noise and Extending Capabilities
William Griswold
Lead PI:
William Griswold
Co-PI:
Abstract
All cyber-physical systems (CPS) depend on properly calibrated sensors to sense the surrounding environment. Unfortunately, the current state of the art is that calibration is often a manual and expensive operation; moreover, many types of sensors, especially economical ones, must be recalibrated often. This is typically costly, performed in a lab environment, requiring that sensors be removed from service. MetaSense will reduce the cost and management burden of calibrating sensors.
Performance Period: 01/01/2015 - 12/31/2019
Institution: University of California at San Diego
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1446912
CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: A Signal-Aware-Based Low-Power, Fully Human Implantable Brain-Computer Interface System to Restore Walking after Spinal Cord Injury
Payam Heydari
Lead PI:
Payam Heydari
Co-PI:
Abstract
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are cyber-physical systems (CPSs) that record human brain waves and translate them into the control commands for external devices such as computers and robots. They may allow individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) to assume direct brain control of a lower extremity prosthesis to regain the ability to walk. Since the lower extremity paralysis due to SCI leads to as much as $50 billion of health care cost each year in the US alone, the use of a BCI-controlled lower extremity prosthesis to restore walking can have a significant public health impact.
Performance Period: 10/01/2014 - 09/30/2018
Institution: University of California at Irvine
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1446908
CPS: TTP Option: Synergy: Collaborative Research: Calibration of Personal Air Quality Sensors in the Field - Coping with Noise and Extending Capabilities
Lead PI:
Michael Hannigan
Abstract
All cyber-physical systems (CPS) depend on properly calibrated sensors to sense the surrounding environment. Unfortunately, the current state of the art is that calibration is often a manual and expensive operation; moreover, many types of sensors, especially economical ones, must be recalibrated often. This is typically costly, performed in a lab environment, requiring that sensors be removed from service. MetaSense will reduce the cost and management burden of calibrating sensors.
Performance Period: 01/01/2015 - 12/31/2019
Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1446899
CPS: Synergy: Triggered Control of Cyber Physical Systems with Communication Channels Constraints
Lead PI:
Massimo Franceschetti
Co-PI:
Abstract
Cyber physical systems extend the range of human capabilities in an increasing number of areas with high societal and economic impact, such as smart energy, intelligent transportation, advanced manufacturing, health technology, and the environment. Their successful operation requires the close integration of communication, sensing, actuation, control, and computation. However, advances in these fields have not always been well coordinated.
Performance Period: 01/01/2015 - 12/31/2019
Institution: University of California at San Diego
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1446891
CPS: Breakthrough: Towards a Science of Attack Composition, Mitigation, and Verification in Cyber-Physical Systems: A Passivity-Based Framework
Lead PI:
Radha Poovendran
Co-PI:
Abstract
This project focuses on modeling and mitigating cyber attacks on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), which are increasingly prevalent in all aspects of society such as health care, energy, and transportation. Attacks initiated on the cyber components of CPS can be mounted remotely at little economic cost and can significantly degrade the safety and performance of CPS due to the tight coupling between cyber and physical components. This project develops a passivity-based framework for modeling, composing, and mitigating multiple attacks on CPS.
Performance Period: 10/01/2014 - 09/30/2017
Institution: University of Washington
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1446866
CPS: Frontier: Collaborative Research: Compositional, Approximate, and Quantitative Reasoning for Medical Cyber-Physical Systems
Lead PI:
Scott Smolka
Co-PI:
Abstract

This project represents a cross-disciplinary collaborative research effort on developing rigorous, closed-loop approaches for designing, simulating, and verifying medical devices. The work will open fundamental new approaches for radically accelerating the pace of medical device innovation, especially in the sphere of cardiac-device design. Specific attention will be devoted to developing advanced formal methods-based approaches for analyzing controller designs for safety and effectiveness; and devising methods for expediting regulatory and other third-party reviews of device designs.

Performance Period: 05/01/2015 - 09/30/2024
Institution: SUNY at Stony Brook
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1446832
CPS: Synergy: High-Fidelity, Scalable, Open-Access Cyber Security Testbed for Accelerating Smart Grid Innovations and Deployments
Lead PI:
Manimaran Govindarasu
Co-PI:
Abstract
The electric power grid is a complex cyber-physical system (CPS) that forms the lifeline of modern society. Cybersecurity and resiliency of the power grid is of paramount importance to national security and economic well-being.
Performance Period: 03/01/2015 - 02/29/2020
Institution: Iowa State University
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1446831
Subscribe to