Research

Research Interests and Projects in the Laboratory for Cybersecurity Dynamics

Research Interests

  1. Cybersecurity Foundation: The Cybersecurity Dynamics Approach (click the link to see the exciting “x-y-z-t coordinate system”)
    1. First-Principle Cybersecurity Modeling and Analysis (the x-axis)
    2. Cybersecurity Data Analytics (the y-axis)
    3. Cybersecurity Metrics (the z-axis; broadly defined to include trust, security, resilience, and agility metrics)
  2. Cybersecurity Architecture and Mechanisms
    1. Space Cybersecurity
    2. Moving-Target Defense and Deception and Human Factors
    3. Adversarial Machine Learning, especially Adversarial Malware Detection
    4. Bio- and Immune System-inspired Cyber Defense
    5. Security for, and by, Blockchain
    6. IoT and CPS Security
    7. Trustworthy Cloud and Edge Computing (Cryptographic Multi-Party Computing, Storage, Systems)

Funded Projects

  1. PI. VICEROY Virtual Institute. Funded by Griffiss Institute (June 2023-June 2025)
  2. Technical Pillar Lead and UCCS PI. RISE: Regional Innovation Hub Phase I. Funded by NSF (May 2023-April 2025)
  3. UCCS PI. International Alliance for Strengthening Cybersecurity and Privacy in Healthcare. Funded by Norway Research Council (March 2023-Feb 2028).
  4. Co-PI. SHF: Small: Whole-application Coordiated Parallelization Through The Optimization Of Abstraction Hierarchies. Funded by NSF (Oct. 2019-Sept. 2024). PI: Dr. Qing Yi.
  5. Lead PI. CU Next Grant. Funded by University of Colorado System (May 2022-May 2025).
  6. PI. CICI: UCSS: ACSP4HR: Assuring Cyber Security and Privacy for Human Resilience Research: Requirements, Framework, Architecture, Mechanisms and Prototype. Funded by NSF (July 2021 — June 2024). Co-PIs: Charles Benight and Yanyan Zhuang.
  7. Co-PI. SDN/NFV VACUUM: Value-based Access Control Using Untrusted Media. Funded by NSA (August 2021 — July 2023). PI: Gedare Bloom. Other Co-PI: Philip Brown.
  8. Lead PI. Application of Artificial Intelligence to Cybersecurity for Protecting National Critical Infrastructure. 2021-2025, DOE.
    • Since I will be joining UCCS starting 1/1/2021, Dr. Q. Chen (co-PI when the proposal is notified to fund) takes over the Lead PIship (per DOE policy).
  9. PI. NSA OnRampII Grant, 2021
    • I relinquish this one-year project because I will be joining UCCS starting 1/1/2021 (per NSA policy).
  10. PI. B2CSM: Blockchain-Based Cyber Security Management. 2019. Funded by AFRL.
  11. PI. SaTC: CORE: Small: A Framework for Enhancing the Resilience of Cyber Attack Classification and Clustering Mechanisms. Funded by NSF SaTC (October 2018 — September 2021)
  12. PI. MTD Dynamics: A Quantitative Framework for Modeling and Orchestrating Moving-Target Defense. Funded by ARO (August 2017 — February 2021)
  13. PI. Modeling, Analyzing and Predicting Cyber Attacks. Funded by ARL (July 2017 — July 2022)
  14. Co-PI. Enhancing Safety and Security of Clinical Alarm Systems: An interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical-Human Analysis (6/1/2018–5/31/2019). UTSA PI: Dr. G. Chen.
  15. Senior Personnel. NSF CREST Center. Funded by NSF (2017-2022)
  16. PI. Metrics Framework of Trustworthy Systems: Systematization, Ontologies, Measurements, Properties and Theory. Funded by ARO/ARL (May 2016 — August 2017; Phase I)
  17. PI. Cybersecurity Dynamics. Funded by ARO (Sept. 2013 — June 2014; this is a conceptualization project)
  18. PI. A Statistical Framework for Analyzing Cyber Threats. Funded by ARO (June 2013 — May 2016)
  19. PI. A Theoretical Framework for Cyber Defense Operations. Funded by ARO (July 2012 — June 2015)
  20. Co-PI. TC: Large: Collaborative Research: Privacy-Enhanced Secure Data Provenance. Funded by NSF (Sept. 2011 — Aug. 2016)
  21. PI. IAPD: Integrated Adaptive and Proactive Defense against Stealthy Botnets. Funded by AFOSR (March 2009 — Oct. 2012)
  22. Co-PI. AFOSR MURI: A Framework for Managing the Assured Information Sharing Lifecycle (July 2008 — June 2013)
  23. PI. Securing the Smart Power Grid. Funded by UTSA (Sept. 2010 — Aug. 2011)
  24. Co-PI. A Systematic Defense Framework for Combating Botnets. Funded by ONR (April 2009 — Dec. 2010)
  25. PI. Modeling Cyber Attacks. Funded by UTSA (Nov. 2008 — Nov. 2009)
  26. PI. Collaborative Research: Secure Knowledge Management: Models and Mechanisms, funded by NSF CyberTrust (9/1/2005 — 8/31/2009)
  27. PI. SuE: A Framework for Survivable Tactical Information Systems, Funded by Army Research (4/15/2005 — 1/14/2008)
  28. PI. Survivability Analysis for Cryptographic Key Infrastructures in MANETS, Funded by UTSA (9/1/2006 — 12/31/2007)
  29. PI. Countering Malicious and Fast-Spreading Malicious Codes, Funded by UTSA Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (6/1/2004 — 8/31/2006)