Security Protection for the Cyber-physical World

Abstract: As computing advances are making profound changes in our society, they also expose us to new security threats. While the impact of cyber attacks was often in our digital life in the past, the cyber world is increasingly intertwined with the physical world. Compromised safety-critical systems or infrastructures can have life-and-death implications.

In this talk, I will highlight two research directions in the Computer Security and Privacy Laboratory (CSPL) at Washington University. The first direction studies new dimensions of existing security problems due to the connection to the physical world, such as real-time availability protection. The second direction tackles new security problems from the evolved threat landscape from the cyber-physical interactions, such as medical printing assurance. To conclude, I will discuss my vision for a safe and secure cyber-physical world.

Bio: Dr. Ning Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Before joining Washington University, he was a principal cyber engineer/researcher and technical lead at Raytheon from 2007 to 2018. Ning’s research focus is cyber-physical system security. His work has received awards from DSN 2023, USENIX Security 2023, and RTSS 2023. He is also a recipient of the NSF CAREER award. Ning received his PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2016.