Meet 3 ASU cybersecurity researchers advancing a more secure future
From left: Muslum Ozgur Ozmen, Chenkai Weng and Rakibul Hasan discuss their unique approaches to and research on cybersecurity. Image by Andy Keena
Cybersecurity isn’t just about fighting the bad guys through your devices.
It is a field of study that, for example, can ensure autonomous cars stay on the road, and prevent our social media posts from being exploited and our hospital records from being accessed by corporations.
In recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October, ASU Knowledge Enterprise is highlighting three new faculty members in the Global Security Initiative's Center for Cybersecurity and Trusted Foundations by asking them how to protect ourselves against threats and how their research is paving the way for a secure cyber existence.
Finding vulnerabilities before they’re vulnerable
As technologies of all kinds are increasingly connected to the internet, cyberattacks have increasing potential to affect the physical world — from crashing drones and autonomous vehicles to compromising the security of a smart home. A new ASU researcher is looking to stop it.
Muslum Ozgur Ozmen is an assistant professor at the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence in the Ira. A Fulton Schools of Engineering.
Ozmen studies the Internet of Things and cyber-physical system security. These systems use physical sensors or devices to transmit information or control processes. Attacks against such systems can do significant damage.
“Initially, I was fascinated by how small sensors and actuators, when functioning cooperatively, can improve people's lives and well-being. As a security researcher, I then noticed how attacks against these systems can cause consequences in the physical world,” he says.
Ozmen leads the Secure and Resilient Cyber-Physical Systems Lab and is currently working on defending industrial control systems crucial to infrastructure used in chemical and water plants globally. As systems become increasingly reliant on the internet, Ozmen hopes to weed out vulnerabilities before bad actors do.
He believes a big cybersecurity threat is misinformation. For instance, a recent study from USENIX Security showed that most of the VPN (virtual private network) ads on YouTube contain misinformation. Some fake claims include: VPNs prevent tracking on devices, protect financial information and exaggerate threats posed by potential hackers. Ozmen says social media companies should do a better job of content moderation to ensure the information shared is factually correct.
Bringing data exploitation out of the dark
Chenkai Weng thinks the biggest cybersecurity threat is privacy violations. In 2021, an estimated 4% of U.S. adults 16 and older reported their credit card information was misused, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Weng, an assistant professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, researches applied cryptography and privacy-enhancing techniques.
He is passionate about data protection and privacy. Our data is used without our knowledge every day, from sharing patient data with hospitals to stock traders using private trading information to gain an advantage in the stock market. Despite government interventions such as HIPAA and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, Weng says, “We are still far from a fully private internet.”
Weng believes pushing for the transparency of internet services — especially services related to data sharing and privacy — would go a long way in highlighting the need for better privacy protections.
“Many data-aggregation and user-tracking processes happen seamlessly and are easily ignored by users,” says Weng. “Users may pay more attention to protecting their privacy once they know how their data is being exploited.”
Weng will serve as a program committee member for the USENIX Security Symposium in 2025, which will bring together researchers, practitioners and interested individuals to learn about the latest advances in computer systems security. He’s currently working with a major U.S. bank to develop cryptographic solutions to protect financial assets and ensure the data is not exposed to outside sources. As more and more financial services move to the internet, it puts a huge amount of financial information at risk. Using cryptography, Weng is helping to stop the black market from selling our information.
Putting the 'I' back in internet
Your photos are constantly being shared on the internet, whether you are a background character in a family photo or posting on social media. Hackers can take a simple LinkedIn profile photo and create an AI model to scam your loved ones.
Rakibul Hasan is looking to stop it. He’s an assistant professor at the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence and heads the PERSUE (Private, Reliable, and Secure Computing) Lab.
His research interests include human perception of privacy and privacy justice. After being annoyed by people sharing his own data, he hopes to help individuals learn how to be more discerning about their data usage and protect themselves from phishing attacks.
“Security check questions, such as your favorite place, car, friends, coffee and even birthday information are also posted on social media. It’s not difficult to gather this information to log into your accounts,” he says.
One concern Hasan has about technology and information security is our awareness. He believes the better people understand technology risks, the better we can prevent our data from being used. Data selling is legal in the U.S., and companies can collect your data without notifying you. According to Harvard Business Review, data brokerage generates $200 billion and is expected to continue growing.
Hasan is currently working with psychologists to understand better how people perceive their use of technology and its effects on others, as well as beliefs about privacy protection.
To better protect yourself, Hasan has some tips on how to keep your information safe on the internet.
“Most of the time, the website versions of apps are comparatively safer than the mobile versions. One can also use more private browsers like Brave or Firefox instead of Google Chrome or Safari. These are simple changes people can make to improve their privacy,” Hasan says.
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