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Missouri S&T To Study Internal Cyber-Security Threats

Missouri S&T faculty work with students on cyber security in a 2017 class.
Sam O'Keefe | Missouri S&T
Missouri S&T faculty work with students on cyber security in a 2017 class.

A team at Missouri University of Science and Technology has received a $1 million grant to research better kinds of cyber security.

They aren’t looking to stop outside hackers — they want to stop threats from the inside.

Facilities and systems like power grids, water plants and driverless cars could all benefit from the research funded by the National Science Foundation.

“What we’re trying to do is make sure a system does what it’s supposed to do, even when things change and security or system failures are happening,” said Bruce McMillin, a professor of computer science at Missouri S&T.

As an example, McMillin says a power grid may have the internal functions to shut down if a catastrophic failure is imminent. But if the system is tricked into thinking a problem is at hand, either by employee error or a broken sensor, shutting down the system might cause more damage.

“We need to make all components of the system smarter, and work well with all the other pieces,” McMillin said.

Another application could be driverless cars. McMillin said such cars are aware of what they and adjacent cars are doing, but one rogue malfunctioning car could jeopardize everything.

“We want to build a system that can learn this without actually telling it what’s going on, “McMillin said. “We want to be able to build the system in a way where an attacker can not corrupt the interactions between the various cars.”

Shaji Khan, professor of information systems at the University of Missouri St. Louis, said, “Most of the public attention on cyber security is focused on the idea of a hacker in the basement or a rogue nation state attacking you. But intentionally or unintentionally, things can go wrong inside a system, and it can cause just as much damage.”

He called it an important issue. “Maybe even more important than studying outside attackers.” Khan said.

The three-year grant at S&T will primarily pay for graduate assistantships for masters and Ph.D candidates who study this area and work with other researchers at North Carolina State University, Purdue University and the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @JonathanAhl

 

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Jonathan Ahl joined Iowa Public Radio as News Director in July 2008. He leads the news and talk show teams in field reporting, feature reporting, audio documentaries, and talk show content. With more than 17 years in public media, Jonathan is a nationally award-winning reporter that has worked at public radio stations in Macomb, Springfield and Peoria, IL. He served WCBU-FM in Peoria as news director before coming to Iowa. He also served as a part-time instructor at Bradley University teaching journalism and writing courses. Jonathan is currently serving a second term as president of PRNDI ââ
Jonathan Ahl
Jonathan Ahl reports from the Rolla Bureau for St. Louis Public Radio. His duties also include covering central and southern Missouri for Harvest Public Media. Before coming to St. Louis Public Radio in November of 2018, Jonathan was the General Manager for Tri States Public Radio in Macomb, Illinois. He previously was the News Director at Iowa Public Radio and before that at WCBU in Peoria, Illinois. Jonathan has also held reporting positions in central Illinois for public radio stations. Jonathan is originally from the Chicago area. He has a B.A. in Music Theory and Composition from Western Illinois University and an M.A. in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield. He is an avid long distance runner, semi-professional saxophonist and die-hard Chicago Cubs fan.