REU Site: Security for Emerging Networks in Energy and Intelligent Transportation Systems

这笔资金在阿拉巴马大学（UA）建立了一个新的本科生研究体验（REU）站点，以解决智能城市中能源和智能交通系统新兴网络的安全挑战和隐私问题。智慧城市是一个框架，主要利用信息和通信技术，开发、部署和促进可持续发展实践，以应对日益严峻的城市化挑战。随着计算资源、传感能力和无线技术的进步，智慧城市中不同领域（如能源和交通）的传统网络正在演变为新兴网络，使智慧城市成为现实。新兴网络将允许大量数据的实时流动，因此，这些网络有可能打开各种漏洞和威胁，包括未经授权的设备/网络访问、位置跟踪、虚假数据注入、模拟、数据修改、传感器攻击、干扰、欺骗等。此外，尽管需要不断增长的、合格的、专门的网络安全工作人员来确保这些新兴网络的安全、隐私保护、可靠和有效的运行，但高等教育并不能跟上对未来网络安全工作人员日益增长的需求。在安全挑战和网络安全劳动力需求的激励下，这个REU网站将在UA举办一个多元化的本科生群体，提供能源和智能交通系统网络安全领域的前沿研究和开发活动，以支持各种目标，并确保作为一个国家，我们不仅领先于对手，而且还准备好应对来自智能城市新兴网络的任何网络威胁。拟议的项目将引入实用的创新和机制，以解决智能/微电网通信网络、可持续物联网（IoT）网络、电动交通以及互联汽车环境中车对车（V2V）和车对基础设施（V2I）通信网络中的安全和隐私问题。项目的智力价值包括：(i)为新兴网络（如微电网网络和V2V网络）设计安全通信协议；（ii）实现对加密数据的安全计算；（iii）将应用密码学与各种机器学习和数据分析技术相结合，以解决这些新兴网络中独特的安全挑战；（iv）针对不同网络的攻击建模、检测和缓解，包括智能电网通信网络、可持续物联网网络、V2V和V2I通信网络以及电动移动服务。这个REU网站将使学生熟悉应用密码学和机器学习，这可以为早期职业生涯的学生研究人员奠定坚实的基础。这个REU网站不仅将提供必要的本科研究环境，特别是为女性和少数民族学生，而且还有助于发展多元化和技术熟练的网络安全劳动力。本项目由CISE和促进竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This funding establishes a new Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at the University of Alabama (UA) to address the security challenges and privacy concerns of emerging networks in energy and intelligent transportation systems in smart cities. A smart city is a framework, predominantly utilizing information and communication technologies, to develop, deploy, and promote sustainable development practices to address growing urbanization challenges. With the advances in computing resources, sensing capabilities, and wireless technologies, traditional networks in different sectors in smart cities, e.g., energy and transportation, are being evolved into emerging networks to make smart cities a reality. Emerging networks will allow real-time flow of enormous amounts of data, and thus, these networks have the potential to open various vulnerabilities and threats that include unauthorized device/network access, location tracking, false data injection, impersonation, data modification, sensor attacks, jamming, spoofing, etc. Furthermore, although there is a need for a growing, qualified, and dedicated cybersecurity workforce to ensure the secure, privacy-protected, reliable, and effective operation of these emerging networks, higher education is not keeping up with the increasing demand for future cybersecurity workforce. Motivated by the security challenges and the need for cybersecurity workforce, this REU site will host a diverse group of undergraduate students at UA to offer cutting-edge research and development activities in the area of cybersecurity for energy and intelligent transportation systems to support various objectives and ensure that as a nation we are not only ahead of the adversaries, but also well-prepared to combat any cyber threat that stems from the emerging networks in smart cities.The proposed project will introduce practical innovations and mechanisms to address the security and privacy issues in smart/micro grid communication networks, sustainable internet of things (IoT) networks, electric mobility, and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication networks in connected vehicle environments. The intellectual merit of the projects includes (i) secure communication protocol design for emerging networks such as microgrid networks and V2V networks; (ii) achieving secure computation over encrypted data; (iii) combining applied cryptography with various machine learning and data analytics techniques to address the unique security challenges in these emerging networks; and (iv) attack modeling, detection and mitigation for different networks including smart grid communication networks, sustainable IoT networks, V2V and V2I communication networks, and electric mobility services. This REU site will provide the students the familiarity with applied cryptography and machine learning, which could build a strong foundation for early-career student researchers. This REU site will not only provide the necessary undergraduate research environment, especially for female and minority students, but also contribute to the development of a diverse and technologically skilled cybersecurity workforce.This project is jointly funded by CISE and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.