Effective software vulnerability detection for web services. This project aims to design and implement new and better methods to find vulnerabilities in software services delivered over the web or through the cloud, as well as methods for proving the absence of certain types of vulnerability. So-called injection attacks are pervasive and generally considered the most important security threat on today's Internet. The programming languages used for software services tend to use strings as a unive ....Effective software vulnerability detection for web services. This project aims to design and implement new and better methods to find vulnerabilities in software services delivered over the web or through the cloud, as well as methods for proving the absence of certain types of vulnerability. So-called injection attacks are pervasive and generally considered the most important security threat on today's Internet. The programming languages used for software services tend to use strings as a universal data structure, which unfortunately makes it hard to separate trusted code from untrusted user-provided data. This project intends to develop novel program analysis tools and string constraint solvers, and employ these tools to support sophisticated automated reasoning about string manipulating software.Read moreRead less
MemberGuard: Protecting Machine Learning Privacy from Membership Inference. Machine Learning has become a core part of many real-world applications. However, machine learning models are vulnerable to membership inference attacks. In these attacks, an adversary can infer if a given data record has been part of the model's training data. In this project, the team aims to develop new techniques that can be used to counter these attacks, such as 1) new analytical models for membership leakage, 2) ne ....MemberGuard: Protecting Machine Learning Privacy from Membership Inference. Machine Learning has become a core part of many real-world applications. However, machine learning models are vulnerable to membership inference attacks. In these attacks, an adversary can infer if a given data record has been part of the model's training data. In this project, the team aims to develop new techniques that can be used to counter these attacks, such as 1) new analytical models for membership leakage, 2) new methods for susceptibility diagnosis, 3) new defences that leverage privacy and utility. Data-oriented services are estimated to be valuable assets in the future. These techniques can help Australia gain cutting edge advantage in machine learning security and privacy and protect its intellectual property on these services.Read moreRead less
Scalable & Accountable Privacy-Preserving Blockchain with Enhanced Security. This project aims to address the scalability and accountability of privacy-preserving blockchain by advancing cryptographic techniques. This project expects to develop scalable protocols for privacy-preserving blockchain while also adding accountability for authority to trace cyber crime activities, which is a missing piece in any state-of-the-art public blockchain system. Expected outcomes of this project include not o ....Scalable & Accountable Privacy-Preserving Blockchain with Enhanced Security. This project aims to address the scalability and accountability of privacy-preserving blockchain by advancing cryptographic techniques. This project expects to develop scalable protocols for privacy-preserving blockchain while also adding accountability for authority to trace cyber crime activities, which is a missing piece in any state-of-the-art public blockchain system. Expected outcomes of this project include not only practical solutions for protecting sensitive data recorded in blockchain but also crucial techniques to make the blockchain accountable for practical applications with enhanced security. This project provides significant benefits, such as building a trusted environment for sensitive transactions in the digital economy.Read moreRead less
Preventing sensitive data exfiltration from insiders . Confidential data such as military secrets or intellectual property must never be disclosed outside the organisation; formally protecting data exfiltration from insider attacks is a major challenge. This project aims to develop a pattern matching based systematic methodology for data exfiltration in database systems. We will devise highly accurate detection tools and secure provenance techniques that can effectively protect against insider a ....Preventing sensitive data exfiltration from insiders . Confidential data such as military secrets or intellectual property must never be disclosed outside the organisation; formally protecting data exfiltration from insider attacks is a major challenge. This project aims to develop a pattern matching based systematic methodology for data exfiltration in database systems. We will devise highly accurate detection tools and secure provenance techniques that can effectively protect against insider attacks. The outcomes of the project will incorporate new security constraints and policies raised by emerging technologies to enable better protection of sensitive information. Read moreRead less
Defending AI based FinTech Systems against Model Extraction Attacks. This project aims to develop new methods for defending artificial intelligence (AI) based FinTech systems from highly potent and insidious model extraction attacks whereby an adversary can steal the AI model from the system to cause intellectual property (IP) violation, business advantage disruption, and financial loss. This can be achieved by examining various attack models, creating active and utility-preserving defences, and ....Defending AI based FinTech Systems against Model Extraction Attacks. This project aims to develop new methods for defending artificial intelligence (AI) based FinTech systems from highly potent and insidious model extraction attacks whereby an adversary can steal the AI model from the system to cause intellectual property (IP) violation, business advantage disruption, and financial loss. This can be achieved by examining various attack models, creating active and utility-preserving defences, and inventing non-removable watermarks on AI models. The outcomes are new tools for securing AI-based FinTech systems before deployment and tools for IP violation forensics post-deployment. Such capabilities are beneficial by improving the security and safety of FinTech systems and other nationally critical AI systems.Read moreRead less
Development of Cryptographic Library and Support System. The protection of the whole cyber space relies on a foundation of cryptography. Cryptographic components of apps authenticate remote parties and secure the communications. However, cryptographic misuse has become a most common issue in development of security component, affecting up to 90% of apps!
This project aims to research, design and develop a crypto library. The innovation of this project lays in three aspects: (1) we will develop ....Development of Cryptographic Library and Support System. The protection of the whole cyber space relies on a foundation of cryptography. Cryptographic components of apps authenticate remote parties and secure the communications. However, cryptographic misuse has become a most common issue in development of security component, affecting up to 90% of apps!
This project aims to research, design and develop a crypto library. The innovation of this project lays in three aspects: (1) we will develop a self-contained, reliable, compatible and verifiable crypto library; (2) we will develop security test software automatically to test and verify security of codes; and (3) we will provide intelligent decision support through argumentation to help developers to apply the library efficiently and correctly.Read moreRead less
Developing an active defence system to identify malicious domains and websites. This project aims to develop an innovative active defence system to effectively identify malicious Internet domains and websites. It can secure the cyberspace that is essential to the daily work of Australian people, thus addresses a fundamental problem in safeguarding Australia from cyber crime and terrorism.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100641
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$305,754.00
Summary
Priced attribute-based encryption and its applications. This project aims to develop Priced Attribute-Based Encryption (PABE), a security mechanism. Access control is important for secure online information access. Access to encrypted data requires both private key and payment from earmarked funds specified by the access policy of encrypted data. This research will enable both authorisation and restriction of users while they access protected data anonymously. Expected outcomes include new model ....Priced attribute-based encryption and its applications. This project aims to develop Priced Attribute-Based Encryption (PABE), a security mechanism. Access control is important for secure online information access. Access to encrypted data requires both private key and payment from earmarked funds specified by the access policy of encrypted data. This research will enable both authorisation and restriction of users while they access protected data anonymously. Expected outcomes include new models, theories, techniques and PABE constructions. This research project is expected to contribute to cyber security in anonymous access control with advanced management for all Australians.Read moreRead less
An active approach to detect and defend against peer-to-peer botnets. The aim of this project is to develop an effective defence system to help organisations detect and defend against the peer-to-peer (P2P) botnets. If this research is accomplished successfully, it will be a big step forward in defeating this new but devastating malicious software widely utilised by Internet criminals and terrorists. The capability of a nation to defend against the P2P botnet attacks on its information infrastru ....An active approach to detect and defend against peer-to-peer botnets. The aim of this project is to develop an effective defence system to help organisations detect and defend against the peer-to-peer (P2P) botnets. If this research is accomplished successfully, it will be a big step forward in defeating this new but devastating malicious software widely utilised by Internet criminals and terrorists. The capability of a nation to defend against the P2P botnet attacks on its information infrastructure is central to the control of such attacks and hence to a nation's long-term survival and prosperity. The outcomes of this project can be directly used in Australian research communities and adopted by industry and government agencies.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100166
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$424,709.00
Summary
Enabling Energy Self-Sufficient and Secure Internet of Things. This project aims to develop novel resource management and transmission techniques to enable an energy self-sufficient and secure Internet of Things by utilising energy harvesting technology and robust physical-layer security approach. This project expects to generate new knowledge to address current challenges around energy self-sufficiency and data confidentiality protection capabilities. Expected outcomes include efficient algorit ....Enabling Energy Self-Sufficient and Secure Internet of Things. This project aims to develop novel resource management and transmission techniques to enable an energy self-sufficient and secure Internet of Things by utilising energy harvesting technology and robust physical-layer security approach. This project expects to generate new knowledge to address current challenges around energy self-sufficiency and data confidentiality protection capabilities. Expected outcomes include efficient algorithms and prototypes for long-lasting Internet of Things systems. This should provide significant benefits, including the improved self-sustainability and security critical to realising the Internet of Things’ potential to contribute to enhanced health service delivery and factory automation for Industry 4.0.Read moreRead less