Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100116
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$419,218.00
Summary
Vulnerability Defence: From Interpretable to Trustworthy Threat Assessment. This project aims to design a novel vulnerability defence framework to automatically identify, prioritise and interpret vulnerabilities and their attack vectors from the Internet of Things (IoT). Currently, most Australian organisations can be targeted by complex cyberattacks, stealing sensitive information leading to financial loss and reputation threats. This project expects to generate new knowledge in IoT vulnerabili ....Vulnerability Defence: From Interpretable to Trustworthy Threat Assessment. This project aims to design a novel vulnerability defence framework to automatically identify, prioritise and interpret vulnerabilities and their attack vectors from the Internet of Things (IoT). Currently, most Australian organisations can be targeted by complex cyberattacks, stealing sensitive information leading to financial loss and reputation threats. This project expects to generate new knowledge in IoT vulnerability assessment using economic risk estimation and cognitive vulnerability identification methods. Expected outcomes include trusted IoT vulnerability assessment methods and vulnerability testbed. Significant benefits are expected to protect IoT networks in all defence, industry and government sectors.Read moreRead less
Stochastic Assessment of Terrorist Blast and Fragmentation Casualty Risks. The project will develop probabilistic models to predict the likelihood and extent of casualties and other losses from terrorist car bombing threats. Car bombs comprise a large quantity of explosives, and produce primary fragments such as wheels, engine block, parts of door panels and other shrapnel that pose a serious safety hazard to people exposed in a street or other mass gatherings. An improved understanding of safet ....Stochastic Assessment of Terrorist Blast and Fragmentation Casualty Risks. The project will develop probabilistic models to predict the likelihood and extent of casualties and other losses from terrorist car bombing threats. Car bombs comprise a large quantity of explosives, and produce primary fragments such as wheels, engine block, parts of door panels and other shrapnel that pose a serious safety hazard to people exposed in a street or other mass gatherings. An improved understanding of safety risks will assist in setting safe evacuation distances. A quantitative assessment of terrorism risks will also allow the effectiveness of security measures to be assessed to provide cost-effective levels of protection that are acceptable to society.Read moreRead less
Electro-Optical Primers for Safe Use and Clean Manufacturing. Conventional primers contain a mechanically-sensitive primary explosive that is used to detonate the more stable propellant in a bullet. This project aims to address the health and environmental impacts of heavy metals in current primers by replacing them with benign, electrically or optically activated silicon-based materials. Modern semiconductor fabrication techniques will be used to develop safe and clean primers through cost-effe ....Electro-Optical Primers for Safe Use and Clean Manufacturing. Conventional primers contain a mechanically-sensitive primary explosive that is used to detonate the more stable propellant in a bullet. This project aims to address the health and environmental impacts of heavy metals in current primers by replacing them with benign, electrically or optically activated silicon-based materials. Modern semiconductor fabrication techniques will be used to develop safe and clean primers through cost-effective doping and deposition protocols. The expected outcomes of the project include a sovereign primer manufacturing capability for Australia. This will provide a significant strategic advantage and health benefits for law enforcement and defence personnel during live fire training and firing range exercises.Read moreRead less
Expectations and commitments in the Australia-USA alliance. This project aims to investigate the gap between the high expectations of mutual support and the lack of detailed security commitments in the Australia-US Alliance. The project intends to use a focused approach that captures thematic aspects of the alliance through project frames and historical slices across time. Expected outcomes can advance understanding of how alliances operate as security institutions. The outcomes can help to prom ....Expectations and commitments in the Australia-USA alliance. This project aims to investigate the gap between the high expectations of mutual support and the lack of detailed security commitments in the Australia-US Alliance. The project intends to use a focused approach that captures thematic aspects of the alliance through project frames and historical slices across time. Expected outcomes can advance understanding of how alliances operate as security institutions. The outcomes can help to promote a more informed national conversation about the costs and benefits of Australia's security relationship with the United States of America (USA) and contribute to debates over the future of the Australia-USA Alliance during a period of strategic uncertainty.Read moreRead less
The Proscription of Terrorist Organisations in Illiberal States . This project aims to investigate the use of anti-terrorism proscription powers in illiberal democracies after 2002. Although promulgated by the archetypal liberal institution – the United Nations – proscription powers are increasingly recognised as important tools of illiberal regimes in legitimising human rights abuses and suppressing political dissent. Using studies of Cameroon, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the project expl ....The Proscription of Terrorist Organisations in Illiberal States . This project aims to investigate the use of anti-terrorism proscription powers in illiberal democracies after 2002. Although promulgated by the archetypal liberal institution – the United Nations – proscription powers are increasingly recognised as important tools of illiberal regimes in legitimising human rights abuses and suppressing political dissent. Using studies of Cameroon, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the project explores the intersections of colonial proscription, UN anti–terrorism norms and illiberal regimes' security. The project will generate new comparative knowledge on the deployment of colonial instruments of control in the ‘war on terror’ and innovate conceptual insights into the global security politics of exclusion. Read moreRead less
Energy big data analytics from a cybersecurity perspective. This project aims to develop a framework on energy big data analytics from security and privacy perspectives. Unlike other big data analytics such as social network big data analytics, energy big data analytics involve research challenges on how to cope with real-time tight cyber-physical couplings, and security/safety of the smart grid system. This project will develop advanced data-driven algorithms that are capable of detecting coord ....Energy big data analytics from a cybersecurity perspective. This project aims to develop a framework on energy big data analytics from security and privacy perspectives. Unlike other big data analytics such as social network big data analytics, energy big data analytics involve research challenges on how to cope with real-time tight cyber-physical couplings, and security/safety of the smart grid system. This project will develop advanced data-driven algorithms that are capable of detecting coordinated cyber-attacks that will potentially lead to catastrophic cascaded failures; and develop new solutions in detecting the false data-injection attacks that are conventionally considered as unobservable. This project will provide the benefit of enhancing our national critical infrastructure's security.Read moreRead less
Privacy-preserving Biometrics based Authentication and Security. Password based authentication systems cannot verify genuine users. Biometric authentication can address this issue. However, the booming IoT applications and cloud computing require that the biometric authentication must be conducted in the privacy-protected setting in order to comply with privacy protection legal regulations. Latest reports show that current biometric authentication systems, under protected setting, exhibit poor ....Privacy-preserving Biometrics based Authentication and Security. Password based authentication systems cannot verify genuine users. Biometric authentication can address this issue. However, the booming IoT applications and cloud computing require that the biometric authentication must be conducted in the privacy-protected setting in order to comply with privacy protection legal regulations. Latest reports show that current biometric authentication systems, under protected setting, exhibit poor authentication performance, which is not commercially applicable. This project aims to investigate innovative solutions to this issue. The intended deliverables will include deep learning based biometric feature extractor, cancellable biometrics and cloud oriented biometrics security protocols. Read moreRead less
In for the count: Maximising trust and reliability in Australian elections. This project aims to develop innovative approaches to identifying, measuring, and evaluating errors and purposeful intervention in the uniquely complex elections at the basis of Australian democracy. Such methods can underpin a world-class election auditing system, which contends with the risks that are emerging at the intersection of election digitisation, cybersecurity and foreign interference. The project’s expected o ....In for the count: Maximising trust and reliability in Australian elections. This project aims to develop innovative approaches to identifying, measuring, and evaluating errors and purposeful intervention in the uniquely complex elections at the basis of Australian democracy. Such methods can underpin a world-class election auditing system, which contends with the risks that are emerging at the intersection of election digitisation, cybersecurity and foreign interference. The project’s expected outcomes are new auditing methods, tested on real Australian election data, with their benefits quantified against global best practice. The research outputs should help reinforce the community’s trust in Australian elections, which are a foundation for our security, social cohesion, and political resilience.Read moreRead less
Understanding the drivers and motivators of extremist violence. Despite intense interest in the issue, our understanding of and ability to respond to extremist violence is limited. This innovative program of research is designed to establish an empirical foundation for understanding and responding to extremist violence in Australia. It aims to examine risk and protective factors for such violence, the needs of those susceptible to committing such acts, and the effectiveness of intervention. Find ....Understanding the drivers and motivators of extremist violence. Despite intense interest in the issue, our understanding of and ability to respond to extremist violence is limited. This innovative program of research is designed to establish an empirical foundation for understanding and responding to extremist violence in Australia. It aims to examine risk and protective factors for such violence, the needs of those susceptible to committing such acts, and the effectiveness of intervention. Findings are expected to inform health, national security, social welfare, and justice agencies in their pursuit to identify those at risk of offending, address their clinical needs and manage the risk of harm they pose to society and to themselves.Read moreRead less
Pacific Partners? The Australia-New Zealand alliance in the Pacific Islands. This project aims to investigate how alliances operate and why they endure using an in-depth analysis of the Australia-New Zealand alliance in the Pacific Islands, the region where the alliance has focused and in which there is growing strategic and policy interest. It intends to build a micro-level analysis of the influence of the behaviors and beliefs of individuals onto existing conceptual accounts. Informed by exten ....Pacific Partners? The Australia-New Zealand alliance in the Pacific Islands. This project aims to investigate how alliances operate and why they endure using an in-depth analysis of the Australia-New Zealand alliance in the Pacific Islands, the region where the alliance has focused and in which there is growing strategic and policy interest. It intends to build a micro-level analysis of the influence of the behaviors and beliefs of individuals onto existing conceptual accounts. Informed by extensive interviews, it expects to advance understanding of how the two states negotiate differences in approaches and interests while working together to preserve their security. It anticipates pinpointing strengths and vulnerabilities in the alliance and contributing to a more informed policy debate about how it should operate.Read moreRead less