Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101301
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Cognitive Models of Human Decision-making in Cybersecurity Settings. This project aims to study human decision-making by attackers, defenders and users, in a cyber-security setting. Cognitive modelling of these decisions will play a central role in understanding and optimising the safety of cyberspace. This project will involve three components: new behavioural experiments focusing on cybersecurity situations of prevention and detection; cognitive models to understand and predict how people make ....Cognitive Models of Human Decision-making in Cybersecurity Settings. This project aims to study human decision-making by attackers, defenders and users, in a cyber-security setting. Cognitive modelling of these decisions will play a central role in understanding and optimising the safety of cyberspace. This project will involve three components: new behavioural experiments focusing on cybersecurity situations of prevention and detection; cognitive models to understand and predict how people make decisions in such settings; and the evaluation of these models against behavioural data using Bayesian statistical methods. This will then be applied to operational problems that will involve, determining optimal security policies, automated behaviour in adversarial situations, and individualised training.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100680
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$403,482.00
Summary
Making Anomaly Detection Interpretable & Actionable in Hostile Environments. Anomaly detection plays a vital role in cyber security to identify threat patterns hidden within large volumes of data. However, current approaches experience high false alarm rates in noisy, heterogeneous and adversarial environments. This project aims to identify and interpret anomalies that can disrupt system performance by introducing the concept of actionable anomalies. It will significantly advance the effectivene ....Making Anomaly Detection Interpretable & Actionable in Hostile Environments. Anomaly detection plays a vital role in cyber security to identify threat patterns hidden within large volumes of data. However, current approaches experience high false alarm rates in noisy, heterogeneous and adversarial environments. This project aims to identify and interpret anomalies that can disrupt system performance by introducing the concept of actionable anomalies. It will significantly advance the effectiveness of anomaly detection by developing algorithms that distil local and global structures of data to characterise actionable anomalies and explain their outlying aspects. Project outcomes will enhance the security, trustworthiness and fault-tolerance of critical systems, contributing to international efforts in cyber security.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100584
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$370,000.00
Summary
Secure and Private Machine Learning. This project intends to answer the question: How can machines learn from data when participants behave maliciously for personal gain? Machine learning and statistics are used in many technologies where participants have an incentive to game the system (eg internet ad placement, e-commerce rating systems, credit risk in finance, health analytics and smart utility grids). However, little is known about how well state-of-the-art statistical inference techniques ....Secure and Private Machine Learning. This project intends to answer the question: How can machines learn from data when participants behave maliciously for personal gain? Machine learning and statistics are used in many technologies where participants have an incentive to game the system (eg internet ad placement, e-commerce rating systems, credit risk in finance, health analytics and smart utility grids). However, little is known about how well state-of-the-art statistical inference techniques fare when data is manipulated by a malicious participant. The project's outcomes aim to ensure that statistical analysis is accurate while preserving data privacy, providing theoretical foundations of secure machine learning in adversarial domains. Potential applications range from cybersecurity defences to measures for balancing security and privacy interests.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
Machine learning in adversarial environments. Machine learning underpins the technologies driving the economies of both Silicon Valley and Wall Street, from web search and ad placement, to stock predictions and efforts in fighting cybercrime. This project aims to answer the question: How can machines learn from data when contributors act maliciously for personal gain?
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100361
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Towards reliable and robust machine learning systems. This project aims to protect machine learning systems from adversarial manipulation. Machine learning technologies are used in e-commerce, search, virtual assistants and self-driving cars. However, they are vulnerable to adversarial manipulations which are imperceptible to humans but can cause systems to fail, thereby undermining their usefulness or possibly causing disasters. Less vulnerable machine learning systems are expected to make futu ....Towards reliable and robust machine learning systems. This project aims to protect machine learning systems from adversarial manipulation. Machine learning technologies are used in e-commerce, search, virtual assistants and self-driving cars. However, they are vulnerable to adversarial manipulations which are imperceptible to humans but can cause systems to fail, thereby undermining their usefulness or possibly causing disasters. Less vulnerable machine learning systems are expected to make future autonomous systems, such as self-driving cars and autonomous robots, safer. This project will provide a deeper understanding of how machine learning systems can be made less vulnerable, thereby increasing the safety of future autonomous systems such as self-driving cars and autonomous robots.Read moreRead less
Crowd tracking and visual analytics for rapidly deployable imaging devices. Crowd tracking and visual analytics for rapidly deployable imaging devices. This project aims to develop visual analytics technology that adds machine intelligence to a rapidly deployable time-lapse imaging platform. Such devices can operate on solar and wind power, and be remotely programmed (via a cellular network) to take photos and send them to a server at given times. This project, which focuses on monitoring crowds ....Crowd tracking and visual analytics for rapidly deployable imaging devices. Crowd tracking and visual analytics for rapidly deployable imaging devices. This project aims to develop visual analytics technology that adds machine intelligence to a rapidly deployable time-lapse imaging platform. Such devices can operate on solar and wind power, and be remotely programmed (via a cellular network) to take photos and send them to a server at given times. This project, which focuses on monitoring crowds of objects of interest, is expected to introduce “smart” imaging platforms that could be triggered and shoot high-quality photographs when “events of interest” occur. This project could make Australia both a world leader in video analytics and secure through on-line threat detection, and improve traffic control and agriculture.Read moreRead less
A fast and effective automated insider threat detection and prediction system. Threats from insiders directly compromises the security, privacy and integrity of Australian e-commerce, large databases and communication channels. This project will provide an essential step in combating this criminal activity by developing methods to detect such threats and secure the public's information against exposure and identity theft.