Aditya Mathur
Professor and Head of Pillar Information Systems Technology and Design Center Director, iTrust
Singapore University of Technology and Design

Host: Professor N. Asokan
Time: 10:15 (coffee at 10:00)
Venue: T3, CS building

Challenges in Designing Secure Critical Infrastructure

Abstract:

Complex and critical public infrastructure includes, among others, systems for water
treatment, water distribution, power generation and distribution, and mass transportation. Cyber
attacks on such systems are on the rise. Successful attacks have caused major disruptions in
critical public services and made international news headlines. This talk will focus on challenges
faced in the design of secure critical infrastructure and delve into physics-based approaches
implemented in realistic testbeds and large-scale operational water treatment plants for detecting
cyber attacks. Inherent limitations of physics-based approaches and research problems that ought
to be addressed to realize the dream of a highly resilient critical infrastructure will be highlighted.

Bio:

Aditya Mathur is professor and head of the Information Systems Technology and
Design pillar at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), and Center Director
of iTrust–a center for research in cyber security. Aditya’s recent research contributions focus on
the design of secure public infrastructure. As Center Director Aditya manages a 50+ group of
researchers in cyber security and has led the design and operationalization of three one-of-a-kind
research testbeds for water treatment, water distribution, and power generation, transmission, and
distribution. Aditya is a co-inventor of Distributed Attack Detection (DAD) that makes use of
invariants derived from plant design for detecting anomalies in process behavior that may arise
due to cyber or physical attacks.