Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are in every security-sensitive autonomous system, such as aerospace, automotive, UAVs, robotics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, and consumer appliances. CPSs are engineered systems that are built from and depend upon the seamless integration of computation and physical components [NSF]. Embedded systems comprising hardware and software systems are the primary enabling technology for these cyber physical systems. Compared to traditional information processing systems, new vulnerabilities emerge from the boundaries between various layers due to the tight interactions between cyber and physical components in CPSs and closed-loop control from sensing to actuation.
Mohammad Al Faruque,
University of California, Irvine (UCI)
In this Keynote, Prof. Al Faruque will discuss how new vulnerabilities emerge at the intersection of various components and subsystems and their hardware, software, communication, and physical layers. Several recent examples from various cyber-physical systems will be presented in this talk. A very different set of methodologies and tools are needed to understand these new vulnerabilities. Defenses against these vulnerabilities also demand new hardware/software co-design approaches. The keynote will highlight recent developments in this regard. The primary goal of this keynote will be to highlight research challenges and the need for novel scientific solutions from the larger research community.
Mohammad Al Faruque is currently a Conexant-Broadcom Endowed Chair Professor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). He serves as the Director of the Center for Resilient Autonomous Systems (RISE). He is currently the ACM Distinguished Speaker and was the IEEE CEDA Distinguished Lecturer. Dr. Al Faruque’s research interests include AI-integrated autonomous systems, physical AI, cyber-physical security, and edge AI.
He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the UCI School of Engineering Mid-Career Faculty Award for Research (2019), the IEEE Technical Committee on Cyber-Physical Systems Early-Career Award (2018), the IEEE CEDA Ernest S. Kuh Early Career Award (2016), the UCI Academic Senate Distinguished Early-Career Faculty Award for Research (2017), 4 best paper awards, including ACSAC, DAC, DATE, and ICCAD, the VehicleSec Best Demo Award (2025), and the NDSS Distinguished Poster Award (2016). He is also a Hellman Fellow (2015). In addition to publishing more than 200 IEEE/ACM papers in premier journals and conferences, Dr. Al Faruque holds 13 U.S. patents and has authored two books in the area of embedded and cyber-physical systems.