Will secure our interconnected society from cyberattacks 

We live in an increasingly connected society, where computers monitor and control everything from medical equipment to energy systems and agricultural processes. Wallenberg Academy Fellow André Teixeira will develop methods to intelligently protect these systems from cyberattacks and future changes that could threaten our security. 

Society is increasingly reliant on cyber-physical systems, which collect data using sensors and use it to govern processes; these include insulin pumps that monitor blood sugar levels in people with diabetes and adjust insulin delivery into the bloodstream. It is vital that these pumps function properly. Even small errors in blood sugar measurements, for example, can have serious consequences in the long term if they happen repeatedly. A cyberattack that disrupts the functioning of insulin pumps or other safety systems could have even worse consequences. 

Dr André Teixeira from Uppsala University is developing intelligent methods for securing cyber-physical systems against everything from small unintentional reading errors to external attacks. He is combining knowledge of security with statistical methods, artificial intelligence and control technology in a project called Prob4Sec. The aim is to design robust cyber-physical systems that can detect and mitigate an attack or consistent measurement errors. Security in the systems will be maintained at all stages, from data collection, through analysis and learning by AI, to a decision being made.

Photo Patrik Lundin