CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES (IN-)SECURITY: ATTACKS, DEFENSES, AND RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
Speakers: Roberto Di Pietro
Affiliation: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia and PI of the CRI-Lab
Summary: Our standard of living, nation GDP, and, in some cases, even our safety rely on critical infrastructures (CIs). In particular, being CIs generally perceived as a commodity (think of GPS availability, or avionics & maritime traffic routes and hubs), their security has largely been overlooked. The emergent property is that, nowadays, CIs systems are generally fragile, especially with respect to cyber attacks.
In this talk, I will first discuss a few threats critical infrastructures are subject to. Next, I will move to survey some solutions developed by my research group, intended to provide security and resiliency to CIs. I will then deep-dive into a couple of such solutions. Finally, I will conclude by highlighting topic-related research directions.
Biography: Prof. Dr. Roberto Di Pietro is a Full Professor of Computer Science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia and PI of the CRI-Lab.
His professional career began in 1995 as a military senior technical officer in the Italian MoD. A few years later, he transitioned to academia, holding
tenured professorships at the University of Roma Tre and the University of Padova, and later at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar,
where he founded the Cybersecurity Research and Innovation Laboratory (CRI-Lab).
In the private sector, Dr. Di Pietro was the Global Head of Cybersecurity Research at Bell Labs (Alcatel-Lucent/Nokia), leading multiple international research departments.
He has provided strategic consultancy services to the private sector and International organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union.
He established a start-up (exited) and currently sits on both scientific and industrial boards.
His research topics are (among others) Blockchain technology and Cryptocurrencies, Distributed Systems Security, and Critical Infrastructure Protection.
He was awarded the 2020 Jean-Claude Laprie Award for having significantly influenced the theory and practice of Dependable Computing
and has been elevated to ACM Distinguished Scientist and IEEE Fellow for contributions to the security of distributed systems.
His educational background includes two MS degrees in Computer Science and informatics, respectively, from University of Pisa,
and a two year post-MS specialization diploma in Operations Research and Strategic Decisions
and a PhD in Computer Science both from the University of Roma "La Sapienza".
Registration: This seminar is restricted to the students of the Master's Degree in Cybersecurity.