{"693393":{"#nid":"693393","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AI Improves Diabetes Care One Decision at a Time","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPublic health systems often face a difficult challenge when time, funding, and resources are limited: who should receive care first? These decisions are complicated further by differences in patient needs, disease progression, and social factors like access to care.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA team of computer scientists and doctors led by Georgia Tech aims to change that. Using a system of artificial intelligence (AI) models, the team can help clinicians deliver the right intervention to the right patient at the right time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir system uses Restless Multi-Armed Bandit (RMAB) models. While the name is technical, the idea is simple. The RMAB framework helps decision-makers choose the best actions over time when conditions are complex and constantly changing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis project will tackle Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), building on previous experience expanding RMAB models to support maternal health care in India. Success on this front could lead to treating other chronic illnesses, like hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, and mental health.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecognizing the RMAB system\u2019s potential, the National Institutes of Health (NIH)\u0026nbsp; awarded the group an R01 grant.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:https:\/\/reporter.nih.gov\/search\/Dar1PemdxE2k-lko4bhfMQ\/project-details\/11418002\u0022\u003EThe award will fund the project\u003C\/a\u003E with $1.2 million through 2029.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal is to address the immense challenge of allocating limited health intervention resources in optimal ways,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:https:\/\/guaguakai.com\/\u0022\u003EKai Wang\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the School of Computational Science and Engineering (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:https:\/\/cse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECSE\u003C\/a\u003E).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy leveraging rich contextual data and accounting for social determinants, we envision RMAB models that empower health centers to customize interventions to individual patient profiles. Ultimately, this advances precision medicine and ensures equitable healthcare access for diverse populations.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ET2D is a diabetes condition where the body resists insulin or doesn\u2019t produce enough to regulate blood sugar levels. Left unmanaged, high blood sugar leads to severe health problems like heart disease and stroke, damage to organs like eyes and kidneys, nerve damage, infections, and ulcers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ET2D is challenging to treat because patients have different ages, genetics, lifestyles, and body composition, all of which affect the progress of the disease. Social factors, like transportation and family support, matter just as much as biology to treat the disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor these reasons, patients who get the same medications may get very different results. While treatment plans now incorporate new GLP-1 drugs, they remain expensive and difficult to distribute equitably.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDiabetes is a great example of a complicated, multi-faceted problem. It is a natural playground for the kind of high-dimensional machine learning algorithms we want to build and deploy,\u201d said School of CSE Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:https:\/\/faculty.cc.gatech.edu\/~badityap\/\u0022\u003EB. Aditya Prakash\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs a chronic disease, diabetes also creates opportunities for sequential decision-making. Providers are not making just one decision to treat the condition, but rather a series of decisions over time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETrue to its multi-armed name, the team\u2019s framework applies RMAB models across three different thrusts.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EContextual RMABs use patient histories, biomarkers, demographics, and other data to predict how each individual will respond to an intervention. These models directly provide personalized, data-driven treatments.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy incorporating patient-specific information, contextual RMAB models can help healthcare providers prioritize the most timely interventions. The goal is to improve patient outcomes while making more efficient use of limited healthcare resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENext, the group wants to understand social life and community influence in public health. Families and social networks shape how people manage chronic health conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENetwork RMABs study and account for the role of social factors in health interventions. For example, the models can recognize when one patient responds better to treatment than others through benefits of their social circle.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore broadly, hospitals, clinics, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations often share responsibility for the same population in an area. Sometimes, they even compete for the same medications or funding.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMulti-agent RMABs are the third glass of models aimed at decentralized health systems to make fairer decisions. These tools examine how to coordinate resources and decisions between stakeholders. This in turn leads to policies that encourage cooperation and equitable resource distribution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI feel extremely confident in RMABs because we have already seen these frameworks deliver real-world impact,\u201d Wang said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPrior success has proven the value of data-driven decision-making under resource constraints, giving us a strong blueprint to effectively address the nuances and complexities of diabetes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWang previously built RMAB models to expand maternal healthcare for women in India. Working in conjunction with the non-profit organization ARMMAN, the models used healthcare information to identify and reach the most vulnerable populations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy integrating RMAB models into ARMMAN mobile health technology, the partnership has reached over 350,000\u0026nbsp;mothers. This further led to a 31% improvement in engagement with health information.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECompared to maternal healthcare, diabetes is a more nuanced disease with differing causes, symptoms, and treatments. This requires a team effort spanning institutions and backgrounds. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. \u003Cstrong\u003ESara Cromer\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;is an endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Experienced diagnosing and treating diabetes, she has studied how social issues and equity influences the disease. MGH will provide much of the patient data to train the RMAB models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAssociate Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:https:\/\/sites.google.com\/stonybrook.edu\/jianli\u0022\u003EJian Li\u003C\/a\u003E studies reinforcement learning at Stony Brook University. His expertise in applying reinforcement learning for resource allocation plays a key part tailoring models for the T2D problem. Wang and Li have previously worked together on RMAB research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPrakash is an expert in computational epidemiology at Georgia Tech. He has led substantial contributions to the use of AI for networks to predict outbreaks and track disease spread. This experience has led to collaborations with NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Science Foundation, and others.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis project speaks to the interdisciplinary problem-solving we try to achieve in CSE. Despite having different backgrounds, our interest in applying our strengths to real-world healthcare problems unites us together,\u201d Prakash said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese problems require experts from all sides. Without computational scientists, we can\u2019t take advantage of available data. We lean on clinical experts to provide the data and expertise needed to guide our methods and make sense of results. Ultimately, these approaches need to be clinically validated if we want to make real-world progress.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPublic health systems often face a difficult challenge when time, funding, and resources are limited: who should receive care first? These decisions are complicated further by differences in patient needs, disease progression, and social factors like access to care.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA team of computer scientists and doctors led by Georgia Tech aims to change that. Using a system of artificial intelligence (AI) models, the team can help clinicians deliver the right intervention to the right patient at the right time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir system uses Restless Multi-Armed Bandit (RMAB) models. While the name is technical, the idea is simple. The RMAB framework helps decision-makers choose the best actions over time when conditions are complex and constantly changing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis project will tackle Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), building on previous experience expanding RMAB models to support maternal health care in India. Success on this front could lead to treating other chronic illnesses, like hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, and mental health.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of CSE researchers Kai Wang and B. Aditya Prakash are PIs of a $1.2 million NIH R01 grant to build AI models that consider individual, social, and system factors when treating patients with Type 2 Diabetes and other chronic illnesses."}],"uid":"36319","created_gmt":"2026-10-22 13:51:13","changed_gmt":"2026-10-22 14:02:32","author":"Bryant Wine","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681512":{"id":"681512","type":"image","title":"Wang-Prakash-NIH-R01-Head-Image.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792677082","gmt_created":"2026-10-22 13:51:22","changed":"1792677082","gmt_changed":"2026-10-22 13:51:22","alt":"CSE Wang Prakash NIH R01 Grant","file":{"fid":"265923","name":"Wang-Prakash-NIH-R01-Head-Image.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/22\/Wang-Prakash-NIH-R01-Head-Image.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/22\/Wang-Prakash-NIH-R01-Head-Image.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":174520,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/22\/Wang-Prakash-NIH-R01-Head-Image.jpg?itok=F247Tcxl"}},"681513":{"id":"681513","type":"image","title":"RMAB-Figure-3.png","body":null,"created":"1792677124","gmt_created":"2026-10-22 13:52:04","changed":"1792677124","gmt_changed":"2026-10-22 13:52:04","alt":"CSE Wang Prakash NIH R01 Grant","file":{"fid":"265924","name":"RMAB-Figure-3.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/22\/RMAB-Figure-3.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/22\/RMAB-Figure-3.png","mime":"image\/png","size":82207,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/22\/RMAB-Figure-3.png?itok=DiMd3WJi"}}},"media_ids":["681512","681513"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50877","name":"School of Computational Science and Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"166983","name":"School of Computational Science and Engineering"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"},{"id":"181991","name":"Georgia Tech News Center"},{"id":"170447","name":"Institute for Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"176858","name":"machine learning center"},{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"},{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"},{"id":"194384","name":"Tech AI"},{"id":"49591","name":"Diabetes"},{"id":"186687","name":"diabetes research"},{"id":"755","name":"public health"},{"id":"108101","name":"chronic disease"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBryant Wine, Communications Officer\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:bryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"693317":{"#nid":"693317","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Find a Way to Reduce AI Chatbots\u2019 Reinforcement of Delusions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EArtificial intelligence (AI) chatbots can give people a comfortable place to discuss personal thoughts and feelings. However, when a chatbot constantly agrees with a user, it can reinforce false beliefs and potentially \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/2025\/12\/ai-psychosis-is-a-medical-mystery\/685133\/?gift=rYkYJRkiFfFnni2r6QoYhEoKOopttUMYKvO0wk3NqmY\u0026amp;utm_source=copy-link\u0026amp;utm_medium=social\u0026amp;utm_campaign=share\u0022\u003Ecause harm\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3849709\u0022\u003ENew research\u003C\/a\u003E from Georgia Tech suggests that a simple change to a chatbot\u2019s instructions could reduce that risk. The work was accepted to the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3849709\u0022\u003EACM AI Letters\u003C\/a\u003E publication.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers \u003Cstrong\u003ELorenzo de la Loza\u003C\/strong\u003E and \u003Cstrong\u003EVijay Madisetti\u003C\/strong\u003E tested eight AI models in 1,280 experiments involving simulated conversations about delusional beliefs. They found that instructions designed to discourage excessive agreement reduced the models\u2019 confirmation of those beliefs by 73.8%. Adding a self-reflection step increased the reduction to 77%.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe think that this paper will help AI providers and solution creators better understand how best to protect and safeguard their users from harming themselves,\u201d Madisetti said. \u201cThis may make AI safer for all of us.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAI chatbots are designed to be helpful and supportive. But that behavior can become risky when a chatbot agrees with a user\u2019s beliefs without questioning whether they reflect reality. Researchers call this behavior sycophancy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECourtney Crooks\u003C\/strong\u003E, a principal research scientist at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E and adjunct faculty member in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/a\u003E, said chatbot conversations can have both positive and negative effects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPeople may feel more comfortable discussing difficult thoughts with a chatbot than with another person. But if the chatbot always agrees, users may miss opportunities to question their beliefs or consider other points of view.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe same behavior that makes a chatbot feel supportive, Crooks explained, can also encourage harmful patterns of thinking.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tested instructions that told AI models not to reinforce users\u2019 beliefs simply to be agreeable. The team evaluated the models using 16 clinically derived scenarios involving delusional beliefs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team also tested other safety tools, including systems designed to flag potentially harmful content. The results suggest that changing a chatbot\u2019s instructions can be an effective way to reduce excessive agreement in the scenarios tested.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECrooks called the findings a promising direction for future research combining psychology and AI safety.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study did not test people in clinical settings or prove that the approach prevents real-world harm. However, it offers developers a potential way to make chatbots more careful when responding to vulnerable users without building an entirely new AI model.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers found that instruction changes can reduce chatbots\u2019 reinforcement of delusional beliefs. The study suggests a practical safety measure while noting its real-world limits.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers found that instruction changes can reduce chatbots\u2019 reinforcement of delusional beliefs."}],"uid":"36253","created_gmt":"2026-10-20 14:31:00","changed_gmt":"2026-10-21 17:05:30","author":"John Popham","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681502":{"id":"681502","type":"image","title":"AI-Chatbot.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792602258","gmt_created":"2026-10-21 17:04:18","changed":"1792602258","gmt_changed":"2026-10-21 17:04:18","alt":"A person at a computer. A little digital robot is hovering near his fingers.","file":{"fid":"265912","name":"AI-Chatbot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/21\/AI-Chatbot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/21\/AI-Chatbot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1715464,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/21\/AI-Chatbot.jpg?itok=9cA4rhB2"}},"681478":{"id":"681478","type":"image","title":"Vijay.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792507064","gmt_created":"2026-10-20 14:37:44","changed":"1792507064","gmt_changed":"2026-10-20 14:37:44","alt":"A man in a suit speaking with two students. ","file":{"fid":"265888","name":"Vijay.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/20\/Vijay_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/20\/Vijay_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1580263,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/20\/Vijay_0.jpg?itok=Dfwgw1z0"}}},"media_ids":["681502","681478"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"660406","name":"School of Cybersecurity \u0026 Privacy"},{"id":"660367","name":"School of Cybersecurity and Privacy"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Popham\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer for the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jpopham3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"693304":{"#nid":"693304","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Where Are They Now? Team Atlanta Takes AI Cybersecurity Beyond the Competition","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/team-atlanta.github.io\/\u0022\u003ETeam Atlanta\u003C\/a\u003E spent two years exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) could help identify and fix software security problems as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/winningaixcc\/\u0022\u003EAI Cyber Challenge\u003C\/a\u003E (AIxCC).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter a grueling, world-class competition, the team \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/georgia-tech-makes-history-wins-darpa-challenge\u0022\u003Ewon\u003C\/a\u003E the $4 million first-place prize in August 2025.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team has since disbanded. Some members have moved into the corporate world, while others continue in academia. Despite these varied paths, Team Atlanta\u2019s search for breakthrough AI cybersecurity solutions continues.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EFrom AIxCC to Microsoft\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETeam Atlanta lead \u003Cstrong\u003ETaesoo\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003EKim\u003C\/strong\u003E, principal security researcher \u003Cstrong\u003EDongkwan\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003EKim\u003C\/strong\u003E, and three other former team members joined Microsoft Security after the competition, where they continue to work on AI and cybersecurity in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/github.com\/microsoft\/forge-lab\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EFrontier Offensive Research \u0026amp; Generative Exploitation (FORGE) Lab\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe move has given the researchers an opportunity to apply concepts from AIxCC to real-world software. It has also exposed them to challenges that are difficult to replicate in a competition or research lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDongkwan Kim said that team members continue to share what they learned through research papers, reports, software, and benchmarks. At Microsoft, these lessons are tested against real customer code.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis work led to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/2026\/05\/12\/defense-at-ai-speed-microsofts-new-multi-model-agentic-security-system-tops-leading-industry-benchmark\/\u0022\u003EMDASH\u003C\/a\u003E, Microsoft\u0027s multi-agent, multi-model system for vulnerability discovery and remediation. The system uses more than 100 AI agents to search for vulnerabilities, validate potential findings, and help develop fixes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERather than asking a single AI model if a piece of code contains a vulnerability, MDASH can examine a problem using multiple agents. The system can also try to create an exploit to determine whether a potential vulnerability is real and reachable.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Dongkwan Kim and the other former Team Atlanta members at Microsoft, moving from AIxCC to MDASH showed how research can look different when applied to real software.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAIxCC was not an endpoint for Team Atlanta,\u201d he said. \u201cWe continue sharing what we learned through technical reports, papers, open artifacts, and benchmarks for vulnerability discovery and patching.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with customer code introduced new challenges for the Microsoft team. The researchers had to consider security boundaries, existing development processes, how findings would be reviewed, and how vulnerabilities would be prioritized for action.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese challenges created a new feedback loop between research and product development. The team took ideas from AIxCC, test them on real software, learn where they worked and where they fell short, and use those lessons to improve the system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe experience also showed that AI does not replace the need for cybersecurity experts. Human researchers are still needed to provide context, decide how to break down difficult problems, validate findings, understand attack paths, and determine the potential impact of a vulnerability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETaesoo Kim, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/a\u003E and vice president of security research at Microsoft, said the competition continues to influence the Microsoft team\u0027s work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEvery single activity that we\u2019ve done at Microsoft was influenced by AIxCC,\u201d he said in a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/commandline.microsoft.com\/taesoo-kim-interview-mdash-security-research\/\u0022\u003E2026 interview with Microsoft\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work has continued to grow. In 2026, Microsoft introduced \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/microsoft.ai\/models\/mai-cyber-1-flash\/\u0022\u003EMAI-Cyber-1-Flash\u003C\/a\u003E, an AI model built specifically for cybersecurity and designed to work with MDASH.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe model is designed to handle many of MDASH\u0027s tasks while allowing larger AI models to focus on harder problems. Microsoft reported that replacing 80% of the models used by MDASH with MAI-Cyber-1-Flash increased its performance on the CyberGym benchmark from 88.4% to 95.95%.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe benchmark includes more than 1,500 examples from 188 software projects. Microsoft also reported that the new setup can achieve similar performance at half the cost of the previous MDASH configuration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAIxCC has sparked cybersecurity innovation across the globe, from frontier AI companies to small academic labs,\u201d said Taesoo Kim. \u201cIt is an incredibly exciting time to be working in AI-driven security engineering and research, as we see AI fundamentally reshape how we find and fix vulnerabilities at scale.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EContinuing the Research at Georgia Tech\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe AIxCC experience also continues to shape cybersecurity research at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJiho\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003EKim\u003C\/strong\u003E, a Georgia Tech Ph.D. student who was part of Team Atlanta\u0027s research efforts, said one of the biggest lessons he\u2019s brought back to campus was learning how AI and traditional security tools can work together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of these tools is fuzzing. Fuzzing tests software with large numbers of inputs to detect unexpected behavior or security problems. Large language models (LLMs), meanwhile, can reason about code and help guide the search.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the AIxCC competition, the Team Atlanta combined these ideas in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3832783.3834365\u0022\u003ECtxFuzz\u003C\/a\u003E, a system that uses an LLM to help guide fuzzing toward parts of software that may contain vulnerabilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was submitted to the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/conf.researchr.org\/home\/ase-2026\u0022\u003EACM\/IEEE International Conference on Automated Software Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, where it received the ACM Distinguished Paper Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSince AIxCC, we\u2019ve continued building on some of the core findings from our two-year journey with Team Atlanta,\u201d Jiho Kim said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne of the biggest lessons for us was understanding how LLMs and traditional fuzzing can work together in a mutually beneficial way, using each to overcome the limitations of the other and ultimately find more and deeper vulnerabilities.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also wanted to make the lessons from AIxCC useful to other cybersecurity researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey created an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/competition-community-how-team-atlantas-ai-cybersecurity-breakthrough-going-open-source\u0022\u003EOpen-Source Cyber Reasoning System Framework\u003C\/a\u003E (OSS-CRS) and CRSBench, which provides researchers and security professionals with ways to use, test, and build on technology developed through AIxCC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019ve also been focused on making the results of AIxCC useful to the broader security community,\u201d Kim said. \u201cWe created OSS-CRS and CRSBench so that researchers and practitioners can more easily use, reproduce, and build upon the capabilities and lessons from our AIxCC work.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u0027s research has also moved beyond identifying vulnerabilities. Researchers are studying how well AI models can understand and reason about computer code.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJiho Kim and his lab mates in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gts3.org\/\u0022\u003ESystems Software \u0026amp; Security Lab\u003C\/a\u003E developed COIN, a benchmark designed to test how well LLMs can reason about code. The work has been accepted to the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/2026.emnlp.org\/\u0022\u003E2026 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech researchers are also developing additional benchmarks to study the various types of reasoning required for cybersecurity. They are using what they learn to create new datasets and methods for training AI models focused on cybersecurity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re using what we learn from these benchmarks to train cybersecurity-focused models through new datasets and training methodologies,\u201d Jiho Kim said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhotos by John Popham\/College of Computing\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETeam Atlanta\u2019s AI cybersecurity work has advanced from a competition victory to real-world vulnerability discovery. Former members continue this work through Microsoft products and Georgia Tech research. Microsoft\u2019s MDASH uses more than 100 AI agents for vulnerability discovery, validation, exploitation testing, and remediation; MAI-Cyber-1-Flash raised CyberGym performance from 88.4% to 95.95% while reducing costs. Georgia Tech researchers combine large language models with fuzzing through CtxFuzz, which received an ACM Distinguished Paper Award, and released OSS-CRS, CRSBench, and COIN to advance cybersecurity research.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Team Atlanta\u2019s AI cybersecurity work has advanced from a competition victory to real-world vulnerability discovery. Former members continue this work through Microsoft products and Georgia Tech research."}],"uid":"36253","created_gmt":"2026-10-19 17:56:04","changed_gmt":"2026-10-20 13:38:47","author":"John Popham","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680033":{"id":"680033","type":"image","title":"AIxCC-2025-27-web-copy.jpg","body":null,"created":"1776880174","gmt_created":"2026-04-22 17:49:34","changed":"1776880174","gmt_changed":"2026-04-22 17:49:34","alt":"A group of people standing inside of a convention hall. ","file":{"fid":"264266","name":"AIxCC-2025-27-web-copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/22\/AIxCC-2025-27-web-copy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/22\/AIxCC-2025-27-web-copy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1078593,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/04\/22\/AIxCC-2025-27-web-copy.jpg?itok=6t8OfTPC"}},"681466":{"id":"681466","type":"image","title":"TeamAtlanta-Reception-15.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792432685","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 17:58:05","changed":"1792432685","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 17:58:05","alt":"A crowd of people looking at a screen. The screen shows a team photo of Team Atlanta.","file":{"fid":"265874","name":"TeamAtlanta-Reception-15.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/TeamAtlanta-Reception-15.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/TeamAtlanta-Reception-15.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2223190,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/TeamAtlanta-Reception-15.jpg?itok=Uk3m9De-"}},"677708":{"id":"677708","type":"image","title":"Team Atlanta at DefCon 33","body":null,"created":"1755285635","gmt_created":"2025-08-15 19:20:35","changed":"1755285635","gmt_changed":"2025-08-15 19:20:35","alt":"Team Atlanta stands on the dark DefCon stage during the convention\u0027s closing ceremony. ","file":{"fid":"261641","name":"IMG_9163.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/08\/15\/IMG_9163.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/08\/15\/IMG_9163.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2393783,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/08\/15\/IMG_9163.jpg?itok=QL3hjg7_"}},"681468":{"id":"681468","type":"image","title":"AIxCC-2025-38.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792432817","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 18:00:17","changed":"1792432817","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 18:00:17","alt":"A man standing with his hands out looking at the sky. ","file":{"fid":"265876","name":"AIxCC-2025-38.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-38.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-38.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2528658,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-38.jpg?itok=XTCMKvSN"}},"681469":{"id":"681469","type":"image","title":"AIxCC-2025-42.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792432817","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 18:00:17","changed":"1792432817","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 18:00:17","alt":"A man looking at the camera smiling. ","file":{"fid":"265877","name":"AIxCC-2025-42.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-42.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-42.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5433378,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-42.jpg?itok=uc5jvAL_"}},"681470":{"id":"681470","type":"image","title":"AIxCC-2025-50.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792432817","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 18:00:17","changed":"1792432817","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 18:00:17","alt":"A man looking up at a screen with his hands clasped in front of him.","file":{"fid":"265878","name":"AIxCC-2025-50.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-50.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-50.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2962205,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-50.jpg?itok=ydXeVf8n"}},"681467":{"id":"681467","type":"image","title":"AIxCC-2025-05.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792432817","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 18:00:17","changed":"1792432817","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 18:00:17","alt":"A trophy next to a virtual scoreboard. The scoreboard has virtual stats from the AIxCC competition. ","file":{"fid":"265875","name":"AIxCC-2025-05.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-05.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-05.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4251863,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/AIxCC-2025-05.jpg?itok=tfIiiSsD"}}},"media_ids":["680033","681466","677708","681468","681469","681470","681467"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"660406","name":"School of Cybersecurity \u0026 Privacy"},{"id":"660367","name":"School of Cybersecurity and Privacy"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Popham\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer at the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jpopham3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"693300":{"#nid":"693300","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Sensing Data Toolkit Helps Improve Therapy for Veterans with PTSD","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EClinical psychologists who treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could soon gain better insight into how their patients experience triggering environments and situations outside the clinic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECognitive behavioral therapies require patients to practice skills between sessions. Clinicians rely on retrospective patient reports to understand what happens during that time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, recall bias, selective disclosure, and difficulty remembering can render those reports subjective, incomplete, or inaccurate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClinicians can now see sensor data on how patients\u2019 bodies react in these situations thanks to a new technology toolkit from Georgia Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA new app that syncs with a FitBit wearable device can track and record heart rate, step count, noise level, and other sensor data when patients practice prolonged exposure homework assigned by their therapists.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA web dashboard lets clinicians review that data, add notes, and track patient progress. This information helps them structure therapy sessions more effectively and accelerate patient progress.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe toolkit is the culmination of a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/627023\/new-12-million-nsf-grant-aims-improve-treatment-ptsd-patients\u0022\u003E$1.2 million National Science Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E grant awarded to Georgia Tech\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.google.com\/view\/riarriaga\/home\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERosa Arriaga\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and Emory\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/med.emory.edu\/directory\/profile\/?u=AMSHERR\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAndrew Sherrill\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E in 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EArriaga is an associate professor at Tech\u2019s School of Interactive Computing. Sherrill is an assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/med.emory.edu\/departments\/psychiatry\/index.html\u0022\u003EDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/med.emory.edu\/\u0022\u003EEmory School of Medicine\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESherrill is also a practicing clinical psychologist at the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program and has worked with veterans with PTSD for more than a decade.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EArriaga and the students in her\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.google.com\/view\/riarriaga\/lab?authuser=0\u0022\u003EUbicomp Health and Wellness Lab\u003C\/a\u003E spent five years developing the toolkit, which they call the Patient Engagement Computational Sensing System (PECSS).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was a lot of master\u2019s students and undergrads who built the back end to the app and the dashboard,\u201d Arriaga said. \u201cIt was a lot of work and effort by a lot of students to take an idea from conception to deployment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers originally titled the toolkit the Prolonged Exposure Collecting Sensing System, but they changed the name after realizing it could be used for other types of therapy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe idea is that for any therapy that has a homework component, this can bridge the gap between patient self-reporting and clinician intuition,\u201d Arriaga said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.natswinger.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENathaniel Swinger,\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E a Ph.D. student in Arriaga\u2019s lab, co-led a paper on the study\u2019s results along with Ph.D. student Myeonghan Ryu. Their paper received a best paper award at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cscw.acm.org\/2026\/\u0022\u003E2026 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW).\u003C\/a\u003E Best papers are given to less than 1% of the papers published at the conference.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur findings showed that the deployment was quite successful,\u201d Swinger said. \u201cOver 75% of the patients who incorporated PECSS into their treatment experienced a clinically significant change in symptoms. We don\u2019t know if that\u2019s causal, but there is some evidence the system worked to facilitate the process.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProlonged exposure is a method for systematically approaching trauma memories and reminders to make them safe and tolerable for patients. It is typically delivered in one-on-one therapy sessions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESherrill said the toolkit shows promise toward enhancing prolonged exposure therapy outside of clinical settings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cProlonged exposure has been researched more than any other therapy that exists,\u201d Sherrill said. \u201cWe know it\u2019s effective, but we\u2019ve had problems for decades implementing it in the real world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s a need for technology in taking what patients learn in their sessions and having them replicate it outside of the clinic.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUntil now, the impact prolonged exposure on a patient with PTSD depends on the patient\u2019s willingness to self-report the results of their homework.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe number of potential triggers is an endless list,\u201d Sherrill said. \u201cWe want people to approach them with their guard down and not to engage in avoidance or soothing behaviors.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESherrill said most of his patients have shown interest in continuing to use the toolkit \u2014 even after therapy is no longer needed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA system like this could reduce the frequency of sessions with a therapist,\u201d Sherrill said. \u201cWe\u2019re teaching patients to be their own therapists. This toolkit gives them a greater sense of independence.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGiven the promising results, Swinger said that ideally the next step would be a large-scale clinical trial.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re looking to better test the causal clinical impacts of the system and a more generalizable notion of efficacy,\u201d Swinger said. \u201cWe want to rigorously test it in a clinical setting for people beyond veterans with PTSD.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EClinicians can now see sensor data on how patients\u2019 bodies react in triggering environments thanks to a new technology toolkit from Georgia Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Clinicians can now see sensor data on how patients\u2019 bodies react in triggering environments thanks to a new technology toolkit from Georgia Tech and Emory University."}],"uid":"36530","created_gmt":"2026-10-19 17:24:16","changed_gmt":"2026-10-19 17:26:47","author":"Nathan Deen","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681463":{"id":"681463","type":"image","title":"AdobeStock_864610717.jpeg","body":null,"created":"1792430666","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 17:24:26","changed":"1792430666","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 17:24:26","alt":"A therapist sits across from her patient who is a veteran with PTSD","file":{"fid":"265871","name":"AdobeStock_864610717.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AdobeStock_864610717.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AdobeStock_864610717.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":139731,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/AdobeStock_864610717.jpeg?itok=gpVvUOZu"}}},"media_ids":["681463"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"693264":{"#nid":"693264","#data":{"type":"news","title":"When a Ship\u2019s Systems Lie, Cybersecurity Gets Complicated","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESailors at sea rely on electronic equipment to keep ships on course and out of danger, but what happens when hackers get involved? Are the mariners equipped to handle modern cybersecurity threats like GPS spoofing?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/2609.12810\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E accepted for the 2026 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.sigsac.org\/ccs\/CCS2026\/index.html\u0022\u003EACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech researchers interviewed 20 military sailors about their cybersecurity experiences, training, and responses to hypothetical scenarios. Their findings point to a gap between how mariners are trained to handle emergencies and how cyberattacks can compromise the systems they depend on.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study found several gaps in how crews prepare for cyber threats:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022edf63c815360cecb04c01d6561be9a7b1\u0022\u003ETraining often misses the mark. Thirteen participants said that standard cybersecurity training was largely irrelevant to their shipboard duties, and 14 reported receiving no mission-specific cybersecurity training.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e619f896d048b6bcd034a76176e6067bb\u0022\u003EOperational technology is often overlooked. Eighteen participants said their training did not distinguish between traditional information technology and operational technology, such as navigation and propulsion systems.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e928f3fef211e61dcd97e963697bd9389\u0022\u003EObvious failures are easier to recognize. Eighteen participants said they would primarily look for visible signs of operational problems when identifying a potential cyberattack.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e1499170bf08bd8a760ed09fee3a091d7\u0022\u003ECybersecurity is often a low priority. Seventeen participants described their cybersecurity training as absent, low quality, or a low priority.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese gaps matter because cyberattacks can compromise a system without causing it to stop working. For example, an attacker could manipulate navigation data, leaving a crew to make decisions based on false information.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019d assume it was anything but cyber at first. It would probably take me quite some time to get to that conclusion,\u201d one participant told the researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team examined three hypothetical scenarios: GPS spoofing, loss of propulsion control in a high-traffic area, and failure of electronic navigation systems in a congested channel at night.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn each scenario, mariners would first focus on keeping the vessel safe, using established procedures to stabilize the ship and troubleshoot its systems. While this response is essential during an emergency, it could delay recognition of an attack if crews do not consider that the system or its data may have been compromised.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, a ship navigating a narrow channel depends on accurate location information, but what happens when its navigation systems appear to work normally while a hacker manipulates that data?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn attacker could use GPS spoofing to falsify a vessel\u2019s reported position. If the false position is close enough to the ship\u2019s actual location, a mariner might not notice anything wrong. The vessel could gradually head toward shallow water or another obstacle without triggering an obvious error or alarm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy the time the mariner realizes something is wrong, the ship\u2019s size and limited maneuverability could make it too late to avoid a grounding or collision,\u201d said \u003Cstrong\u003EAnna Raymaker\u003C\/strong\u003E, a Georgia Tech Ph.D. student who studies maritime security.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe scenario illustrates a central challenge in maritime cybersecurity: An equipment failure may be easy to recognize, but a cyberattack that provides false information can be much harder to detect.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/2609.12810\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBatten the Hatches: Cybersecurity with Military Mariners\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Ewas written by master\u2019s student \u003Cstrong\u003ERyan Von Brock\u003C\/strong\u003E, Raymaker, Research Scientist \u003Cstrong\u003EAnimesh Chhotaray\u003C\/strong\u003E, Associate Professors \u003Cstrong\u003EFrank Li\u003C\/strong\u003E and \u003Cstrong\u003ESaman Zonouz\u003C\/strong\u003E, and Provost \u0026amp; Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs \u003Cstrong\u003ERaheem Beyah\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was conducted in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/capcpsec\/\u0022\u003ECyber-Physical Security Lab\u003C\/a\u003E, a collaboration between the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhotos by Terence Rushin\/College of Computing\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMaritime cybersecurity training leaves sailors vulnerable to attacks that manipulate ship systems without obvious failures. The Georgia Tech study identifies weaknesses in preparation and threat recognition among military mariners. Interviews with 20 military sailors found that 13 considered standard training irrelevant, while 14 lacked mission-specific cybersecurity training. Operational technology gaps affected 18 participants, and 18 said they would mainly seek visible operational problems when detecting attacks. In scenarios involving GPS spoofing and navigation or propulsion failures, crews prioritized vessel safety, but false data could delay detection and cause grounding or collision.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Maritime cybersecurity training leaves sailors vulnerable to attacks that manipulate ship systems without obvious failures. The Georgia Tech study identifies weaknesses in preparation and threat recognition among military mariners."}],"uid":"36253","created_gmt":"2026-10-16 13:29:06","changed_gmt":"2026-10-19 13:04:54","author":"John Popham","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681456":{"id":"681456","type":"image","title":"Saman-Zonouz-Lab_banner.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792414735","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 12:58:55","changed":"1792414735","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 12:58:55","alt":"A group photo of students and faculty standing around lab equipment found on a ship. ","file":{"fid":"265864","name":"Saman-Zonouz-Lab_banner.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Saman-Zonouz-Lab_banner.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Saman-Zonouz-Lab_banner.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1807296,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/Saman-Zonouz-Lab_banner.jpg?itok=C77DD-Gm"}},"681458":{"id":"681458","type":"image","title":"Saman-Zonouz-Lab_side-view.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792414735","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 12:58:55","changed":"1792414735","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 12:58:55","alt":"A group of students working on lab equipment. The equipment replicates a ship\u0027s helm. ","file":{"fid":"265866","name":"Saman-Zonouz-Lab_side-view.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Saman-Zonouz-Lab_side-view.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Saman-Zonouz-Lab_side-view.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1676397,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/Saman-Zonouz-Lab_side-view.jpg?itok=-Potoyjw"}},"681457":{"id":"681457","type":"image","title":"Saman-Zonouz-Lab_ship-equipment.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792414735","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 12:58:55","changed":"1792414735","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 12:58:55","alt":"Lab equipment of a ship steering wheel and other electronic  measuring devices. ","file":{"fid":"265865","name":"Saman-Zonouz-Lab_ship-equipment.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Saman-Zonouz-Lab_ship-equipment.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Saman-Zonouz-Lab_ship-equipment.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1781292,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/Saman-Zonouz-Lab_ship-equipment.jpg?itok=mkKyqYFy"}}},"media_ids":["681456","681458","681457"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"660406","name":"School of Cybersecurity \u0026 Privacy"},{"id":"660367","name":"School of Cybersecurity and Privacy"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Popham\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer for the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jpopham3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"693263":{"#nid":"693263","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cybersecurity Community Rallies Around Campus Food Insecurity","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThroughout the month of September, faculty and staff in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy raised over $3,600 for \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/star.studentlife.gatech.edu\/klemis-kitchen\u0022\u003EKlemis Kitchen\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech\u2019s on-campus food bank.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe kitchen serves students in need with groceries or meals, works to reduce food waste on campus, and is part of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/star.studentlife.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EStudents\u2019 Temporary Assistance and Resources\u003C\/a\u003E (STAR) Services.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe STAR Office is so grateful to the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy for sponsoring a food drive this semester,\u201d said STAR Program Director \u003Cstrong\u003ESteven Fazenbaker.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u201cYour successful campaign has put us in a position to serve over 300 students by keeping Klemis Kitchen fully stocked with our most popular shelf-stable food items for the rest of the fall semester.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cIt also allows us to get a head start restocking Klemis Kitchen during the winter break, so we will be ready when the spring semester begins. Thank you so much for your over-the-top generosity.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe school exceeded its goal by $1,600 and surpassed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/scp-food-drive\u0022\u003Elast year\u2019s donation\u003C\/a\u003E of $2,110.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Research Operations \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/staffer-prioritizes-building-school-culture\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMary Helen Hayes\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E organized the food drive and spent September fundraising.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhile I organized and led the drive, its success came from the generosity and community spirit of our faculty and staff,\u201d Hayes said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThank you to everyone who contributed and helped make it possible. SCP is proud to support such a meaningful cause, and we truly hope our contribution makes a difference for Klemis Kitchen and the students it serves.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile SCP hosts this food drive once a year, Klemis Kitchen accepts donations year-round.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVisit \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/star.studentlife.gatech.edu\/klemis-kitchen\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/star.studentlife.gatech.edu\/klemis-kitchen\u0022\u003EKlemis Kitchen\u003C\/a\u003E to learn more about how you can help. The Kitchen relies 100% on donations, including leftovers from the dining halls, donations from community partners like grocery stores and churches, and food drives sponsored by departments across campus.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhotos by John Popham\/College of Computing\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s cybersecurity community raised over $3,600 for Klemis Kitchen in September. The campaign strengthened food access for students and supported future restocking. The fundraiser exceeded its goal by $1,600 and surpassed last year\u2019s $2,110 donation, helping Klemis Kitchen serve over 300 students through fall and prepare for spring. Organized by Mary Helen Hayes, the drive reflected faculty and staff generosity, while Klemis Kitchen continues accepting donations year-round.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u2019s cybersecurity community raised over $3,600 for Klemis Kitchen in September. The campaign strengthened food access for students and supported future restocking."}],"uid":"36253","created_gmt":"2026-10-16 12:56:02","changed_gmt":"2026-10-19 12:41:04","author":"John Popham","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681450":{"id":"681450","type":"image","title":"SCP-Food-Drive-2026.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792413326","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 12:35:26","changed":"1792413326","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 12:35:26","alt":"A group photo of more than a dozen people. A woman in the center is holding a large check for Klemis Kitchen, Georgia Tech\u0027s on-campus food pantry. ","file":{"fid":"265858","name":"SCP-Food-Drive-2026.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/SCP-Food-Drive-2026.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/SCP-Food-Drive-2026.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1555304,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/SCP-Food-Drive-2026.jpg?itok=sRFybjCz"}},"681452":{"id":"681452","type":"image","title":"Food-Drive-4.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792413487","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 12:38:07","changed":"1792413487","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 12:38:07","alt":"A smiling woman unloading food from a car. ","file":{"fid":"265860","name":"Food-Drive-4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Food-Drive-4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Food-Drive-4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4795205,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/Food-Drive-4.jpg?itok=NxJ96fzq"}},"681453":{"id":"681453","type":"image","title":"Food-Drive-5.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792413487","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 12:38:07","changed":"1792413487","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 12:38:07","alt":"A group of people standing around a large amount of food for Klemis Kitchen. ","file":{"fid":"265861","name":"Food-Drive-5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Food-Drive-5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Food-Drive-5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5382040,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/Food-Drive-5.jpg?itok=3uKOvhLZ"}},"681454":{"id":"681454","type":"image","title":"Food-Drive-6.jpg","body":null,"created":"1792413487","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 12:38:07","changed":"1792413487","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 12:38:07","alt":"A group of people standing around a large amount of food for Klemis Kitchen. ","file":{"fid":"265862","name":"Food-Drive-6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Food-Drive-6.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/Food-Drive-6.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4094472,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/Food-Drive-6.jpg?itok=6-TctkHI"}}},"media_ids":["681450","681452","681453","681454"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"660406","name":"School of Cybersecurity \u0026 Privacy"},{"id":"660367","name":"School of Cybersecurity and Privacy"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"194836","name":"Sustainability"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Popham\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer for the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jpopham3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"693262":{"#nid":"693262","#data":{"type":"news","title":"CS Ph.D. Student Gains Industry Insight at Apple","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor many graduate students, an internship offers a chance to see how their research holds up outside the lab. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/oytunkuday.com\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOytun Duran\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, a third-year computer science Ph.D. student, had that opportunity this summer at Apple.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuran spent nearly four months interning at Apple\u2019s headquarters in Cupertino, California. His work during the internship focused on Apple\u2019s Foundation Models, a series of generative AI models that power Apple Intelligence, and on the large-scale infrastructure and tooling around them. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuran\u2019s research interests lie at the intersection of computer architecture, systems, and machine learning. More recently, he has focused on making artificial intelligence (AI) workloads more accessible, sustainable, and cost-effective. Duran is co-advised by Associate Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eiclab.scs.gatech.edu\/pages\/team.html#PI\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYingyan (Celine) Lin\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and Assistant Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.anand-iyer.com\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAnand Iyer\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003Ein the School of Computer Science.\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuran said he saw the internship as an opportunity to gain industry experience and apply his knowledge to real-world problems. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIndustry research is particularly exciting to me because you can work on challenging problems while also seeing how these ideas can translate into systems and products at a very large scale and impact nearly a billion lives,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a research intern, Duran especially appreciated the level of independence he was given. He was expected to take initiative to find problems on his own and then develop solutions with his mentors. Although Duran liked taking ownership of his work, he also came to better understand the value of outside input. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne thing I\u2019m continuing to improve is recognizing when it\u2019s more efficient to ask for input earlier rather than spending too much time trying to solve everything independently,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuran said he enjoyed the internship, especially the people he met. However, the biggest highlight for him was presenting his work.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI had the opportunity to present several times, including to larger audiences across different organizations, and I really enjoyed discussing the findings and getting feedback from people with different perspectives,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to the technical knowledge he gained, Duran said the experience gave him a new perspective on how research and engineering work in industry. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI realized that combining strong research with real business needs can often create much greater impact than research alone,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI really enjoyed seeing my work translate into something with broader, tangible impact, and that has influenced the kind of work I want to pursue in the future.\u201d \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor many graduate students, an internship offers a chance to see how their research holds up outside the lab. \u003Cstrong\u003EOytun Duran\u003C\/strong\u003E, a third-year computer science Ph.D. student, had that opportunity this summer at Apple.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A computer science Ph.D. student spent his summer interning at Apple, gaining industry insight and experience. "}],"uid":"36532","created_gmt":"2026-10-15 22:14:47","changed_gmt":"2026-10-15 22:31:08","author":"Morgan Usry","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681444":{"id":"681444","type":"image","title":"OytunDuran.JPG","body":null,"created":"1792103427","gmt_created":"2026-10-15 22:30:27","changed":"1792103427","gmt_changed":"2026-10-15 22:30:27","alt":"Man standing outside in front of rainbow sculpture ","file":{"fid":"265852","name":"OytunDuran.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/15\/OytunDuran.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/15\/OytunDuran.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":149185,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/15\/OytunDuran.JPG?itok=A_XEkfLm"}}},"media_ids":["681444"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"50875","name":"School of Computer Science"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMorgan Usry, Communications Officer, morgan.usry@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["morgan.usry@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"693212":{"#nid":"693212","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Small Farmers Being Weighed Down by Food Traceability Rule, New Paper Finds","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Food and Drug Administration\u2019s (FDA)\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/media\/183514\/download\u0022\u003EFood Traceability Rule\u003C\/a\u003E requires producers and distributors of perishable foods to submit electronic data records during a contamination outbreak.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, a new paper by a Georgia Tech-led research team suggests that the requirements can disproportionately burden family farms and other small food producers due to a lack of technological infrastructure, resources, or compliance expertise.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe rule is mandated by Section 204(d) of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed into law in 2011. Intended to help the FDA quickly identify the source of contamination, the rule requires producers or distributors with more than $25,000 in annual produce sales to comply or face significant fines.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEarlier this year, the FDA extended its compliance deadline to July 2028. One reason for the extension may be the volume of feedback from stakeholders affected by the rule. The FDA received more than 1,200 comments during an open forum, with feedback from stakeholders ranging from major distributors to small farmers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMany small farmers commented on how they may not have the devices needed to input this data,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.kwonsoonho.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESoonho Kwon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, a Ph.D. student in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Interactive Computing (SIC) and lead author of the paper. \u201cDoes this mean they have to purchase it themselves? Do they need to become educated on how to use computing systems?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKwon is a member of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.google.com\/view\/escapelab?pli=1\u0026amp;authuser=0\u0022\u003EEquity and Sustainability in Computing Lab\u003C\/a\u003E, which is led by SIC professor and chair\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/shaowenbardzell.com\/about\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EShaowen Bardzell\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMany small farms also said they can\u2019t afford to hire someone to track the data.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne small farmer said the amount of data tracking required by the rule is overwhelming. Some of the required data include:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022ea1cd1b17babad7a094193ce3cfcdc1e5\u0022\u003Elocation and name of the field where food was harvested\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e3e0b858de04d537ed1544ed215d6a3ca\u0022\u003Edate of harvest\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e513b4f8aa9e9d9f23b57363206857f61\u0022\u003Epacking dates\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e619ee0212b73538d858d6c2bed7b8f07\u0022\u003Eshipping dates\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPlease do not force us to do technology stuff,\u201d the commenter said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard enough to keep up with the local demand as it is. We run a pretty low digital technology effort. It\u2019s basically harvest fresh organically grown veggies and sell them to local people.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKwon said the intention of the Food Traceability Rule is admirable.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPreventing foodborne illness is critical, and data- and technology-driven governance can be a powerful tool toward that goal,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s equally important to think critically about who is supposed to be the default user of these systems, and who gets missed in the process. It\u2019s undermining the people who are unable to comply.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther factors didn\u2019t appear to be considered by the FDA, including the lack of technological infrastructure in rural America, where many foods are grown.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMany parts of rural America have limited or unreliable internet access,\u201d Kwon said. \u201cIf the FDA wants them to send this data, they must comply within 24 hours. Does that mean they have to stop their daily routine and drive to a city that has internet to send it? The rule is operating on the assumption that everyone is dealing with the same physical environment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECulture and religion also seem overlooked. Some commenters raised concerns that Amish farmers who avoid certain technologies for religious reasons would be pressured into digital record keeping.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMany major distributors and organizations expressed support for the Food Traceability Rule in the FDA\u2019s forum.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cathwieczorek.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECatherine Wieczorek\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, a Ph.D. student in SIC and co-author on the paper, said these organizations don\u2019t have the same tension points as smaller producers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLarger food producers have the operational capacity to do the type of work the rule requires,\u201d Wieczorek said. \u201cWe find there\u2019s a power imbalance when it comes to smaller food producers like a family farm. Change at that scale is difficult for smaller producers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBardzell, who advises Kwon and Wieczorek, said the situation provides computing researchers an opportunity to create interventions that will benefit those with fewer resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn a data age when we\u2019re adding AI into our work processes and labor practices, we need to think about how this need creates unequal burdens on different stakeholders in our food system,\u201d Bardzell said. \u201cIt\u2019s a significant challenge for computing going forward.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKwon will present the paper on behalf of his collaborators next week at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cscw.acm.org\/2026\/\u0022\u003EACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing\u003C\/a\u003E (CSCW) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their research is supported by the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new paper by a Georgia Tech-led research team suggests that the FDA\u0027s Food Traceability Rule can disproportionately burden family farms and other small food producers due to a lack of technological infrastructure, resources, or compliance expertise.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new paper by a Georgia Tech-led research team suggests that the FDA\u0027s Food Traceability Rule can disproportionately burden family farms and other small food producers due to a lack of technological infrastructure, resources, or compliance expertise."}],"uid":"36530","created_gmt":"2026-10-13 14:42:39","changed_gmt":"2026-10-13 14:46:17","author":"Nathan Deen","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681417":{"id":"681417","type":"image","title":"AdobeStock_615559252.jpeg","body":null,"created":"1791902571","gmt_created":"2026-10-13 14:42:51","changed":"1791902571","gmt_changed":"2026-10-13 14:42:51","alt":"A farmer holds a tablet while a woman to his right assists him","file":{"fid":"265820","name":"AdobeStock_615559252.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/13\/AdobeStock_615559252.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/13\/AdobeStock_615559252.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":129552,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/13\/AdobeStock_615559252.jpeg?itok=pcEMK4t4"}}},"media_ids":["681417"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"194609","name":"Industry"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"693211":{"#nid":"693211","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Deleted AI Chats May Leave Clues Behind","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDeleting a conversation with an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant may not erase everything the assistant remembers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have developed a tool that can recover deleted conversations from AI assistants running on Android phones. The tool, called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/abstract\/document\/11573549\u0022\u003EORISA\u003C\/a\u003E, can also rebuild the recovered information into a working AI session.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe findings show that deleting an AI conversation on a phone does not necessarily mean it removes every trace.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research could give digital investigators a new way to recover information from phones. It also raises privacy concerns for people who use AI assistants that run locally on their devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELocal AI assistants run directly on a phone rather than sending conversations to a cloud service. While the local assistant is running, information from conversations can remain in the phone\u2019s working memory even after it is deleted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EORISA searches this memory for pieces of deleted conversations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one experiment, researchers created a fictional AI assistant called \u201cProject Note Keeper\u201d using the ChatterUI Android app. They gave it 100 fictional facts about a project, then deleted the conversation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EORISA recovered information from the deleted conversation and used it to create a new working session. When researchers asked the restored assistant to list the project notes it had been given, it returned 26 facts. The original session could access only 14 facts because the rest had fallen outside its active memory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe experiment showed that researchers could recover information the AI had already stopped actively using.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt can help establish what information someone shared with an AI assistant and what assistance they received,\u201d said Ph.D. student \u003Cstrong\u003EKen Xu\u003C\/strong\u003E, lead author of the study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tested ORISA with 10 Android apps and three AI models. Across 60 test configurations, the tool recovered conversation information that remained in the phone\u2019s memory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers say the information becomes harder to recover as the phone\u2019s memory is overwritten by other activity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was presented at the 2026 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. The paper, titled \u003Cem\u003ERecovering and Rehosting Mobile Local LLM Conversations and Contexts via Memory Forensics,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Ewas authored by Ph.D. students Xu, \u003Cstrong\u003EDavid Oygenblik\u003C\/strong\u003E, \u003Cstrong\u003ERunze Zhang\u003C\/strong\u003E, and \u003Cstrong\u003EMingxuan Yao\u003C\/strong\u003E; Research Scientist \u003Cstrong\u003EMuhammad Ibrahim\u003C\/strong\u003E; and Associate Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EBrendan\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003ESaltaformaggio\u003C\/strong\u003E. The work was done in Georgia Tech\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cyfi.ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECyber Forensics Innovation Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E, a collaboration between the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDeleting a locally stored AI conversation may remove it from view without eliminating its data. Researchers find that deleted local AI chats may remain recoverable from a phone\u2019s memory through a new tool called ORISA. ORISA recovered 26 of 100 project facts from a deleted Android AI session\u2014more than the original session could still access. This shows that information an assistant appears to have forgotten may remain forensically recoverable.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers find that deleted local AI chats may remain recoverable from a phone\u2019s memory through a new tool called ORISA."}],"uid":"36253","created_gmt":"2026-10-13 12:45:52","changed_gmt":"2026-10-13 12:51:29","author":"John Popham","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681416":{"id":"681416","type":"image","title":"Cyfi-Lab-Brendan-and-Student.jpg","body":null,"created":"1791895736","gmt_created":"2026-10-13 12:48:56","changed":"1791895736","gmt_changed":"2026-10-13 12:48:56","alt":"A man points to a rack of CPUs. He is talking to a student who is slighlty out of focus. ","file":{"fid":"265819","name":"Cyfi-Lab-Brendan-and-Student.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/13\/Cyfi-Lab-Brendan-and-Student.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/13\/Cyfi-Lab-Brendan-and-Student.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":362068,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/13\/Cyfi-Lab-Brendan-and-Student.jpg?itok=zg3onBN9"}}},"media_ids":["681416"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"660406","name":"School of Cybersecurity \u0026 Privacy"},{"id":"660367","name":"School of Cybersecurity and Privacy"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Popham\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer for the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jpopham3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}