{"676574":{"#nid":"676574","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Drone Course Goes Beyond Protecting Our Eyes in the Sky","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe skies above the Georgia Tech campus were clear in late spring as a group of graduate students gathered at Couch Park to test their custom-built drones one last time before the semester ended.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir instructor, Associate Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/samanzonouz4n6\/saman-zonouz\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESaman Zonouz\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, created this course to teach students to prevent, detect, and respond to common cyberattacks launched against cyber-physical systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Zonouz, infrastructure like power grids, water treatment plants, hospitals, and healthcare are all cyber-physical systems, an area of cybersecurity where software and hardware interact with physical processes. These systems are also found in drones, making the course widely applicable to students.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis knowledge will be invaluable in their future careers, especially if they work in industries like Tesla, where safeguarding equipment against cybersecurity threats is essential,\u201d Zonouz said. \u201cIt\u2019s not feasible to build a power plant in class for students to practice on. Drones are a compact cyber-physical system students can experience firsthand.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat day, the students in the park showed just how hands-on the semester had been. Each team had a drone they had spent the semester building, testing, and attacking. Their remote aircraft had open-source auto-pilot software, GPS, altitude sensors, cameras, AI software, and their developed security solutions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one exercise, students had to use their AI software to recover from and play as a surrogate controller against a GPS spoofing cyberattack on their drone in mid-flight.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFlights need to be safe regardless of potential cyber-attacks,\u201d he said. \u201cThis course combines cybersecurity and drones in a way that specifically targets the drone\u0027s operation against cybersecurity threats.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis course is part of Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/degree-programs\/master-science-cybersecurity\u0022\u003EMasters of Cybersecurity\u2014Cyber-Physical Systems\u003C\/a\u003E track and an instantiation of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/ceser\/cyber-informed-engineering\u0022\u003EDepartment of Energy\u2019s Cyber-Informed Engineering \u003C\/a\u003E(CIE) initiative, which Zonouz is a co-PI on. Zonouz wants the course to serve as a model for other universities interested in teaching drone cybersecurity. While there are existing courses on power grid security, the emphasis on hands-on experiences sets it apart.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis lab\u0027s research on drones (CPSec: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/capcpsec\/\u0022\u003ECyber-Physical Systems Security Lab\u003C\/a\u003E) has also received federal recognition. Last fall, the lab hosted a United States congressional visit in the Klaus Advanced Computing Building.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn September 24, his lab will welcome \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/person\/mary-ellen-callahan\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMary Ellen Callahan\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant secretary, DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) as a guest lecturer, key note speaker, and panelist. The event will take place in the Coda atrium from 9:30 a.m. \u2013 2 p.m.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThis course is part of Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/degree-programs\/master-science-cybersecurity\u0022\u003EMasters of Cybersecurity\u2014Cyber-Physical Systems\u003C\/a\u003E track and an instantiation of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/ceser\/cyber-informed-engineering\u0022\u003EDepartment of Energy\u2019s Cyber-Informed Engineering \u003C\/a\u003E(CIE) initiative, which Zonouz is a co-PI on. Zonouz wants the course to serve as a model for other universities interested in teaching drone cybersecurity. While there are existing courses on power grid security, the emphasis on hands-on experiences sets it apart.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In order to demonstrate how to protect critical infrastructures from cyberattacks, Associate Professor Saman Zonouz has created a course that uses drones to teach students how to defend power grids, water treatment plants, hospitals, and healthcare."}],"uid":"36253","created_gmt":"2024-09-06 11:44:57","changed_gmt":"2024-09-10 11:30:57","author":"John Popham","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-09-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-09-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674853":{"id":"674853","type":"video","title":"Video: Drone Course Goes Beyond Protecting our Eyes in the Sky","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAssociate Professor Saman Zonouz speaks about the Cybersecurity of Drones, a unique course he created at Georgia Tech. The class exposes students to fundamental security principles specific to drones and to apply them to a broad range of current and future cyber-physical security challenges. Professor Zonouz developed the course in collaboration with the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVideo by Kevin Beasley, College of Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1725625259","gmt_created":"2024-09-06 12:20:59","changed":"1725625259","gmt_changed":"2024-09-06 12:20:59","video":{"youtube_id":"WG7JH5B5ulo","video_url":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/WG7JH5B5ulo?si=1fsKxoxdRJCaLu1m"}}},"media_ids":["674853"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"660373","name":"School of Cybersecurity \u0026 Privacy (Do not use)"},{"id":"660367","name":"School of Cybersecurity and Privacy"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"176793","name":"awesome video"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"193942","name":"faculty promotions (184348"},{"id":"182941","name":"cc-research; ic-cybersecurity; ic-hcc"},{"id":"1404","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"3322","name":"classes"},{"id":"174258","name":"cool classes"},{"id":"177324","name":"computer engineering classes"},{"id":"191634","name":"school of cybersecurity and privacy"},{"id":"1868","name":"Atlantis; computer science; electrical engineering; ECE; CoC; department of education"},{"id":"188776","name":"go-research"},{"id":"185390","name":"go-COE"},{"id":"186861","name":"go-cyber"},{"id":"176095","name":"cyber -physical systems"},{"id":"543","name":"National Security"},{"id":"180858","name":"Engineering Georgia"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"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\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJP Popham\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ECommunications Officer II | School of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Escp.cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jpopham3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}