SEMINAR ANNOUNCEMENT
VOLGENAU SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
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Date :  Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Time :  1:00 - 2:00
Location :  Nguyen Engineering Building, Room 5117 
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Access Control in the Cyber Physical Systems: Study with Smart Building Testbed

Eun-Kyu Lee
Department of Computer Science
University of California, Los Angeles

Abstract:
Exploiting networked embedded systems technology, Cyber Physical System (CPS)
integrates the dynamics of physical systems and processes with the capability of 
networked computing in a cyber space. The integration enables us to control the 
physical processes as well as read data from the physical systems in a universal, 
remote manner. These behaviors, however, introduce new security challenges. 
In particular, "controlling over network" increases the importance of access 
control in CPS.

In this talk, I will start by presenting a smart building (as a subset of smart grid) 
testbed to illustrate how CPS can be instantiated in the real world. I will describe 
the testbed's system architecture and demonstrate energy operation in the 
building. In the next part of my talk, I will discuss three emerging research 
challenges in access control: scalability, fine-granularity, and prioritization. Say, 
a user whose identity is unknown in advance tries to access a physical system
to (i) read data and (ii) control the process. My research develops an access 
control mechanism that can handle an access request without using a 
pre-registered user list; distinguish the privilege of controlling from that of 
reading; and require the user to present different numbers of credentials for 
controlling and reading according to their priorities.

Bio: Eun-Kyu Lee is a PhD candidate in Computer Science at the University of 
California, Los Angeles, jointly advised by Mario Gerla and Rajit Gadh. He is 
interested in cyber security, wireless networking, and distributed systems in 
the areas of smart grid and connected vehicles. Before joining UCLA, he 
worked for a government-funded research institute of Korea for six years, 
where he was involved in vehicular networking and applications projects.

**Point of contact:  Prof Sushil Jajodia [log in to unmask]
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