RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research interests include several aspects of computer security. I am particularly interested in intrusion detection systems, the security of the smart grid, embedded cyber-physical systems and control systems, cybercrime, wireless networks, and image watermarking.

Most of my research and analytical skills are based on probabilistic inference tools such as statistical signal processing (detection and estimation theory, sequential detection theory etc.), game theory, graphical models, machine learning, and control.

TOOLS

Software to obtain B-ROC curves from ROC curves

PUBLICATIONS         By Year     By Topic     By Type

Book Chapters

  1. Security and Privacy in the Smart Grid.
    Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Reihaneh Safavi-Naini
    In Sajal K. Das, Krishna Kant, and Nan Zhang Eds. Handbook on Securing Cyber-Physical Infrastructures: Foundations and Challenges. Morgan Kaufmann, 2012.

  2. Cyber Security: Basic Defenses and Attack Trends
    Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Tanya Roosta, Gelareh Taban, Shankar Sastry
    In Giorgio Franceschetti and Marina Grossi Eds. Homeland Security Technology Challenges: From Sensing and Encrypting to Mining and Modeling. Artech House Publishers. 685 Canon Street; Norwood MA 02062. July 31, 2008.

Journal Publications

  1. Understanding the Physical and Economic Consequences of Attacks Against Control Systems. (pdf) (link)
    Yu-Lun Huang, Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Saurabh Amin, Zong-Syun Lin, Hsin-Yi Tsai, Shankar Sastry
    International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection. Volume 2, Issue 2, Pages 69-134. October 2009.

  2. Rethinking Security Properties, Threat Models and the Design Space in Sensor Networks: A Case Study in SCADA Systems. (pdf) (link)
    Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Tanya Roosta, Shankar Sastry
    Ad Hoc Networks, Volume 7, Issue 8, November 2009, Pages 1434--1447.

  3. Evaluation of Detection Algorithms for MAC Layer Misbehavior: Theory and Experiments. (pdf)
    Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Svetlana Radosavac, John S.Baras.
    Accepted to the IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking (ToN).
    Volume 17, Issue 2. April 2009. Pages 605-617.

  4. Detecting MAC Layer Misbehavior: Robust Strategies Against Individual and Colluding Attackers. (pdf)
    Svetlana Radosavac, Alvaro A. Cárdenas, John S.Baras, George Moustakides.
    Journal of Computer Security.
    Volume 15, Number 1/2007. Pages 103-128.

Selected Conference Publications

  1. Comparison of Data Forwarding Mechanisms for AMI Networks. (pdf)
    Sandra Céspedes, Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Tadashige Iwao
    2012 IEEE Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference (ISGT). January 17-19, 2012.

  2. Attacks Against Process Control Systems: Risk Assessment, Detection, and Response (pdf)
    Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Saurabh Amin, Zong-Syun Lin, Yu-Lun Huang, Chi-Yen Huang, and Shankar Sastry
    ACM Symposium on Information, Computer and Communications Security (AsiaCCS 2011)
    March 22-24,2011. Acceptance Rate 16%.

  3. A Semantic Middleware for the Internet of Things. (pdf)
    Zhexuan Song, Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Ryusuke Masuoka
    Internet of Things 2010 Conference (IOT2010)
    November 29-December 1, Tokyo, Japan. Acceptance Rate 26%.

  4. Dynamic Data Forwarding in Wireless Mesh Networks. (pdf)
    Tadashige Iwao, Kenji Yamada, Masakazu Yura, Yuuta Nakaya, Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Sung Lee, Ryusuke Masuoka
    First IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm).
    Gaithersburg, MD, (NIST) October 2010.

  5. An Economic Map of Cybercrime (pdf)
    Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Svetlana Radosavac, Jens Grossklags, John Chuang, Chris Hoofnagle.
    In The 37th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy. September, 2009.

  6. Safe and Secure Networked Control Systems Under Denial-of-Service Attacks. (pdf)
    Saurabh Amin, Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Shankar Sastry.
    In the 12th International Conference on Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control (HSCC 09).
    San Francisco, USA. April 2009.

  7. Principled Reasoning and Practical Applications of Alert Fusion in Intrusion Detection Systems. (pdf)
    Guofei Gu, Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Wenke Lee.
    ACM Symposium on Information, Computer and Communications Security (ASIACCS'08).
    Tokyo, Japan, March 2008. Acceptance rate 17.6%. (32 Regular papers out of 182 submissions.)

  8. Optimal ROC Curve for a Combination of Classifiers (pdf)
    Marco Barreno, Alvaro A. Cárdenas, J.D. Tygar.
    Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) 20.
    MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Pages 57-64, 2007. Acceptance Rate 22%.

  9. Optimal Watermarking Schemes in Uncertain Gaussian Channels (pdf)
    Alvaro A. Cárdenas, George Moustakides, John S.Baras.
    IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP)
    San Antonio, Texas, September 2007.

  10. Performance Comparison of Detection Schemes for MAC Layer Misbehavior. (pdf)
    Alvaro A. Cárdenas, Svetlana Radosavac, John S.Baras.
    26th Annual IEEE Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM).
    Anchorage, Alaska, May 2007. Acceptance Rate 18%.

  11. A Framework for the Evaluation of Intrusion Detection Systems. (pdf)
    Alvaro A. Cárdenas, John S. Baras, Karl S. Seamon.
    2006 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (Oakland)
    Oakland/Berkeley, California, May 21-24 2006. Acceptance rate 9%. (23 Regular papers out of 251 submissions.)

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