MARCH 30, 2022 — Malicious software activities, commonly known as “malware,” represent a big threat against modern society.
A UTSA-led research team is investigating ways to accurately predict these attacks. Mechanical Engineering Professor Yusheng Feng and doctoral student Van Trieu-Do in the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, in collaboration with professor Shouhuai Xu from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, are studying how to use mathematical tools and computer simulation to foresee cyberattacks.
According to a 2019 report by ForgeRock, 2.8 billion consumer data records were breached in 2018, costing more than $654 billion to U.S. organizations, posing a massive industry threat.
The current pervasive security threats motivated the UTSA researchers to develop and use cyber defense tools and sensors to monitor the threats and collect data, which can be used for various purposes in developing defense mechanisms.
“The current damages call for studies to understand and characterize cyberattacks from different perspectives and at various levels of intrusion. There are multiple variables that go into predicting the potential damage these attacks may cause as the aggressors get more sophisticated,” said Feng.
Using predictive situational awareness analysis, the team studied the distinctive nature of the attacks to accurately predict the threats that target and potentially harm personal devices, servers and networks.
“Most studies on cyberattacks focus on microscopic levels of abstractions, meaning how to defend against a particular attack,” Feng said. “Cyber attackers can successfully break in by exploiting a single weakness in a computer system.”
The study aims to analyze the macroscopic levels of abstractions.
“Such macroscopic-level studies are important because they would offer insights towards holistic solutions to defending cyberattacks,” he added.
Feng explains, “It’s very hard to single out the cause of each attack, however, we have big data with time series for each IP address (location). In this research, we use ‘causality’ when there are inter-relationships among IP addresses that have similar patterns of temporal features for identifying the threat.”
The researchers utilized Granger causality (G-causality) to study the vulnerabilities from a regional perspective of multiple threats, analyzing the cause and effect to identify cyber vulnerabilities or how the infiltrators attack an entity, in this case IP addresses.
G-causality is a statistical concept of causation that is based on prediction, in order to characterize causality, a well-defined mathematical notion has to be established. The research team used Granger causality to determine the nature of the cyberattack signals so the signals can be compared and analyzed in a holistic way.
The team also plans to expand the current body of research and study further on what other kinds of causality will impact users and how to develop the appropriate defense tools to protect against sophisticated attacks.
— Ingrid Wright
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to [email protected]. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
UTSA encourages students, faculty, staff and community members to cast their votes at the Main Campus, a designated early voting site for the upcoming May 7 election. On the ballot are two statewide constitutional amendments and six City of San Antonio bond propositions.
Lavender Graduation is a celebration of the academic accomplishments of LGBTQIA+ students. Students are given a stole to wear for Commencement showing their pride. This is a validation and celebration of each student and their identity. The Lavender Student Leadership Award is presented during the celebration.
One of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, Ujima stands for collective work and responsibility. This graduation celebration honors Black students and their academic accomplishments. Students are given a custom stole to remind them to continue to work collectively to better the communities in which they work and live.
Learn from local government leaders navigating an increasingly polarized public on issues. Before the event, please feel free to join us in the assembly room next door for an MPA prospective student mixer. Registration is not required for the mixer.
At UTSA, Commencement is more than a ceremony. It’s a celebration, a defining moment, of the diligence, dedication and collaborations from this educational community which all culminate in earning that significant degree
The drive will begin at the Brackenridge (BK 5) parking lot adjacent to University Oaks Phase III. Decorate your vehicles and wear your regalia to celebrate your achievement with the UTSA Community. Vehicles can begin gathering at 5 p.m. The parade begins at 5:30 p.m.
The ceremony for the College of Liberal and Fine Arts, College of Sciences and the College for Health, Community and Policy will take place at the Alamodome.
Submit an Event
Spotlight
The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property – for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
