CCIA-AI

Infusing AI and machine learning tools across cybersecurity and software engineering courses, preparing students for the future of tech

Programs built on computer science and cybersecurity fundamentals, with a strong focus on practical experience

Students gain hands-on skills through:

• Internships
• Research projects
• Industry capstone experiences
• Participation in our student-led Security Operations Center (SOC)

Recommending and developing cutting-edge cyber curriculum in collaboration with department leadership

Hosting educational programs to inform the public about current cybersecurity issues

• Inspiring K-12 students through targeted cyber education and activities
• Coordinating and participating in K-12 events with the Computer Science Department, college, faculty, and the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center
• Establishing and running multiple GenCyber summer camps at USC Aiken
• Participating in NSA CAE-designated K-12 and workforce development programs

• Working with regional industry, K-12 institutions, and regional facilities such as SRNS, SRNL, and the US Army Cyber Center of Excellence (CCofE)
• Collaborating with the SC National Guard Cyber Readiness Center and the Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC) as they come online at USCA

Research Interests
Machine Learning and Reinforcement Learning Applications; Cybersecurity attack detection in smart grids; Adversarial Machine Learning; Privacy preservation in smart grid networks; Federated Learning; 6G and wireless networks.

Journal Publications

• Interpretable detector secure against stealthy false power consumption attacks, IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management, 2025.
• Repetitive backdoor attacks and countermeasures for smart grid reinforcement incremental learning, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 12, no. 3, 2025.
• A trojan attack against smart grid federated learning and countermeasures, IEEE Access, vol. 12, 2024.
• False data injection attacks on reinforcement learning-based charging coordination in smart grids and a countermeasure, Applied Sciences, vol. 14, no. 23, 2024.
• Investigating Robust Reinforcement Learning Models for Securing Smart Grids, PhD Thesis, Tennessee Technological University, 2024.
• Countering evasion attacks for smart grid reinforcement learning-based detectors, IEEE Access, vol. 11, 2023.
• Electricity theft detection using deep reinforcement learning in smart power grids, IEEE Access, vol. 11, 2023.
• Enhancing the performance of low-priority secondary users using reserved channels in CRNs, IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, vol. 9, no. 4, 2019.
• QoS-driven channel allocation schemes based on secondary users’ priority in cognitive radio networks, International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing, vol. 11, no. 2, 2016.

Conference Publications

• AI-Driven Cybersecurity in Intelligent Transportation Systems: A Comprehensive Survey of Threats, Defenses, and Future Directions, ICIPS, 2025.
• The Quantum Countdown: How Healthcare Can Achieve Crypto-Agility Before Q-Day, ICIPS, 2025.
• Securing smart grids: A deep reinforcement learning approach for detecting cyber-attacks, SmartNets, 2024.
• Evasion attacks in smart power grids: A deep reinforcement learning approach, IEEE CCNC, 2024.
• Secured cluster-based electricity theft detectors against black-box evasion attacks, IEEE CCNC, 2024.
• Performance analysis of opportunistic access based on secondary users’ priority, NRSC, 2017.

Research Interests
Network Security; Hybrid Host and Network Security; Security in Programmable Networks; Intrusion Detection and Prevention using Machine Learning; Security in Critical Infrastructure (ICS/SCADA); Generative AI Security and Adversarial Machine Learning.

Publications

• A Survey on Security Applications of P4 Programmable Switches and a STRIDE-based Vulnerability Assessment, CE Cyberinfrastructure, 2022.
• A Comprehensive Survey on SmartNICs: Architectures, Development Models, Applications, and Research Directions, IEEE Access, 2024.
• P4ddpi: Securing P4-programmable Data Plane Networks via DNS Deep Packet Inspection, NDSS Symposium, 2022.
• Exploiting Ransomware Paranoia for Execution Prevention, IEEE ICC, 2020.
• A Blockchain-based Method for Decentralizing the ACME Protocol to Enhance Trust in PKI, International Conference on Telecommunications and Signal Processing, 2020.
• On DGA Detection and Classification Using P4 Programmable Switches, Computers & Security, 2024.
• Effective DGA Family Classification Using a Hybrid Shallow and Deep Packet Inspection Technique on P4 Programmable Switches, IEEE ICC, 2023.
• Domain Name Security Inspection at Line Rate: TLS SNI Extraction in the Data Plane Using P4 and DPDK, IEEE ICC, 2025.
• Leveraging SONiC Functionalities in Disaggregated Network Switches, International Conference on Telecommunications and Signal Processing, 2020.
• Security Applications in P4: Implementation and Lessons Learned, Computer Networks, 2025.
• Enabling Line-rate TLS SNI Inspection in P4 Programmable Data Planes, IEEE NOMS, 2025.
• A Survey on Security Applications with SmartNICs: Taxonomy, Implementations, Challenges, and Future Trends, Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 2025.
• Enhancing Visibility on a Science DMZ with P4-perfSONAR, Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 2025.
• Real-time Flow Statistics Collection Using RDMA and P4 Programmable Data Planes, IEEE ICC, 2025.
• perfSONAR: Enhancing Data Collection Through Adaptive Sampling, IEEE NOMS, 2024.
• Toward Fingerprinting Encrypted C2 Traffic in the Data Plane, IEEE GLOBECOM, 2025.
• Optimizing Network Resilience Using Domain-Specific Hardware Accelerator for Dynamic Programming, SC’25 Workshops of the International Conference for High Performance Computing, 2025.
• Evaluating Encryption Overhead and Offload Techniques in High-Speed Data Transfers, IEEE International Black Sea Conference on Communications and Networking, 2025.
• Offloading Encrypted C2 Traffic Mitigation to SmartNICs, IEEE International Black Sea Conference on Communications and Networking, 2025.
• Enhancing the Security in High-Speed Networks Using P4 Programmable Switches, University of South Carolina, 2024.
• Design and Deployment of a Testbed for SmartNIC and Programmable Data Plane Experimentation, SmartNIC/Programmable Data Plane Testbed Workshop

A Testbed to Evaluate Next-Generation Security Solutions in Cyber-Physical Systems Using Hardware Acceleration, Cyber-Physical Systems Security Workshop 

Publications

• Assessing the Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities of SCADA-based Smart Agriculture, IEEE ICMI, 2026.
• AI-Driven Cybersecurity in Intelligent Transportation Systems: A Comprehensive Survey of Threats, Defenses, and Future Directions, ICIPS, 2025.
• The Quantum Countdown: How Healthcare Can Achieve Crypto-Agility Before Q-Day, ICIPS, 2025.
• Ensemble Learning-Based Channel Prediction for Real-World Indoor 6G WiGig Networks, IEEE VTC-Fall, 2025.
• Sensing and Vision-Aided Wireless Communication for Indoor 6G Networks, IEEE VTC-Fall, 2025.
• Generalizable Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Intelligent Handover in Indoor WiGig Networks, IEEE VTC-Fall, 2025.
• How Can Integrated Sensing and Communication Enable Generalizable Learning in 6G Networks?, IEEE Network, 2025.
• Deep Learning-Based Physical Layer Authentication in LiFi Networks Under Mobility, SoutheastCon, 2025.
• Concept Drift-Aware Wireless Key Generation in Dynamic LiFi Networks, IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, 2025.
• Communication-Aided Terahertz Sensing for Indoor People Counting, IEEE VCC, 2024.
• Occupancy-Level Aware Indoor Terahertz Channel Prediction, IEEE VTC-Fall, 2024.
• Robust Deep Learning-Based Indoor mmWave Channel Prediction Under Concept Drift, IEEE VTC-Fall, 2023.
• Multi-device Multi-task Computation Offloading in D2D Communication, Wireless Personal Communications, 2022.
• Multidimensional Auction for Task Allocation Using Computation Offloading in 5G Networks, Future Generation Computer Systems, 2020.

Publications

• A Comprehensive Comparative Analysis of RFID Devices Security in Supply Chain Geofencing Technologies, IEEE ISDFS, 2025.
• Critical Factors for Privacy and User Retention in Event-Based Social Media Apps, IEEE ISDFS, 2025.
• Malware Exploitation and Vulnerability Assessment of CVE-2024-38063 in Windows Networks, IEEE ISDFS, 2025.
• Advancing Network Threat Detection Through Dynamic Ensemble Learning, IEEE SoutheastCon, 2025.
• Exploring Security Vulnerabilities in ChatGPT Through Jailbreak Evaluation, IEEE ICCA, 2024.
• Machine Learning-Enhanced Detection for QR Code Email Threats, Cyber Awareness and Research Symposium, 2024.
• Exploring ICS SCADA Network Vulnerabilities, HCII – Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2024.
• Examination of Artificial Intelligence Integration in Higher Education, IEEE ISDFS, 2024.
• Security and Privacy Threats Posed by IoT Devices on College Campuses, IEEE ISDFS, 2024.
• Leveling Up: Survey of Nation-State Cyber Operations, IEEE ISDFS, 2023.
• Importance of Cybersecurity in Supply Chain, IEEE ISDFS, 2023.
• Survey of Cybersecurity Awareness Among College Students, IEEE ISDFS, 2023.
• The Evolution of Cryptocurrency and Cyber Attacks, IEEE ICCA, 2022.
• Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Initial Impact on the Defense Industrial Base, Journal of Information Systems Applied Research, 2022.
• An Engineering Management Approach to Capital Funding for Technology Start-Ups, George Washington University, 2018.