Security and safety
Smart cities technologies are growing rapidly and the dollar value of this growth means there is a lot at stake.
The inter-connectivity across virtual and physical infrastructure that makes a smart city work are also vulnerable to significant cyber security risks which could result in crippling a city and even cause death.
This theme will examine the many cyber threats and how to protect critical infrastructure such as electricity and water supply from cyber threats. It will also look at how to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of data is protected.
Active threat detection and prevention of cyber threats is essential to developing and monitoring smart cities.
Research
We are eager to work with people and organisations on research that fits this theme. Some possible research examples might be:
- is human privacy protected in a smart cities environment?
- is data integrity mature for a smart environment?
- how can cyber threats mitigate in smart cities?
- are current technologies and algorithms enough to secure the Internet of Things (IoT) environment?
- can cyber resilience protect smart cities from cyber-attack?
If you have an idea for research and want to be a part of our network, contact us with your ideas.
Engagement
We are able to undertake work for organisations and governments. Talk to us about how we can help you. Some examples include:
- analysis of data and provision of reports to advise on data confidentiality, integrity and availability in smart networks
- feasibility studies – for example, IoT communication security
- economic modelling – for example, cryptography for smart networks
Externally Funded Projects
Operationalising ethical frameworks in critical tech industries
This project intends to provide Australian and Indian businesses with improved ethical policy and practice when outsourcing their technology to Indian providers. It will do this by improving the understanding of how they translate being signatories of Ethical Codes to their actual practice. Moreover, the project will analyse the emotions and views of stakeholders expressed in social media on the ethical issues found to be important in business surveys. In doing so, the project intends to advance the body of knowledge in artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber and critical technology, ethics and sustainability and risk by bringing together disciplines in business management and ethics, computer science and engineering, and AI and business analytics.
The outcomes expected include recommendations as to revised codes and practices of ethics and a framework using AI and advanced analytics to review ethical practices of companies.
Project Team:
- Professor Suzanne Young (La Trobe University) - Project Leader
- Professor Naveen Chilamkurti (La Trobe University)
- Professor Damminda Alahakoon (La Trobe University)
- Professor Murali Prasad Panta (IIT Kanpur)
- Professor Praveen Kulshreshtha (IIT Kanpur)
- Dr Sameer G Kulkarni (IIT Gandhinagar)
Together, they bring expertise in corporate governance, ethics and human behaviour, cyber threats and social engineering, and the use of predictive data for industry.
This project has been funded through the first round of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - Australia-India Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership program
Current research projects
Intelligent planning of Prosumer Microgrid (PMG) Load Management in Smart Cities for Optimal Energy Consumption
This project aims to reduce the costs of energy consumption through intelligent monitoring of the loads and generations of the Prosumer Microgrid (PMG). When prosumers along with Net Zero Buildings (NZB) participate in energy bidding process, energy cost minimisation in PMG can be achieved.
Investigators:
- Associate Professor Abdun Mahmood (La Trobe University)
- Professor Naveen Chilamkurti (La Trobe University)
- Associate Professor Alivelu Manga Parimi (BITS Pilani)
- Professor Hitesh Dutt Mathur (BITS Pilani)
PhD candidate:
- Mr Aishvaria Gorityala
Project ID: 18-EOI-BITSP
Smart Healthcare: Techno-Economic Aspects of Digitalization of Secure Healthcare Services in India and Australia
This project will explore how to secure Electronic Health Records (EHR) and protect against data breaches and human error, to ensure data recorded is truthful and transparent. The project will firstly categorize malicious, known and unknown patterns in the data breaches, automatically discover the contextual information to be used for classification, and use them for modelling dynamic security policies. The second part will be 'an ethical model' considering the human and economic dimensions together.
Investigators:
- Dr ASM Kayes (La Trobe University)
- Professor Wenny Rahayu (La Trobe University)
- Associate Professor Naveen Chilamkurti (La Trobe University)
- Professor Murali Prasad Panta (IIT Kanpur)
- Professor Praveen Kulshreshtha (IIT Kanpur)
Project ID: 24-EOI-IITK
Security of biometric authentication in the IoT
This project will develop secure biometric authentication systems using deep learning techniques to counter biometric-related threats in the IoT environment.
With template protection, the biometric authentication systems designed need to show strong security and good recognition performance.
Investigators:
- Dr Song Wang (La Trobe University)
- Associate Professor Ashutosh Bhatia (BITS Pilani)
PhD candidate:
- Laxmi Chhibbar
Project ID: 25-EOI-BITSP
Future of India-Australia Agribusiness Trade in an Era of Reglobalization: A Supply Chain Management Perspective
This research aims to explore how supply chain collaboration among groups of importers and/or exporters can successfully reduce production/logistical costs along with work for new trade agreements. We will combine national input output data along with trade statistics to identify the global value chains in various sectors and decipher value added in bilateral trade flows. The study will generate innovative supply chain solutions and promote collaboration among multiple clusters of Indian and Australian exporters and importers, with special focus on micro, small and medium enterprises and low-income consumers.
Investigators:
- Dr Sobhan (Sean) Asian (La Trobe University)
- Dr Timothy Clune (La Trobe University)
- Associate Professor Murali Prasad Panta (IIT Kanpur)
- Professor Somesh Mathur (IIT Kanpur)
Project ID: 47-EOI-IITK
Ethics in the Supply Chain
Investigators:
- Dr Jothsna Rajan (IIT Kanpur)
- Professor Damminda Alahakoon (La Trobe University)
- Professor Suzanne Young (La Trobe University)
PhD candidate:
- Mr Sayak Sarkar
Project ID: EOI 2-11-IITK
Advanced distribution management system using data analytics
Investigators:
- Professor Saikat Chakrabarti (IIT Kanpur)
- Associate Professor Abdun Mahmood (La Trobe University)
PhD candidate:
- Mr Viresh Patel
Project ID: SEOI-1-IITK
Vulnerability Analysis of Smart Contracts
Investigators:
- Associate Professor Amey Karkare (IIT Kanpur)
- Professor Naveen Chilamkurti (La Trobe University)
PhD candidate:
- Mr Chavhan Sujeet
Project ID: SEOI-2-IITK
Blockchain and small firms: Financing Framework, Application and adoption
Investigators:
- Professor B V Phani (IIT Kanpur)
- Professor Naveen Chilamkurti (La Trobe University)
PhD candidate:
- Mr Deepak Kumar
Project ID: SEOI-4-IITK
A peer to peer Energy Trading using Transactive Energy for Smart Grid Using Blockchain Technology
Investigators:
- Dr Gururaj Mirle Vishwanath (IIT Kanpur)
- Professor Ankush Sharma (IIT Kanpur)
- Professor Naveen Chilamkurti (La Trobe University)
PhD candidate:
- Mr Mayank Arora
Project ID: 47 IIT K - LTU 2023
Intelligent Intrusion and Anomaly Detection in Smart Air Pollution Monitoring Systems
Investigators:
- Dr Barsha Mitra (BITS Pilani)
- Professor Naveen Chilamkurti (La Trobe University)
Project ID: 90 BITS - LTU 2023
Field Enhanced Volatile Organic Compounds Detection in Doped Platinum Di-chalcogenides- Theoretical Investigation to Experimental Realization
Investigators:
- Dr Sayan Kanungo (BITS Pilani)
- Associate Professor Ing Kong (La Trobe University)
Project ID: 26 BITS - LTU 2023
Artificial intelligence-based anomaly and vulnerability detection of smart grids with a specific focus on Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) attacks
Investigators:
- Professor Damminda Alahakoon (La Trobe University)
- Dr Shalinka Jayatilleke (La Trobe University)
- Professor Ankush Sharma (IIT Kanpur)
Project ID: 68 LTU - IIT K 2023
Research partners
La Trobe Academics
- Professor Damminda Alahakoon
- Dr Paulina Billett
- Dr Jinli Cao
- Professor Yi-Ping Phoebe Chen
- Professor Naveen Chilamkurti
- Dr Jabed Chowdhury
- Dr Mumtaz Hussain
- Associate Professor Marcel Jackson
- Dr Shalinka Jayatilleke
- Dr A. S. M. Kayes
- Associate Professor Ing Kong
- Associate Professor Abdun Mahmood
- Associate Professor Andriy Olenko
- Dr Khoa Phan
- Dr Peter Van Der Kamp
- Dr Song Wang
- Dr Kan Yu
You can download the complete file of one-page profiles for La Trobe Academics here [PDF 1.3MB]
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur Academics
- Dr Pranamesh Chakraborty
- Dr Balaji Devaraju
- Associate Professor Amey Karkare - IIT Kanpur Theme Leader 1
- Professor Praveen Kulshreshtha
- Dr Bharat Lohani
- Dr Akhilesh Mimani
- Professor Murali Prasad Panta - IIT Kanpur Theme Leader 2
- Dr Zakaria Siddiqui
- Professor Ankush Sharma
- Dr Gururaj Mirle Vishwanath
You can download the complete file of one-page profiles for IIT Kanpur Academics here [PDF 1.1MB]
Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Academics
- Dr Pawan K. Ajmera
- Dr Ashutosh Bhatia
- Associate Professor Manab Chakravarty
- Dr Vinay Chamola
- Dr Amit Dua
- Professor Navneet Goel
- Associate Professor Poonam Goyal
- Professor Amit Kumar Gupta
- Professor Chittaranjan Hota
- Dr Sayan Kanungo
- Dr Rajesh Kumar
- Dr Rajib Ranjan Maiti
- Associate Professor Bivudutta Mishra
- Dr Barsha Mitra
- Dr Amitesh Singh Rajput
- Dr Ponnalagu R N
- Dr Parikshit Sahatiya
- Dr Ramachandran Subramanian
- Dr Piyush Chandra Verma
You can download the complete file of one-page profiles for BITS Pilani Academics here [PDF 1.3MB]