PhD Studentship: Resilient-by-design Cyber Physical Systems against Data Integrity Attacks

Modern cyber-physical systems (CPS), such as UAVs, next-generation fighter aircraft, and command-and-control (C2) platforms, integrate digital computation with physical processes to make mission-critical decisions in real time. These systems rely heavily on sensor data (e.g., GPS, pressure transducers, image processors), making them vulnerable to stealthy threats like False Data Injection (FDI) and sensor spoofing. These attacks manipulate input data while maintaining apparent operational normality, potentially leading to unsafe decisions without detection.

This project aims to develop a novel verification methodology and corresponding toolchain to detect and mitigate such threats to CPS at the design time making the CPS resilient-by-design. Typically, CPS are modelled as hybrid systems, comprising discrete (cyber) and continuous (physical) components. The core technical innovation lies in modelling the verification problem as a delta-decision problem, solved using an extended SMT (Satisfiability Modulo Theories) solver.

The work aims to demonstrate methodology through the application of the prototype to a real-world industrial system (provided by our industrial partner - Evolution Measurement) that is used in flight test environment and is a true representative of a defence C2 system. Specifically, the project aims to test C2 operations that involve differential pressure scanner (e.g., P10-D) by estimating physical state for FDI vulnerabilities through modelling the system and evaluating the provided aerodynamics flight data by comparing the consistency between real-time “observations” (i.e., extracted from the collected data) and “predications” (generated by the C2 operational model). The tool will detect subtle discrepancies indicative of stealthy data manipulation with zero false alarms, outperforming conventional static, dynamic and AI-based techniques. Specifically, in case of any inconsistency, the tool produces a counter example with values that constitute the vulnerability. Such pressure sensors are widely used in C2 defence systems, e.g., missile and aircraft testing, battlefield environmental monitoring, and UAV and autonomous system applications, to name a few.

With 50+ researchers and PhD students, the Centre for Sustainable Cyber Security (CS2) has been conducting pioneering research across several areas of cyber security, from trustworthy IoT, and XR cyber security to certified cybersecurity of cyber physical systems and protection against disinformation in social media. Thanks to these successes, the university is now one of only nine in the UK recognised as Academic Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security in both Research and Education (NCSC-CSR, NCSC-CSE). The successful candidate will actively collaborate with industrial partner – Evolution Measurement and will have the opportunity to work in a vibrant research environment in CS2.

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