ICCWS Mini Tracks

The Mini Tracks for ICCWS

• Cyber Operations in the Global Information Environment
• Legal and Security Challenges of Drone’s Application in Military and Civilian Domains
• Digital transformation in information warfare
• Cyber Security Threats in Smart Systems and Innovative Technologies
• Interdisciplinary Research in Cybersecurity
• Digital Data Deception
• The Social Foundations of Information Warfare
• Physical Layer Security in Beyond 5G & 6G Wireless Systems

Cyber Operations in the Global Information Environment

 
Mini Track Chair: Dr Stilianos Vidalis, Cyber Operations, University of Hertfordshire, UK  

ICCWS23-MT-Cyber-Ops-and-the-GIE-Vidalis.pdf (144 downloads)  

The US DoD has defined the Information Environment (IE) as the aggregate of individuals, organizations and systems that collect, process disseminate or act on information. The Global Information Environment (GIE) defies boundaries. It is by far a non-static environment, making use of change as a catalyst in order to address business needs and mission objectives. It consists of a plethora of devices, using diverse and mobile architectures. It is hyper-charged in that every device is performing several roles. It unifies security and defence IEs with civilian IEs.

As the IE became global, so did the Cyber Operators. Instead of operating in national environments with well-defined boundaries, assessing and protecting cyber and kinetic operations, they (Cyber Operators) are now truly operating across all types of boundaries. They are cutting across jurisdictions, having to manage and protect complex interrelationships between tangible and intangible assets. The GIE characteristics also provide challenges for the Cyber Operators to overcome to achieve information superiority. Information superiority is the advantage derived from the ability to collect, process and disseminate an uninterruptible flow of information, while exploiting or denying adversaries to do the same. Information superiority is a state achieved as the result of successful cyber operations. Cyber operations are continuous acts of force in the GIE that can include intelligence and counterintelligence, phycological operations, deception, computer network operations, situational awareness, operational security, information security, physical security and of course risk and threat assessment.

In this track we will discuss the current practice and the future of cyber operations in the Global Information Environment. We will discuss the modern GIE, the socio-political changes that it is influencing and the complex problem of protecting it. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Cyber Operations in the Global Information Environment:
• intelligence and counterintelligence,
• phycological operations and deception,
• computer network operations and situational awareness,
• operational security, information security and physical security
• risk and threat assessment.

Legal and Security Challenges of Drone’s Application in Military and Civilian Domains

Mini Track Chair: Dr. Pardis Moslemzadeh Tehrani, Faculty of Law, University of Malaya, Malaysia 

ICCWS23-MT-Drones-Tehrani-V2.pdf (57 downloads)  

The usage of drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UASs) has increased exponentially with the continuous rise of multi-purpose applications in military and civilian domains by amateurs, journalists, businesses, and governmental actors. Such activities led to the production of a large amount of private or sensitive imagery and an uncountable accumulation of data. UASs enable authorities to gather associated data along with imagery such as GPS coordinates of imagery or network traffic. It is necessary for states to develop a regulatory structure for the usage of UASs as by 2025 the jobs created from the data gathered by UAS operations which have an economic impact of $82 billion. The emerging threats of using drones along with counter-measures strategy needs to be investigated. The risk of hacking and hijacking drones could cause data breaches while posing a major risk to public safety. Malicious actors can hack drones and perform nefarious actions. Therefore, the need for detective, protective and preventive counter-measures is highly required.

Cyber-security risks may arise when using radiofrequency spectra to communicate between the drone’s ground control and the drone platform, and between instruments on the drone such as cameras and data receivers. Drones are therefore vulnerable to hacking, interceptions and signal manipulation during flight. It also may infringe the right to privacy and private life if the drone is flown intrusively.

Various warning issued by states indicates that entities around the globe are taking to address the dangers posed by to airspace safety. Many countries including the USA developed national airspace drone traffic to manage the drone’s flight. The government working hard to ensure providing better protection for people against emerging drone threats. Drones produce challenges for law enforcement as they can identify and interdict illicit activity. Giving the rapid technology advancement and proliferation, the government must address the fact that drones can be used maliciously to damage infrastructure, disrupt activities and hurt people.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Offensive and defensive usage of Drone/ UASs
• Legal and technical challenges of using Drone/ UASs
• Data breach of Drone/ UAS
• Cyber security in Drone/ UAS
• Collection, use, retention, and dissemination of data in Drone/ UAS
• Liability for cybersecurity negligence or data breaches in Drone/ UAS operations
• Cyber-attack directed at use of Drone/ UASs
• Regulatory aspects of Drone/ UAS

Digital transformation in information warfare

Mini Track Chair: Dr Zakariya Belkhamza, Ahmed Bin Mohammed Military College, Qatar  

ICCWS23-MT-Digital-transformation-in-IW-Belkhamza-002.pdf (73 downloads)  

Digital transformation today is affecting every discipline, with potential implications in every decision we make, while information warfare represents a rapidly evolving and defined field of growing such interest for decision-makers and defense planners. Digital transformation is driven through innovation and new business and operating models, powered by a digital workforce that is agile, adaptive, and tech-savvy.

The US Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) defines information warfare as “actions taken to achieve information superiority in support of national military strategy by affecting adversary information and information systems while leveraging and protecting our information and information systems.”

Though information warfare is not a new phenomenon, it contains innovative elements due to the effect of technological development, which results in information being disseminated faster and on a larger scale.

In this regard information warfare is exclusively affected by digital transformation where information itself is the weapon. The three general categories of information warfare are offensive, defensive, and exploitative.

The objective of this mini-track is to discuss recent knowledge and research on digital transformation and information warfare. Topics under this mini-track include but are not limited to:

• Digital transformation and information warfare
• Cyberwarfare
• Strategic information warfare
• Artificial intelligence in digital warfare.
• Communication issues in information warfare
• Joint information warfare
• Information warfare over the Internet
• Propaganda and information warfare
• Offensive information warfare
• Defensive information warfare
• Defense information systems

Cyber Security Threats in Smart Systems and Innovative Technologies

Mini Track Chair: Dr. Jawad Hussain Awan, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science & Technology, Gharo Campus, Sindh, Pakistan  

ICCWS23-MT-Smart-Systems-innovative-Technologies-Awan.pdf (70 downloads)  

According to Global Risks Report 2021 (WEF, 2021), likely risks to be faced over the next ten years include digital power concentration, digital inequality, cyber security failure, the growing ratio of cyber risks and breakdown of Smart infrastructures. The purpose of this mini-track is to bring together experts including academics and industrialists working or interested in the field of cyber security, cyber situational awareness and risk assessment research with interests in modern technologies such as Internet of Vehicles, Internet of Things, Malware/Intruder detection and prevention

technologies, Smart environments and cyber physical systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Cyber-attack predication
• Cyber risk assessment and impact analysis
• Cyber security strategies and security for cyber physical systems
• Digital forensics approaches to cope with cybercrimes
• Cyber situational awareness to cope with cyber-attack
• Case studies of cyber-security incidents including cyber-attacks
• Security threats in Internet of Vehicles and Internet of Things

Interdisciplinary Research in Cybersecurity

Mini Track Chair: Dr. Char Sample, ICF Inc. US, Boise State University  

ICCWS23-MT-Interdisciplinary-Research-in-Cybersecurity.pdf (90 downloads)  

The dynamic and interconnected nature of cyber security touches and influences many aspects of life.  This inter-relatedness suggests that other disciplines might influence, or even possibly impact, cyber events.  For example, geo-political events, environmental events, culture, psychology or economic disciplines may offer new ideas on how cyber events are viewed and understood. These disciplines also, provide models and frameworks that, when applied to cybersecurity may possibly provide new solutions to long standing challenges. This track is dedicated to crossing the traditional disciplines of academia and examining cyber events within the context of another academic discipline.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Decision science and cybersecurity
• Data science in cybersecurity
• Natural disasters and cyber events
• Conflict and cyber events
• Environmental resources and cyber events
• Financial events and cyber events
• Cyber-Physical systems security
• Complexity modeling in cybersecurity

Digital Data Deception

Mini Track Chair: Dr. Char Sample, ICF Inc. US, Boise State University 

ICCWS23-MT-Digital-Data-Deception.pdf (60 downloads)  

Deceptive digital data is one of the greatest challenges that cybersecurity faces. Examples of such data include Stuxnet where the monitors failed to inform the operators of system problems, poisoned training data for AI/ML enabled security products,  manipulated weighting of data, and fake news. All of these examples share a common thread of deceptive data being introduced into an unsuspecting environment that has no mechanism to validate data on input. In this session, a disscusion of methods to identify and counter deceptive digital data are of interest. Also, of interest are studies that have examined methods in which deceptive digital data are created and disseminated.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Methods of creating deceptive data (IoT, ML training data, deceptive quantities, fake news, etc.)
• Comparative analysis between deceptive data techniques
• Detecting deceptive data (poisoned training data, IoT, fake news, etc.)

The Social Foundations of Information Warfare

Mini Track Chair: Dr. Jessica Dawson and Dr. Jason C. Brown, Army Cyber Institute, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY  

ICCWS23-MT-Social-Foundations-of-Information-Warfare.pdf (105 downloads)  

Cultural divisions and inequalities are targets for weaponization within the information domain. Malign actors seeking money, influence, or power can leverage these inequalities for their own benefit. The surveillance economy further enables this weaponization by quantifying, categorizing, and sorting people based on nuances of information not previously accessible without big data and significant computing power. Due to networked connectivity, divisive social issues are not constrained to geographical, political, or temporal boundaries.

In this track we will discuss the future of cultural divisions and inequalities, frameworks to assess the risk or threat of these problems, frameworks to assess the success or failure of misinformation/disinformation campaigns, and recommendations to discover whether there are solutions within and external to the information domain. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Data and frameworks needed to assess risks and threats of cultural divisions and inequalities
• Causes of when an information attack moves “offline” and affects the real world
• Targeted harassment and/or institutional/cultural responses to harassment
• Microtargeting
• Surveillance economy
• Misinformation or Disinformation campaigns – causes, effects, techniques, and solutions
• Weaponization of culture
• Narrative warfare

Physical Layer Security in Beyond 5G & 6G Wireless Systems

Mini Track Chair: Christoph Lipps, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Kaiserslautern, Germany  

ICCWS23-MT-Physical-Layer-Security.pdf (67 downloads)  

Trust and integrity have always been the basis for relationships and interaction within societies. These were and are established, sustained and strengthened through personal bonds and experiences. Yet, in a globally connected world with Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Digital Twins (DTs), these personal relationships no longer exist. (Remote) access to systems is possible from anywhere on the globe. Moreover, recent innovations in mobile communications, such as Beyond 5G (B5G) and the Sixth Generation (6G) of wireless systems, are accelerating this trend. However, this entails the need for technical solutions to detect, identify and recognize entities - people and machines - within networks, thus establishing an initial level of trust.

In particular, since the proliferation of appropriate use-cases, Physical Layer Security (PhySec) is becoming increasingly popular in the scientific community. Using systems' intrinsic information for security applications provides a lightweight but secure alternative to traditional computationally intensive and complex cryptography. PhySec is therefore not only suitable for the IIoT and the multitude of resource-limited and reduced capability (RedCap) devices, furthermore it also opens alternatives in terms of scalability and efficiency.

Therefore, this track focuses not only on mobile communications, but encompasses all aspects of system security, including a holistic perspective, cyber resilience and the whole security lifecycle. The topics include, but are not limited to:

• Beyond 5G & 6G Wireless System Security
• Physical Layer Security
• Physically Unclonable Functions
• Biometrics
• Cyber Resilience