Computer scientists at UC Riverside are pioneering new approaches to strengthen US cybersecurity against increasingly complex threats. With support from federal research funding, students and faculty at the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering are developing technologies that detect hidden vulnerabilities, safeguard private data, and reinforce the digital defenses protecting both individuals and national infrastructure.
According to Professor Amit Roy-Chowdhury, co-director of the UC Riverside Artificial Intelligence Research and Education (RAISE) Institute, cybersecurity now impacts every aspect of modern life, from personal privacy to national defense. Through federally funded research, the university is not only tackling today’s most pressing digital security challenges but also preparing the next generation of cybersecurity experts to secure the future of the internet.
One area of concern is the protection of data in AI systems. Graduate researcher Hasin Us Sami demonstrated that even advanced techniques like federated learning, often considered safer, are not immune to attacks. His study revealed that malicious actors could reconstruct private medical images shared during AI training, exposing significant privacy risks in sectors like healthcare and finance. The findings, presented at the 2025 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, highlight the urgent need for stronger privacy-preserving AI methods.
Another groundbreaking study led by Qing Deng examined firewall weaknesses. Published at the 2025 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, the research exposed more than 2 million hidden services vulnerable to intrusions due to misconfigured firewalls. These oversights created an “expanded observable internet”, expanding the attack surface for hackers and leaving outdated servers, routers, and enterprise systems exposed. This discovery underscores how minor technical flaws can translate into major security risks.
Doctoral researcher Keyu Man and colleagues focused on side-channel vulnerabilities within domain name system (DNS) servers, which form the backbone of internet communication. Their tool, called Side-ChAnnel Detector (SCAD), can uncover hidden flaws in operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD within a single day—dramatically faster than traditional manual analysis. SCAD identified 14 vulnerabilities, including seven previously unknown, that could have enabled large-scale cyberattacks. This innovation has the potential to transform how organizations protect critical infrastructure.
Together, these projects showcase how academic research is driving real-world cybersecurity innovation. By exposing flaws in AI privacy protections, firewall configurations, and core internet protocols, UC Riverside researchers are not only contributing to scientific progress but also shaping the tools and strategies that will defend the nation’s digital ecosystem.
In conclusion, as cyber threats evolve with unprecedented speed, the work at UC Riverside highlights the importance of federal investment in cybersecurity research. The breakthroughs achieved by these teams demonstrate that safeguarding the digital world requires both cutting-edge science and a commitment to training the experts who will build tomorrow’s defenses.
