INI Students Explore Topics Ranging from Cybersecurity Education to Network Traffic Management in Master’s Thesis Projects
By Evan Lybrand
Media InquiriesAt the Information Networking Institute (INI), students can choose to complete their program in three or four semesters. With the longer degree program, students are able to deepen their engagement by completing a master’s thesis, a development-based project or an area of concentration through coursework. Students interested in strengthening their research skills often select the master's thesis, which can result in publishable work and prepare them for further research activities.
This year, 12 graduating students successfully defended a master’s thesis, representing three degree programs: M.S. in Information Networking (MSIN), M.S. in Information Security (MSIS) and M.S. in Artificial Intelligence Engineering – Information Security (MSIAE-IS). Topics range from cloud-based malware protection to enhancing software and Machine Learning (ML) integration to improving network traffic management.
Explore the cutting-edge work being done by these INI students.
M.S. in Information Networking
Darshil Kaneria: VCCAnalyzer: Identifying Congestion Control Algorithms Used By OTT Platforms
Dongfang Ling: Leveraging Isomorphisms to Facilitate Zero-Shot KBQA Generalization
Bohan Liu: Enhancing Software and ML Collaboration: Integrating Large Language Models for Standardized Requirement Analysis
Yuchen Liu: An Empirical Study of Adopting UDF Outlining in Modern Databases
Kshitij Rana: Building a High-Performance In-Kernel Traffic Shaper
M.S. in Information Security
Michalis Antoniades: Chronos: Efficient Time-Based Detection and Response for Safety-Critical Real-Time Embedded Systems
Safety-critical industries such as automotive and rail have long prioritized operational safety to prevent accidents and failures that could lead to catastrophic outcomes. However, as these systems increasingly incorporate complex digital components and connectivity features, their threat landscape has expanded to include cybersecurity risks. Embedded systems, which are fundamental to the operation of trains and vehicles, are particularly vulnerable due to their reliance on C; a language that is not inherently memory safe. Additionally, these systems typically lack memory isolation between the embedded OS kernel and application code, making it easier for an adversary exploiting vulnerabilities in application code to compromise the underlying system. Despite this growing threat, cybersecurity has not been prioritized to the same extent as safety assurance. This is largely due to the severe resource constraints of microcontrollers and the performance overhead introduced by security mechanisms. Many microcontrollers used in safety-critical environments such as those powering vehicle braking systems operate with only 32 kilobytes of memory and processor speeds as low as 80 MHz. These systems also have strict real-time constraints, requiring immediate responsiveness to prevent catastrophic failures.
To address these challenges, Chronos was developed as a lightweight kernel extension that brings endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities to real-time embedded systems. Chronos employs timing-based detection mechanisms to identify abnormal task behavior and enforces memory separation through the Memory Protection Unit (MPU) to isolate EDR and kernel code from untrusted application code. It dynamically adapts to system load, reducing the frequency of security checks during high utilization to maintain responsiveness, and increasing it during low utilization to enhance security coverage. To detect reconnaissance and tampering attempts, Chronos instruments OS kernel APIs, blocking unauthorized modifications to security-critical code and data structures. When a security event is detected, forensic data is transmitted to a remote server for real-time threat analysis. Chronos is implemented as an extension to FreeRTOS and evaluated on a system that simulates UAV operations. Performance was measured using the CoreMark benchmark. Under the most aggressive security policy configuration, Chronos incurred a runtime overhead of 0.86% and 45.1% increase in code size. These results demonstrate that Chronos is lightweight and suitable for resource-constrained real-time systems.
Rohil Chaudhry: Identification and Analysis of Emerging Propagation Techniques Utilized by Malware Targeting Cloud Environments
Ryder Daniel: Survey of EDR Evasion Techniques, Trends, and Taxonomy for Classifying Modern Attacks
Jacob Kenny: Reimagining Triple-Entry Accounting: A Blockchain System for Confidential Transaction Verification
Taylor McCampbell: Exploring Barriers to K-12 Cybersecurity Education
John Samuel: Code Modernization Techniques Using Clang-Tidy for C23 Checked Arithmetic
M.S. in Artificial Intelligence Engineering – Information Security