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    https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3829-9282
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Imran Malik

Overview of thesis

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are rapidly evolving in every Critical Infrastructure (CI) domain. While the custodians of such systems continuously endeavour to protect their infrastructure, the threat always looms as the opponents refine their tactics and attack methodologies. This research aims to investigate these issues by developing a technique(s) that would allow CI service providers to identify malware threats facing their network in an automated, real-time manner, ultimately providing actionable intelligence to enable the mitigation of these threats. This investigation will first distinguish between CPS and non-CPS malware by analysing different sample sets through feature selection/extraction. Once classified, the research will employ different nature-inspired algorithms designed for bringing efficiency through fast processing and improved accuracy by reducing false positives. The proposed mechanism is expected to benefit CI sectors such as the telecommunication providers, automated/self-driving cars network, financial systems, electricity/energy, water by helping identify cyber threats through artificial intelligence. Through this, early detection of malware and their appropriate mitigation would become possible, thereby protecting the organisation’s critical network infrastructure and proprietary data. The research has been envisioned as industry-driven that will help solve actual problems for a nation’s community, government, and industry.

Qualifications

  • Master of Cyber Security, Edith Cowan University (2016-2017).
  • Master of Science (Specialisation in Networks and Tel), Pakistan (2008-2013).
  • Master of Computer Science, Pakistan (2003-2004).
  • Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours), Pakistan (1999-2003).

Research

Research Interests

  • Malware Analysis
  • Critical Infrastructure/Cyber-Physical System (CPS) Security
  • Internet of Everything (IoE) Security
  • Digital Forensics

Scholarships and Awards

  • Best PhD Presentation Award - School of Science Post-Graduate Symposium 2022
  • Awarded WA inaugural Science Industry PhD fellowship award for three years from 2019-2023. The award is aimed at projects that have the potential to diversify WA economy with high research impact
  • 2017 Dean’s List of Excellent Academic Results – Master of Cyber Security
  • Recipient of ALC Group Prize 2017 awarded to the top student in a graduating cohort – Master of Cyber Security.
  • Received Certificate of Recognition from the Vice-Chancellor for being the top 100 students in ECU for two consecutive years (2016 and 2017)
  • Golden Key Honour Society Award 2017. The society is the world’s largest collegiate honour society that recognises top-performing graduate students
  • Highest CGPA in Master of Computer Science (Networks and Telecommunication)
  • Awarded Gold Medal in Master of Computer Science (Software Engineering)

Supervisors

  • Dr Ahmed Ibrahim
  • Dr Leslie Sikos
  • Dr Peter Hannay

Contact

Imran Malik
PhD Student
School of Science
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