ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A cybersecurity technique that shuffles network addresses like a blackjack dealer shuffles playing cards could effectively befuddle hackers gambling for control of a military jet, commercial airliner or spacecraft, according to new research. However, the research also shows these defenses must be designed to counter increasingly sophisticated algorithms used to break them. […]
Category Archives: Cybersecurity
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Hackers could try to take over a military aircraft; can a cyber shuffle stop them?

Sandia studies vulnerabilities of electric vehicle charging infrastructure
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — With electric vehicles becoming more common, the risks and hazards of a cyberattack on electric vehicle charging equipment and systems also increases. Jay Johnson, an electrical engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, has been studying the varied vulnerabilities of electric vehicle charging infrastructure for the past four years. Johnson and his team recently […]

Investigating stockpile stewardship applications for world’s largest computer chip
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories and its partners announced a new project today to investigate the application of Cerebras Systems‘ Wafer-Scale Engine technology to accelerate advanced simulation and computing applications in support of the nation’s stockpile stewardship mission. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Advanced Simulation and Computing program is sponsoring the work and Sandia, […]

Sandia researchers receive two EO Lawrence Awards
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories pulsed-power physicist Daniel Sinars and quantum information scientist Andrew Landahl have each received 2021 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Awards, the U.S. Department of Energy’s highest scientific mid-career honor. Sinars won in the category “National Security and Nonproliferation;” Landahl in “Computer, Information and Knowledge Sciences.” Susan Seestrom, associate laboratories director for […]

Black engineer awards distinguish Sandia Labs
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Ten Sandia National Laboratories engineers received Black Engineer of the Year Awards this year, including Most Promising Scientist in Government, Research Leadership, Science Spectrum Trailblazers and Modern-Day Technology Leaders. Honorees include Sandia mechanical, electrical, civil, aerospace and aeronautical engineers who excel in their respective fields. From the abstract to the technical, each […]

Sandia Labs wins seven R&D 100 Awards and two specialty honors
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Competing in an international pool of universities, corporations and government labs, inventions from Sandia National Laboratories captured seven R&D 100 Awards (one in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory) this year, as well as two special awards for green technology and corporate responsibility. Independent panels of judges selected projects to represent […]

Sandia brings best cybersecurity minds to bear in national policy talks
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Sandia hosted a series of virtual cybersecurity events, called Meetings of the Minds, to pull together the best thinking on how the nation should respond to changing threats. The first one was held Dec. 6, 2020, and the second on May 26. The first event brought together experts from Sandia; Bob Kolasky, the […]

Engineer at Sandia Labs turns error detection into ‘secret language’ for data security
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Research into software error detection has led one Sandia National Laboratories engineer to develop a method — it works like two friends who speak their own language — to enhance the protection of digital content like email and social media messaging. Celestino Corral is an electrical engineer who began working on error […]

Black engineer awards expand Sandia Labs spotlight
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Ten Sandia National Laboratories engineers received Black Engineer of the Year Awards, including Most Promising Scientist, Modern Technology Leaders and Science Spectrum Trailblazers. Honorees include Sandia systems, chemical, computer, electrical, petroleum, manufacturing and mechanical engineers who excel in their respective fields, powering innovation while flexing their technological muscles for U.S. national security. […]

Cybersecurity researchers at Sandia Labs take spotlight at national showcase
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two Sandia National Laboratories computer scientists are earning national recognition for cybersecurity platforms they conceived. Adrian Chavez and Vince Urias were invited to pitch their software to investors, entrepreneurs and prospective customers at a special virtual event sponsored by the Department of Energy to accelerate the commercialization of federally developed technologies. Combined, […]

Sandia initiatives to protect US energy grid and nuclear weapons systems
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — To deter attempts to disable U.S. electrical utilities and to defend U.S. nuclear weapon systems from evolving technological threats, Sandia National Laboratories has begun two multiyear initiatives to strengthen U.S. responses. One is focused on defending large U.S. electrical utility systems from potential attacks by hostile nations, as well as from damage […]

AI center to combine hardware, software for practical gains
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta are launching a research center that combines hardware design and software development to improve artificial intelligence technologies that will ultimately benefit the public. AI is an emerging field with eventual applications ranging from autonomous […]

How a chicken farmer landed a job in cybersecurity
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Logan Carpenter teases his co-workers when they complain about work. Growing up in rural Madison County, Virginia, he worked on a chicken farm through high school and took up landscaping and painting jobs on the side. Tending poultry, performing menial labor for low wages, and being consumed daily by bugs and southern […]

Personalized medicine software vulnerability uncovered by Sandia researchers
LIVERMORE, Calif. — A weakness in one common open source software for genomic analysis left DNA-based medical diagnostics vulnerable to cyberattacks. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories identified the weakness and notified the software developers, who issued a patch to fix the problem. The issue has also been fixed in the latest release of the software. […]

New brain-inspired cybersecurity system detects ‘bad apples’ 100 times faster
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Cybersecurity is critical — for national security, corporations and private individuals. Sophisticated cybersecurity systems excel at finding “bad apples” in computer networks, but they lack the computing power to identify the threats directly. Instead, they look for general indicators of an attack; call them “apples.” Or the system flags very specific patterns, […]