Research: Network and Communication Security

Our lab focuses on building secure, resilient, and intelligent communication systems that protect modern wireless infrastructure against emerging threats. Our research spans fundamental theory, system prototyping, data-driven analysis, and real-world experimentation.

We investigate a broad spectrum of challenges at the intersection of wireless communication, network security, and AI-driven threat detection, with current efforts centered on:

• GPS Spoofing and Anti-Spoofing

We develop detection algorithms and defensive mechanisms to protect GNSS-dependent systems—including drones, autonomous vehicles, and critical infrastructure—from location manipulation attacks. Our work includes physical-layer signal analysis, multi-sensor fusion, anomaly detection, and real-time spoofing countermeasure design.

• Cellular Network Bot & SIM-Farm Detection

Our group pioneers analytics and digital-twin–based techniques for identifying large-scale automated abuse in cellular networks, such as SIM farms, bot-driven spam/robocalling, and fraudulent IoT device clusters. We collaborate with mobile network operators to build realistic emulation frameworks and deployable detection solutions for 4G/5G networks.

• Wireless Malware and Device Behavior Analysis

We build models that expose malicious patterns in wireless and edge devices, integrating traffic-level signals, control-plane events, and device fingerprints. Our research encompasses malware detection in constrained IoT environments, beacon-level anomaly detection, and network-side mitigation.

• IoT System Design and Embedded Networking

Our lab designs end-to-end IoT systems involving sensing, communication, energy management, and intelligent decision-making. We develop prototypes using embedded platforms and explore secure communication protocols and resilient network architectures for diverse IoT applications.

• Network Resource Allocation & Modeling

We explore algorithmic and analytical approaches to optimizing wireless and mobile networks, including spectrum allocation, traffic engineering, QoS provisioning, and stochastic modeling of real-world network behavior. This research supports both high-performance wireless systems and next-generation secure network designs.

Mission

Our mission is to create trustworthy, high-performance wireless systems capable of defending against adversarial conditions in real deployments. By combining rigorous research with practical validation—from GNSS receivers to 5G core insights—we aim to advance the frontier of wireless security and guide the design of future resilient networks.

If you are interested, please feel free to contact Prof. Yaling Yang