New Center Will Protect Transportation Navigation Systems Against Cyber Attacks

CSU Faculty Member Serving on Center’s Leadership Committee

CHICAGO (June 2023) - The Federal Department of Transportation approved a five-year, $10 million grant to the Illinois Institute of Technology, along with partner institutions Chicago State University, Stanford University, Virginia Tech and the University of California Riverside to fund the Center for Assured and Resilient Navigation in Advanced Transportation Systems (CARNATIONS). The new Center will improve transportation navigation systems by making them more resilient to cyber attacks such as spoofing and jamming.

The CARNATIONS project is led by the Illinois Institute of Technology with Chicago State University, Stanford University, Virginia Tech and the University of California Riverside serving as partner institutions. CSU’s team will be led by Dr. Moussa Ayyash, professor of Computing Sciences and Technologies  and director of CSU’s Center for Information & Security Education and Research (CINSER), who is a CARNATIONS co-Principal Investigator and will serve as a member of its leadership team. IIT’s Dr. Boris Pervan, professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, will lead the center. 

The need for a Center like CARNATIONS is important now, and the need is only growing. A major aircraft manufacturer reported more than 10,000 global navigation satellite system (GNSS) interference events in 2021 alone, and repeated spoofing has impacted a range of military operations internationally. Interference such as jamming and spoofing that targets critical infrastructure has the potential to cause widespread delays and cascading failures across multiple modes of transportation including ships, trains, trucks, and cars. 

With a broad coalition of university collaborators and industry advisers, CARNATIONS will develop sophisticated algorithms that can tell the difference between authentic or spoofed GPS signals and improving GPS receivers by combining them with other types of sensors that are immune to jamming and spoofing.

“Whether it’s innovating ways to identify cybersecurity threats to our transportation systems or removing those potential risks, I’m confident that the bright minds at Illinois Institute of Technology and Chicago State University will be working on infrastructure breakthroughs to help protect working families across America, all while creating jobs for the diverse transportation and tech leaders of tomorrow,” says United States Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois). “I’m proud to have advocated for this project and look forward to this federal investment helping prioritize the advanced transportation that will drive our nation’s future.”

“Our nation’s infrastructure increasingly relies on connected and automated technologies, with significant potential cybersecurity risks,” says U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois). “Illinois Institute of Technology will help develop innovative solutions to protect our nation’s transportation infrastructure from cybersecurity risks. This partnership with Chicago State University will train the next generation of engineers on innovative technology to identify, mitigate, and remove cybersecurity risks from our transportation infrastructure.”

The CARNATIONS Center was also supported by Illinois State Representatives Marcus Evans Jr. (IL-33rd District) and Nicholas Smith (IL - 34th District).

“Protecting our transportation navigation systems against cyber attacks is a need that will only increase and our CARNATIONS consortium is well equipped to establish a Center of strategic importance, producing high-quality, impactful research, technology transfer, education, and workforce development,” said Dr. Ayyash of CSU. “As a partner institution in CARNATIONS and as Illinois’ only US Department of Education-designated Predominantly Black Institution, CSU has the opportunity to give hands-on experience to our students who are training in the field to become the diverse leaders of tomorrow in transportation and cybersecurity.” 

About Chicago State University

Chicago State University (CSU), founded in 1867, is the oldest public university in the Chicago Metropolitan area. The University’s five colleges offer over 70 undergraduate and graduate degree-granting and non-degree programs. CSU is committed to equity in education, serving as the only U.S. Department of Education-designated four-year Predominantly Black Institution in Illinois and ranked by a Harvard economist in the top 4% of public and private universities nationwide in supporting our graduates’ economic mobility. The University serves as a prominent civic space on the greater South Side of Chicago by hosting a multitude of athletic, educational, cultural, and recreational activities. The university is located near public transit that provides convenient access to the campus.