KISON research group (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) is a leading university of quality online education that is rooted in Catalonia and open to the world. It offers people lifelong learning to help them and society advance, while carrying out research into the knowledge society. It is the 2nd Spanish-speaking online educational institution in the world.

KISON (K-riptography and Information Security for Open Networks) is a research group created o 2001 focused on creating technologies for the protection of the security of networks, the information transmitted through them and the privacy of their users. The KISON group research lines focus on the compatibility of the security of decentralized networks (e.g. ad-hoc, P2P or IoT networks) and the protection of information in the Internet (especially multimedia contents) with users' rights to privacy. In particular:

Security and privacy of open networks:

* AI for cybersecurity

- Design AI systems for the protection, prevention and detection of cyberattacks that follow approaches that allow for sustainable growth, avoid infrastructure collapse and are resilient.

- Analysis of the robustness of AI models, including privacy leaks and security vulnerabilities, and the design of solutions to enhance their resilience.

- Design of suitable techniques to protect the information that is transmitted in open networks, as long as the privacy of the users of this information.

* Research in blockchain

- Develop mechanisms to stimulate user cooperation and ensure optimal operation of new distributed network architectures (e.g., Blockchain) for the benefit of all citizens. The development of this challenge is focused on (1) Implementing security and privacy protocols for the interconnection of networks of different natures (sensors, home automation, vehicular, Internet, IoT, smart cities, etc.), protecting identity and location of nodes, and allow efficient self-management of networks through scalable mechanisms; and (2) create second-layer solutions for blockchain systems (e.g., Lightning Network) that will reduce their carbon footprint, improving scalability and their security and privacy properties, without compromising performance.

* Sustainable cyber security

- Design systems for the protection, prevention and detection of cyber attacks that follow approaches that allow for sustainable growth, avoid infrastructure collapse and are resilient. The development of this challenge is based on (1) creating proactive detection systems and at the source, (2) implementing incentives for participants to act responsibly by respecting and protecting the ecosystem, and collaborating to improve the detection of known and unknown intrusions. The implementation of the challenge includes the generation of synthetic data and mechanisms (i.e. digital twins) that allow verifying and validating sustainable cyber security schemes, (3) designing mechanisms to build trust among network entities: key management and distribution, authentication and authorization protocols, distributed verification protocols.

2. Security and privacy of information:

Design of suitable techniques to protect the information that is transmitted in open networks, as long as the privacy of the users of this information.

* Steganography, watermarking and fingerprinting:

Design systems to detect if a file has been modified or copied, and to know the origin of the copying of content that has been illegally distributed without respecting its copyright.

Create systems that act in real time and that can operate on light devices (tablets, smartphones or laptops, IoT). The challenge considers new application frameworks for watermarking techniques beyond multimedia forensics, such as the detection of manipulations and the creation of fake-news.

* User-centered privacy:

- Develop privacy solutions that increase the control and transparency of data by citizens, and that guarantee compliance with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). The research focuses on applications from various sectors: privacy of medical data, privacy of natural language documents, privacy in data publication, privacy in sharing and publication of trajectories, among others.