Krishna Sampigethaya

Title
Dept. Chair of Cyber Intelligence and Security, Professor
Email
Department
Cyber Intelligence & Security Department
College
College of Business, Security & Intel

Office Hours

M, T, TH, 10:30am-noon; MWF, 2-3pm

Areas of Expertise

Aviation and aerospace cyber security, cyber-physical system security, transportation cyber security, connected vehicle cyber security
Krishna Sampigethaya


Krishna Sampigethaya is currently the Chair for the Department of Cyber Intelligence and Security at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ, located in the one and only College of Security and Intelligence in the US. Krishna received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Washington (2007) and was one of the first in the world to defend a thesis on connected vehicle privacy and aviation cyber security research. He then joined The Boeing Company and was soon selected as the first Boeing Associate Technical Fellow for aviation cyber-physical security in 2012. Most recently he was an Associate Director for cyber security at the United Technologies Corporation (UTC) Research Center (2016-2018), focusing on the security of aerospace systems and commercial products. He has also been an Assistant Director for the Masters in Telecom program at the University of Maryland (2014-2015), developing new courses on software-defined networks and connected vehicles.

Krishna founded the first aviation cyber security technical committee, sponsored by the SAE in 2008, and has been organizing aviation cyber security tracks at SAE as well as AIAA/IEEE conferences since then. He co-edited the first special issue on cyber-physical systems, published in the first centennial year issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE journal (2012). He has authored over 50 papers—including 3 award-winning publications—delivered over 15 keynotes, and holds over 16 US patents in aviation CPS security. His work has been recognized in the community with awards such as the American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI) Engineer of the Year Award (2013), ASEI Corporate Engineering Excellence Award (2013), and a Best Instructor Award at UMD (2015).

  • Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering, University of Washington-Seattle Campus
  • M.S. - Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, University of Washington-Seattle Campus

  • CI 490: Cyber Capstone Project
  • CI 690: Cyber Security Graduate Projec

CI 505 -- Cyber Intelligence and Information Systems Security

CI 499 -- Multi-Disciplinary Capstone: Secure Autonomous Aircraft

CI 470 -- Aviation Cyber Security

CI 490 -- Cyber Capstone Project

CI 450 -- Computer Forensics II

CI 320 -- Ethical Hacker: Penetration Testing

CS 213 -- Computer Networking

CS 225 -- Computer Science II

EGR 101 -- Introduction to Engineering


Selected Publications (16 out of 50)

  1. K. Sampigethaya, "Aviation Cyber-Physical System Security," AIAA Aviation 2019.

  2. K. Sampigethaya, "Aircaft Cyber Security Risk Assessment: Bringing Air Traffic Systems and Cyber-Physical Security to the Forefront,", AIAA SciTech, 2019.

  3. K. Sampigethaya, P. Kopardekar, J. Davis, "Cyber security of unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM)," I-CNS, 2018. Winner of Best of Session, Cyber Track, and 2nd Best of Conference Paper Awards.

  4. K. Sampigethaya, D. Battaglia, A. Almagambetov, M. Andalibi, T. Groh, K. Martin, J. Pavlina, S. Siewert, A. Boettcher, “Integrating Research into Undergraduate Courses: Experiences from a Multi-Disciplinary Faculty Learning Community,” Proceedings of the ASEE Rocky Mountain Section Conference, Sept. 2016.

  5. J. Haass, K. Sampigethaya, V. Capezzuto, “Aviation and Cybersecurity: Opportunities for Applied Research,” Transportation Research Board TR News, no. 304, pp. 39-43, Jul.-Aug. ’16.

  6. K. Sampigethaya and R. Poovendran, “Aviation Cyber-Physical Systems: Foundations for Future Aircraft and Air Transport,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 101, no. 8, pp. 1834-1855, August 2013. (Google Scholar citation count: 60 as of Mar. 2018. Basis for the CANSO Cyber Security and Risk Assessment Guide, Sept. 2014)

  7. K. Sampigethaya, R. Poovendran, S. Shetty, T. Davis, C. Royalty, “Future e-enabled aircraft communications and security: The next twenty years and beyond,” Proceedings of the IEEE, Special issue on Aerospace Communications and Networking in the Next Two Decades, vol. 99. no. 11, pp. 2040–2055, December 2011. (Google Scholar citation count: 72 as of Mar. 2018)

  8. K. Sampigethaya, R. Poovendran, L. Bushnell, M. Li, R. Robinson, S. Lintelman, “Secure Wireless Collection and Distribution of Commercial Airplane Health Data,” IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, vol. 24, no. 7, pp. 14-20, July 2009. (Google Scholar citation count: 32 as of Mar. 2018)

  9. K. Sampigethaya, R. Poovendran and L. Bushnell, “Secure Operation, Control and Maintenance of Future eEnabled Airplanes,” Proceedings of the IEEE, Special issue on Aviation Information Systems, vol. 96, no. 12, pp. 1992–2007, Dec. 2008. (Google Scholar citation count: 52 as of Mar. 2018)

  10. K. Sampigethaya, M. Li, L. Huang and R. Poovendran, “AMOEBA: Robust Location Privacy Scheme for VANET,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Special issue on Vehicular Networks, vol. 25, no. 8, pp. 1569–1589, October 2007. (Google Scholar citation count: 321 as of Mar. 2018)

  11. K. Sampigethaya and R. Poovendran, “A Survey on Mix Networks and their Secure Applica- tions,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 94, no. 12, pp. 2142 –2181, December 2006. (Google Scholar citation count: 73 as of Mar. 2018)

  12. K. Sampigethaya and R. Poovendran, “A Framework and Taxonomy for Comparison of Elec- tronic Voting Schemes,” Elsevier Computers & Security, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 137–153, March 2006. (Google Scholar citation count: 95 as of Mar. 2018)

  13. K. Sampigethaya, R. Poovendran, “Cyber-Physical Integration in Future Aviation Information Systems,” IEEE/AIAA Digital Avionics Systems Conference, Oct. 2012. Best Paper Award in Avionics Information Management session. (Google Scholar citation count: 19 as of Mar. 2018)

  14. K. Sampigethaya, R. Poovendran, S. Taylor, “Balancing operator privacy and future airspace surveillance,” International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS), Sept. 2012.

  15. K. Sampigethaya and R. Poovendran, “Visualization and Assessment of ADS-B Security for Green ATM,” IEEE DASC, October 2010. Best Paper Award in NextGen Surveillance session. (Google Scholar citation count: 26 as of Mar. 2018)

  16. K. Sampigethaya and R. Poovendran, “Privacy of Future Air Traffic Management Broadcasts,” IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), October 2009. (Google Scholar citation count: 16 as of Mar. 2018)

  17. K. Sampigethaya, L. Huang, M. Li, R. Poovendran, K. Matsuura, and K. Sezaki, “CARA- VAN: Providing Location Privacy for VANET,” Proceedings of the Embedded Security in Cars (ESCAR), November 2005. (Google Scholar citation count: 388 as of Mar. 2018)


  • Chair and Associate Professor, Cyber Intelligence and Security Department, ERAU-Prescott
  • Assistant Professor, College of Engineering and College of Security & Intelligence, ERAU Prescott
  • Associate Director, Cyber-Physical Security, UTC Research Center
  • Assistant Director, Masters in Telecommunications Program, Univ. of Maryland
  • Associate Technical Fellow, Aviation Cyber Security & CPS, The Boeing Company
  • Affiliate Associate Professor and Network Security Lab Co-Director, EE, Univ. of Washington
  • Advanced Technologist, Networked Systems, Boeing Research & Technology

AIAA and IEEE

  • Best of Cyber Track and 2nd Best of Conference Paper Award, I-CNS Conference (2018)

  • University of Maryland ENTS Instructor Award. For excellence in teaching in the ENTS program. (2015)

  • Engineer of the Year Award, American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI). Award presented by General Charles Bolden Jr., NASA Administrator. (2013)

  • Corporate Engineering Excellence Award, ASEI. (2013)

  • Boeing Certificate of Recognition. For demonstrating “very high technical excellence and leadership in ATM Cyber-Physical Security R&D.” (2013)

  • Boeing Associate Technical Fellow. Selected for engineering and aviation cyber security expertise. Fewer than 1.5% of Boeing employees are selected members of the Technical Fellowship. (2012)

  • Best Paper of Session Award, Avionics Information Management Session, IEEE/AIAA Digital Avionics Systems Conference. (2012)

  • Pride@Boeing award. For contributions to developing a combined security and safety management system to FAA. (2012)

  • Best Paper of Session Award, NextGen Surveillance Session, IEEE/AIAA Digital Avionics Systems Conference. (2010)

  • Pride@Boeing award. For effort in airplane cyber security contract R & D effort. (2009)

  • Lead Teaching Assistant, UW EE. Selected by the UW College of Engineering for this first-time position. (2003)