WE ARE A TEAM OF TALENTED RESEARCHERS
Cyber Forensics and Emerging Technologies Laboratory.
where AI meets
Trust, Privacy, Networking and Cybersecurity
Solutions
Lab News & Updates
Loading…Our Mission
Our lab is dedicated to advancing the field of cybersecurity through innovative research that develops practical, effective solutions to protect individuals and organizations from modern digital threats. As cyber risks increasingly involve data-driven and AI-enabled techniques, we work to anticipate these emerging challenges while building defenses that remain adaptable over time. Our mission is supported by:
Pushing the boundaries of cybersecurity and staying ahead of both traditional and AI-assisted threats,
Adopting a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach grounded in strong scientific rigor and ethical conduct, and
Leveraging advanced technologies and Artificial Intelligence to better understand adversarial behavior and to design resilient countermeasures.
We aim to make the digital world a safer place by developing practical tools, methods, and technologies that help individuals and organizations confidently navigate a rapidly evolving cyber landscape.
Our Vision
Our vision is a future where digital security is seamlessly integrated into everyday life, enabling people and organizations to safely and confidently operate in the digital world. As AI becomes a larger part of both attack and defense, we work to ensure that systems remain secure even as adversaries evolve. We pursue this vision through:
Research that develops next-generation security techniques, privacy-preserving systems, and resilient architectures,
Strategic partnerships with academia and industry leaders to translate research into real-world solutions, and
Continued investment in education and awareness to strengthen understanding of cybersecurity challenges–inclduing those shaped by AI capabilities.
Our ultimate goal is to build a digital environment that remains secure and resilient even as new, increasingly AI-driven threats emerge—an environment where individuals and organizations can operate, innovate, and thrive with trust and confidence.
Our
Collaborators
Research
Framework
Trust, Privacy, and Identity in IoT Systems
Focus
Developing scalable frameworks that ensure trustworthiness, authentication, and privacy protection across IoT ecosystem. Integrate trust propagation, device fingerprinting, and privacy-preserving methods supporting secure interactions between interconnected devices.Key themes
IoT trust modeling | Zero-trust | Privacy-preserving data exchange | Traffic-based device profiling | AI-based Traffic obfuscation
Selected Projects >
Digital Forensics and Media Integrity
Focus
Advancing multimedia forensics through techniques that detect hidden data, digital tampering, and manipulated content, ensuring authenticity and evidential reliability. Bridges AI-based image analysis with forensic validation to combat misinformation and cybercrime.Key themes
Steganography | Deepfake detection | Metadata forensics | Image authentication | Forensic AI
Selected Projects >
Intelligent Data and Threat Analytics
Focus
Enhancing data quality, diversity, and resilience to improve the reliability of AI-driven detection systems. Addresses data imbalance, poisoning resistance, and representation learning to strengthen next-generation cyber defense capabilities.Key themes
Data-centric AI | Intrusion detection | Synthetic data generation | Adversarial robustness | Explainable security models
Selected Projects >
In a world of evolving cyber threats, we help you stay one step ahead
In today’s digital landscape, trust depends on strong, AI-aware defense. At C-FORCE, we pair research-driven insight with hands-on expertise to help organizations anticipate, prevent, and respond to modern cyber risks. Drawing on our work in IoT trust and privacy, digital forensics, media integrity, and intelligent threat analytics, we assess security posture, identify AI-related vulnerabilities, and validate system resilience against emerging attack techniques. Whether you need to assess your security posture, test for vulnerabilities, or strengthen compliance, our team provides practical solutions grounded in data and experience. Explore our consulting and penetration testing services to see how we can help you build lasting resilience against evolving digital threats.
Services
Check Our Lab
Consultation
We offer customized consulting services for organizations seeking to improve their cybersecurity posture or align with compliance standards.
Risk Assessment and Governance: Evaluate organizational policies, data flow, and access controls.
Security Architecture Review: Assess and redesign IT/OT infrastructure for defense-in-depth.
Incident Response Planning: Develop and test response playbooks to reduce breach impact.
Awareness Training: Tailored sessions on phishing defense, password management, and secure system administration.
Penetration Testing
Our team conducts controlled and ethical penetration tests to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them.
Network Penetration Testing: Evaluate internal and external network exposure, misconfigurations, and privilege escalation risks.
IoT and Embedded Device Testing: Assess firmware, wireless protocols, and data leakage across connected devices.
Reporting and Recommendations: Each test concludes with a comprehensive report detailing vulnerabilities, exploit paths, severity levels, and mitigation strategies.
Empowering Trust, Protecting Privacy, and Illuminating IoT
At C-FORCE, our research tackles the core challenges that shape modern cybersecurity– how to establish trust across IoT ecosystems, protect the integrity of digital media, and strengthen AI-driven detection systems against manipulation. We develop scalable frameworks for privacy preservation, create forensic techniques to uncover media manipulation, and design data-centric models that improve resilience against attacks. By advancing these technologies, we work to ensure that interconnected systems remain reliable, transparent, and secure, even as adversaries adopt more sophisticated methods.
Team
our Current Team
Farah Kandah, PhD
Director and Founder
Mallory Whitt
Lab Manager/Research Assistant
Lalith Medury
Identify and Privacy Reserch LeadPhD Candidate
Haofan Wang
Intelligant Data Research LeadPhD Candidate
Thilina Mendis
Forensics and Media Integrity Research Lead PhD Student
Liam Maher
Forensics and Media Integrity Research MS Cybersecurity Engineering
Luke Robinson
Researcher and Ethical Hacking team MS Cybersecurity Engineering
Hemant Sharawat
Researcher and Ethical Hacking team MS Cybersecurity Engineering
Taieba Tasnim
Researcher/PhD Student
Jarrod Hardy
Researcher/PhD Student Embedded Software Engineering Manager - Northrop GrummanContact
Contact Our Lab
Address
345 W Magnolia Ave, Auburn, AL 36832
Call Us
+1 334-844-4833