Usman Rauf

Dr. Usman Rauf is an Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity and Director of the Graduate Cybersecurity Program at Mercy University's School of Liberal Arts. He leads the CRISP Lab and holds a Ph.D. in Software & Information Systems from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His work focuses on insider threat detection, vehicular security, bio-inspired cybersecurity architectures, and privacy quantification in smart applications. He has contributed to federal grants and published in journals like IEEE Access and Future Generation Computer Systems.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Software & Information Systems, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Research Interests:

• Insider threat detection using behavioral analytics and machine learning frameworks
• Vehicular network security and inter-vehicle communication protocols
• Bio-inspired cybersecurity architectures mimicking biological systems for resilience
• Privacy quantification methodologies in IoT and medical devices
• Formal methods for policy regulation and attack mitigation

Publications Trends: Recent work emphasizes ML-driven threat detection frameworks (Employee Watcher, E-Watcher), formal approaches to insider attacks, and application of bio-inspired strategies. Emerging focus on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) network security and pandemic data analysis via AI/IoT integration.

Advising & Grants: Served as senior personnel on federal grants for cybersecurity research. Advises students in graduate cybersecurity programs, focusing on project-based learning through courses like IASP 600/601.

Labs & Teams: Heads the CRISP Lab, which develops cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions using hybrid frameworks and bio-inspired techniques.