About the Scheme SETS has been working in the challenging areas of Cyber security research with a focus on Cryptology and Computing; Hardware Security; Network Security and Quantum security adhering to the three tenets (i) Directed basic research (ii) Translational research and (iii) Coherent synergy. The R&D projects taken-up by SETS are mainly focusing for the long-term research (directed basic research) leading to capability building by publishing the research works in reputed journals/ conferences; IPR generation, patents; development of technology prototypes and deployment of products & solutions for end user organizations. Over the last few years SETS based on coherent synergy principle explored R&D collaborations with other R&D labs; academia and PSUs to work towards the usable solutions/ products. Towards opening up R&D problems and nurturing talents, SETS Chennai is announcing SETS STARS scheme for students. This offers opportunities for internship / final year project / dissertation programmes to graduate/postgraduate students and for students who are pursing PhD – who would like to pursue their academic projects in the area of information security.
Overall Guidelines
Procedure for Application
Selection Process
Proceedings after Selection
Students are expected to publish the work done in reputed journals/conferences
| S. No. | Title of Problem Statement | Description | Project Guide / Contact Email |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | XAI (Explainable Artificial Intelligence) for Side Channel Analysis (SCA) | Develop and apply Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) techniques to analyze Side Channel Attacks (SCA) by identifying and interpreting physical information leakage from cryptographic devices. The work will focus on using AI-based methods to detect leakage points, assess cryptographic security and improve the analysis of potential vulnerabilities. | eswari[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 2 | Python-Based Framework for Automated Cryptographic Validation | Develop a Python-based framework using open-source cryptographic libraries for the automated testing and validation of cryptographic algorithm implementation. | renita[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 3 | Side Channel Analysis on STM32 Microcontroller Platform | The problem focuses on the practical implementation and security analysis of cryptographic algorithms on a microcontroller using the ChipWhisperer-Nano. The setup uses an STM32F microcontroller as the target platform to capture power traces and investigate vulnerabilities through Side-Channel Analysis (SCA) techniques. | renita[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 4 | Emulation of Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) | The problem statement focuses on developing a software-based environment that imitates how an RTOS operates, so that its tasks, scheduling, timing behaviour, and interactions with hardware can be studied or tested without necessarily using the actual target hardware. | velmurugan[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 5 | Development of a Security Analysis Application Integrating Hardware and Software Tools | Design and develop an integrated application that interfaces with hardware and software tools to automate data acquisition, security assessment, and reporting. The project emphasizes software development, hardware integration, and cybersecurity workflows. | hariprasad[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 6 | Security Analysis of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Using Radio Frequency (RF) Techniques | Study the wireless communication protocols used by UAVs and analyze their security from an RF perspective. The internship involves RF signal capture, protocol analysis, and identification of potential security vulnerabilities in UAV communication links. | hariprasad[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 7 | AI-driven Interactive Mobile Application For Cyber Security Threat Awareness – CyberMaaveeran | CyberMaaveeran aims to develop an AI-based mobile application that uses trained and fine-tuned AI models to understand emerging cyber threats and provide interactive, personalized awareness content to users. | nsrg[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 8 | AI-Based Dynamic Network Policy Enforcement Using User Behaviour and Pattern Analysis | Based on AI/ML-driven risk assessment, the system dynamically adapts access policies, allowing normal users standard access while restricting or quarantining suspicious or high-risk users/devices. | nsrg[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 9 | Tor Traffic Analysis and Correlation for Cybercrime Investigation – TRACE | TRACE aims to develop an AI-assisted traffic analysis and correlation system to detect Tor activity, extract traffic fingerprints, and correlate patterns across network points. | nsrg[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 10 | Integrate Generative AI for Threat Hunting: Building advanced LLM based attack planner and orchestration engine | Real-world adversaries continuously adapt tactics and techniques to evade defenses. This problem statement addresses the gap through an LLM-driven attack planning engine that autonomously generates diverse, adaptive, MITRE ATT&CK-aligned campaigns within safe virtual environments. | nsrg[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 11 | Federated Context-Aware IDS for Multi-Home IoT Networks | Centralized IoT IDS training requires pooling traffic and contextual data across households, raising privacy concerns and creating a single point of failure. This problem statement addresses these challenges. | nsrg[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 12 | Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) using micro-segmentation to restrict lateral movement | Compromised users/devices can move laterally across traditionally designed networks and gain access to sensitive resources. A Zero Trust microsegmentation framework is required to enforce least-privilege access, isolate critical network resources, continuously verify user and device trust, and prevent unauthorized lateral movement. | nsrg[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 13 | Boolean function and their measurement for the randomness | Study and implement mathematical functions that take binary inputs and produce a binary output, and analyse their properties to determine how effectively they can generate or represent random-looking binary sequences. | shashi[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 14 | Benchmarking Decoders for Quantum Error Correction (QEC) on Quantum Computers | Investigate how QEC decoders perform across different error-correcting codes, noise models, and hardware constraints. Establish benchmarks to evaluate logical error rates, decoding latency, and scalability, and identify limitations relevant to real-time implementation. | selvagangi[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 15 | Security Testing and Evaluation Techniques Development for Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Systems | Investigate how practical imperfections in QKD implementations create exploitable vulnerabilities. Develop and validate reproducible testing methods to assess attack susceptibility, countermeasure effectiveness, and compliance with the assumptions underlying security proofs. | foram[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 16 | Exploring Private Preserving Techniques in various domains | Research methods that allow data to be used, shared, and analysed while protecting sensitive or confidential information. | shashi[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 17 | Formal Verification of Post Quantum Implementations | samyuktha[at]setsindia[dot]net | |
| 18 | Fileless Malware Propagation and Resilience Assessment in SCADA Environments | The problem statement aims to model, detect, analyse, and assess fileless malware propagation within a controlled SCADA test environment, with emphasis on identifying propagation pathways, behavioural indicators, impact on OT assets, and effective detection and mitigation techniques. | reshmi[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 19 | Assessing PUF Authentication Resilience Against AI-Driven Attacks | AI-driven adversarial and modelling attacks may exploit PUF response patterns and compromise authentication. This problem statement aims to evaluate the resilience of PUF-based device authentication against AI attacks and develop effective detection and mitigation techniques in a controlled test environment. | reshmi[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 20 | Hardware-Rooted Device Authentication and Dynamic Access Control for Secure SCADA Infrastructure | Build a SCADA security system where device identity is anchored in hardware and network access changes dynamically based on the device/user’s trust or risk level. | geetha[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 21 | Securing IoT Communications Using the ASCON Family of Cryptographic Algorithms | Explore the ASCON family of cryptographic algorithms for securing IoT communications and evaluate their performance and implementation characteristics across representative IoT communication scenarios. | santhosht[at]setsindia[dot]net |
| 22 | Design and Evaluation of a Post-Quantum Cryptography-Enabled Consensus Framework for Permissioned Blockchain Networks | Develop and experimentally evaluate a post-quantum cryptography-enabled consensus framework for permissioned blockchain networks that preserves the safety and liveness guarantees of the underlying consensus protocol while achieving quantum-resistant cryptographic security with acceptable performance overhead. | gayathri[at]setsindia[dot]net |
