Navaneeth Rajendran: Breaking the wall of industrial cyber defence

Navaneeth Rajendran  
University of Waikato  

Critical infrastructure such as water, energy, and manufacturing systems face increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. My research focuses on protecting the technology that operates critical infrastructure. It combines artificial intelligence with virtual replicas of physical systems that can be used to monitor and test without risk. Together, these tools can detect stealthy attacks that traditional security tools often miss, enabling faster and more intelligent protection of industrial systems before physical damage occurs.  

Navaneeth Rajendran is studying for a Masters in Cyber Security at the University of Waikato. His research uses digital twins and large language 
models to identify and defend against cyberattacks on industrial control systems for critical infrastructure. He is passionate about novel approaches to improving the resilience and security of real-world industrial environments.