HackIoT & PCCRT Assessment Lab

HackIoT: Hack Internet of Things

PCCRT: Privacy, Compliance, Cybercrime, Risk and Threat 

About the Lab

The HackIoT & PCCRT Assessment Lab is a multidisciplinary research hub dedicated to applied, innovative research at the intersection of cybersecurity, privacy and risk analysis in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT), and organizational cybersecurity. 

We explore the full spectrum of modern cybersecurity issues — from hardware-level vulnerabilities to regulatory compliance and threat intelligence and assessment.

Our lab focuses on the evolving ecosystem connected systems, spanning business information systems, personal consumer devices like smart home products and connected toys, and industrial systems such as SCADA and critical infrastructure technologies. 

In addition to IoT security, our research includes broader domains under PCCRT: Privacy protection, Regulatory and organizational compliance, Cybercrime investigation, and Risk and Threat assessment.

 

Dr. Benjamin Yankson gestures and speaks inside his lab's office space, while four of his student researchers work on computers around him.

 

HackIoT Research Focus: Securing the Internet of Things

The HackIoT arm of the lab specializes in the security and privacy of IoT and connected systems, with particular attention to their integration into personal, commercial and industrial environments. 

We address the rising concerns related to smart technologies — such as connected home devices, wearables, toys, medical technologies and industrial control systems (ICS/SCADA).

Key research areas include:

  • IoT device vulnerability discovery (hardware, firmware, software)
  • IoT network protocol analysis and reverse engineering
  • Digital forensics and incident analysis for IoT environments
  • Secure-by-design frameworks for embedded and connected systems
  • Penetration testing and security tool development for smart devices
Two hands hold up a green and white Roybi smart educational robot.
Three robots with circular white bodies, oval-shaped heads and digital cartoon faces sit in a line on the ground.

PCCRT Research Focus: Privacy, Compliance, Cybercrime, Risk and Threat to Organizations

The PCCRT component of the lab focuses on broader organizational and systemic issues of cybersecurity, integrating technical and socio-legal dimensions. Our goal is to develop holistic frameworks that help organizations manage not only technology risks but also the human, legal, strategic and operational aspects of cybersecurity.

Key PCCRT areas of research include:

  • Leadership and Strategic Integration
    • Governance models and strategic alignment of cybersecurity with business goals
    • Board-level reporting and executive decision-making support
    • Cybersecurity culture development and stakeholder communication
  • Governance, Risk, Compliance and AI Aspects
    • Evaluation of compliance with regulatory frameworks (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PIPEDA)
    • Ethical dimensions of surveillance, data collection and automated decision-making
    • Privacy-by-design policy development
    • Artificial intelligence and compliance automation
  • Cybersecurity Threat and Risk Assessment (TRA)
    • Risk modeling for smart systems and critical infrastructure
    • Organizational threat landscape analysis and mitigation planning
  • Cybercrime Investigation
    • Techniques for investigating digital crimes (e.g., device tampering, data theft, surveillance misuse)
    • Dark web monitoring, threat intelligence and attribution
  • Metrics, Evaluation and ROI
    • Quantifying security program performance and maturity
    • Evaluating the return on cybersecurity investment and resource prioritization

We aim to address real-world challenges faced by individuals, organizations and governments as they adapt to the rapidly growing digital landscape.

Contact the HackIoT PCCRT Assessment Lab
ETEC, Room 301

1220 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12226
United States

Email
[email protected]

What Student Researchers Do

As a research intern, you will work closely with faculty, graduate researchers and industry collaborators to perform hands on, high impact research. You will be expected to contribute to one or more of the following: 

Core Research Areas

  • Investigate security and privacy vulnerabilities in consumer and industrial Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
  • Analyze IoT communication protocols, hardware interfaces and embedded systems for flaws.
  • Conduct penetration testing and vulnerability assessments on smart devices and applications.
  • Develop tools and scripts for security analysis and reverse engineering.

PCCRT-focused Components

  • Perform Cybersecurity Threat and Risk Assessments (TRA) using industry and regulatory frameworks.
  • Research compliance challenges related to global data protection and privacy laws (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PIPEDA).
  • Study emerging cybercrime tactics, including device tampering, surveillance abuse and data exfiltration in IoT ecosystems.
  • Assess the human, organizational and policy dimensions of cybersecurity risk.
  • Assist in drafting reports and recommendations to support privacy-by-design and secure system development.

 

Four students stand and watch a small white robot move across the ground. Two of the students are holding smaller robots.

 

Why Join Us?

  • Gain hands-on experience in one of the most relevant and fast-growing areas of cybersecurity research.
  • Collaborate with a dynamic team of experts and contribute to impactful projects.
  • Opportunity to co-author academic publications, participate in conferences or build your portfolio with real-world assessments.
  • Prepare for careers in research, security engineering, cyber policy or digital forensics. 

Research Publications

 

2025

Yankson, B., **Bondzie. R., *Resciniti, S., Marquez, D., *Nelson, C. and Atele-Williams T. (2025). Enhancing Digital Forensics in Higher Education: The Role of Experiential Learning in Bridging the Skills Gap. 12th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility, and Security (NTMS), 2025, pp. 1-7, doi: 10.1109/NTMS49979.2025.9432666

**Dimaz A., **Sari, D., Yankson, B. (2025). Cyberattacks in government organizations: A systematic literature review of attack types and mitigation strategies. 26th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research, 19(1), 366–374. 09 – 12 June, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre City, Brazil

*Ashong, J., *Venkitanarayanan, A., Yankson, B. (2025). The Digital Battlefield: Safeguarding Military Drones Against Cyberattacks. Military Cyber Affairs, 7(1), https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/mca/vol 

*Venkitanarayanan, A., Yankson, B. (2025). The Friendly Face of Risk: Security Lessons from the ASUS Zenbo Robot, 20th Annual Symposium on Information Assurance. 20(20), 39–43.  

 

2024

*Berkoh E., Yankson, B., **Hussein, M., & **Dadson, Y. (2024). Exploring Collaborative Approaches to Cybersecurity. International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, 19(1), 366–374. https://doi.org/10.34190/iccws.17.1.48 

Hung P.C.K., Iqbal F., Yankson B. (2024) Smart Toys. In: Lee N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games. Springer, Cham

 

2023

Yankson, B. (2023). Small-scale IoT device privacy evaluation using Petri Net Modeling. Internet of Things, 22, 100725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iot.2023.100725 

Kumi‐Yeboah, A., Kim, Y., Yankson, B., Aikins, S., & **Dadson, Y. A. (2023). Diverse students’ perspectives on privacy and Technology Integration in higher education. British Journal of Educational Technology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13386 

*Amoresano, K., Yankson, B. (2023). Human error - A critical contributing factor to the rise in data breaches: a case study of higher education, Holistica Journal of Business and Public Administration, Vol. 14, Iss. 1, pp.110-132. https://doi.org/10.2478/hjbpa-2023-0007 

Yankson, B., **Ottah A. (2023). Investigating HIPAA Cybersecurity & Privacy Breach Compliance Reporting During Covid-19. 18th Annual Symposium on Information Assurance. 18(18), 14-21.    

*Han, J., Yankson, B. (2023). Investigating Cybercrime Using Code Authorship Analysis & 4P Forensic Conceptual Model, 18th Annual Symposium on Information Assurance. 18(18), 39–43.  

Yankson, B., *Loucks, T., *Sampson, A., & *Lojano, C. (2023). Robots Security Assessment and analysis using open-source tools. International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, 18(1), 449–456. https://doi.org/10.34190/iccws.18.1.1019 

Yankson, B., Iqbal, F., & **AlMaeeni, F. (2023). Social robots' privacy enhancement using Colored Petri Net (CPN) for behavior modeling: A case study of Asus zenbo robot. International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, 18(1), 457–464. https://doi.org/10.34190/iccws.18.1.1018 

Rocha, L., Furtado, M., Yankson, B., & Salgado, A. (2022). MLOPS AND DESIGNOPS: Towards an Integrated Model. CONTECSI USP - International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management - ISSN 2448-1041. Acesso em http://contecsi.tecsi.org/index.php/contecsi/19CONTECSI/paper/view/6997 

 

2022

**Barati, M., & Yankson, B. (2022). Predicting the occurrence of a data breach. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, 2(2), 100128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2022.100128 

Lin, PC., Yankson, B., & Chauhan, V. (2022). Building a Speech Recognition System with Privacy Identification Information Based on Google Voice for Social Robots. In Journal of Supercomputing. (Vol. 78, Issue 6, p. 1-29). Springer https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-022-04487-3 

Yankson, B., *Cajigal, E.D, *Al-Jabri, A., *Gitin, N., & *Davidson, S. (2022). Social media privacy using the EDEE security model. International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, 17(1), 366–374. https://doi.org/10.34190/iccws.17.1.48 

 

2021

Yankson, B., Hung, P., & Iqbal, F. (2021). Systematic Privacy Impact Assessment Scheme (SPIAS) for Smart Connected Toys Data Privacy Compliance. In International Journal of Big Data Intelligence (Vol. 8, Issue 1, p. 1). Inderscience Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijbdi.2021.10040364 

Yankson, B. (2021). Continuous Improvement Process-Based Privacy-Preserving Framework for Smart Connected Toys. International Journal of Information Security, Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10207-020-00535-2 

*Al-Room, K., Iqbal, F., Baker, T., Yankson, B., MacDermott, A., & Hung, P. C. K. (2021). Drone Forensics: A Case Study of Digital Forensic Investigations Conducted on Common Drone Models. International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics, 13(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijdcf.2021010101 

Yankson, B., **Javid. V. K., Hung, P. C. K., Iqbal, F., and Ali, L. (2021). Security Assessment for Zenbo Robot Using Drozer and mobSF Frameworks. 2021 11th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility, and Security (NTMS), 2021, pp. 1-7, doi: 10.1109/NTMS49979.2021.9432666

Yankson, B. (2021). An Empirical Study - Privacy and Security Analysis of Companion Robot System Development. ICCWS 2021 16th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security. February 25- 26, 2021, Cookeville, Tennessee, USA

Yankson, B., Salgado, A. L., & Fortes, R. P. M. (2021). Recommendations to Enhance Privacy and Usability of Smart Toys. In Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. https://doi.org/10.24251/hicss.2021.228 

 

2020

Yankson, B. (2020). Autonomous Vehicle Security Through Privacy Integrated Context Ontology (PICO). 2020 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC). https://doi.org/10.1109/smc42975.2020.9283180 

Yankson B., Iqbal F. and Hung P.C.K. (2020). 4P-Based Forensics Investigation Framework for Smart Connected Toys. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Availability, Reliability, and Security (ARES '20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 44, 1–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3407023.3409213 

Lin, P.-C., Yankson, B., & Hung, P. C. K. (2020). A Prototype of Privacy Identification System for Smart Toy Dialogue Design. 2020 IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing, and Control (ICNSC). 2020 IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing, and Control (ICNSC). https://doi.org/10.1109/icnsc48988.2020.9238116 

Fantinato, M., **Albuquerque, O. D. P., **De Albuquerque, A. P., Kelner, J., & Yankson, B. (2020). A Literature Survey on Smart Toy-related Children's Privacy Risks. Proceedings of the 53rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. https://doi.org/10.24251/hicss.2020.182 

 

2019

Lin, P.-C., Yankson, B., Lu, Z., & Hung, P. C. K. (2019). Children Privacy Identification System in LINE Chatbot for Smart Toys. 2019 IEEE 12th International Conference on Cloud Computing (CLOUD). 2019 IEEE 12th International Conference on Cloud Computing (CLOUD). https://doi.org/10.1109/cloud.2019.00026 

Iqbal F., Yankson B., *AlYammahi M., AlMansoori N., Qayed S.M., Shah B., Baker T. (2019). Drone Forensics: Examination and Analysis, International Journal of Electronic Security Digital Forensic, Inderscience Publishers (IEL), Vol. 11, Issue 3, pp. 245-264

Yankson, B., & *Davis, A. (2019). Analysis of the Current State of Cloud Forensics: The Evolving Nature of Digital Forensics. 2019 IEEE/ACS 16th International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications (AICCSA). 2019 IEEE/ACS 16th International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications (AICCSA). https://doi.org/10.1109/aiccsa47632.2019.9035336 

Yankson, B., Iqbal, F., Aleem, S., Shah, B., Hung, P. C. K., & **de Albuquerque, A. P. (2019). A Privacy-Preserving Context Ontology (PPCO) for Smart Connected Toys. 2019 12th CMI Conference on Cybersecurity and Privacy (CMI). 2019 12th CMI Conference on Cybersecurity and Privacy (CMI). https://doi.org/10.1109/cmi48017.2019.8962141 

Yankson, B., Iqbal, F., Lu, Z., Wang, X., & Hung, P. (2019). Modeling Privacy Preservation in Smart Connected Toys by Petri-Nets. Proceedings of the 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. https://doi.org/10.24251/hicss.2019.207 

Pontes, L., Coutinho, G., Hung, P. C. K., & Yankson, B. (2019). Security in Smart Toys: A Systematic Review of Literature. Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. pp., 1696-1705. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21935-2_3 

Media Appearances

 

2025

TV Interview. (Jan. 10, 2025). NBC News 13, "Cars may be sending data on your driving habits back to the manufacturer," NBC News, Albany, New York, USA. January 16, 2025.

 

2024

TV Interview. (Dec. 4, 2024). ABC News 10, "Seniors targeted in Halfmoon Craft Fair Facebook Scam" ABC News, Albany, New York, USA. Dec. 4, 2024.

TV Interview. (Jan. 30, 2024). ABC News 10, "UAlbany lab checks for cybersecurity threats in everyday products," ABC News, Albany, New York, USA. January 30, 2024.

Featured. (Jan. 30, 2024). National Cybersecurity News, "Cybersecurity threats in everyday products," Online, USA. Jan. 30, 2024.

Featured. (January. 5, 2024). UAlbany News, "CEHC Students Offer Cyber Expertise to the B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation" Online, USA. January 2024.

 

2023

Print Interview. (Dec. 27, 2023). Next Avenue, "Cybercrime Is on a Roll and Older Consumers Are Paying the Freight" nextavenue.com (PBS News), USA. Dec. 27, 2023.

Featured. (Oct. 23, 2023). UAlbany News, "UAlbany CEHC Students - The Cyber Danes - Compete in the Annual Cyber 9/12 Competition" Albany, NY, USA. Oct 23, 2023.

Print Interview. (June. 5, 2023). Government Technology, "IoT Cybersecurity Vulnerability" GovTech.com News, Folsom, California, USA. June. 5, 2023.

TV Interview. (June. 5, 2023). NBC WNYT News 13, "JROTC Cybersecurity Bootcamp project," NBC News, Albany, New York, USA. June 5, 2023.

Featured. (June 16, 2023). MeriTalk State & Local  News, "UAlbany Establishes New Research Labs for OSINT, Smart Device Security," Alexandria, Virginia, USA. June 16, 2023.

TV Interview. (May 9, 2023). CBS News 6, "Software detects a threat to "shoot up" high school," CBS News, Albany, New York, USA. May 9, 2023.

Print Interview. (May 5, 2023). UAlbany News, "CEHC Adds New Research Labs in Open Source Intelligence, Smart Device Security" Albany, New York, USA. May 5, 2023.

Radio Interview. (May 4, 2023). "Senators push for social media restrictions for minors" NORTHEAST Public Radio (WAMC), Albany, New York, USA. May 4, 2023.

TV Interview. (April 11, 2023). ABC News 10, "Tik Tok Security Concerns" ABC News, Albany, New York, USA. April 11, 2023.

TV Interview. (March 9, 2023). CBS News 6, "What are the security risks of TikTok? Expert from UAlbany weighs in" CBS News, Albany, New York, USA. March 9, 2023.

 

2022

TV Interview. (May 7, 2022). Spectrum News 1 TV, "Tips to keeping your child safe on Discord" Spectrum Albany, New York, USA. May. 07, 2022.

Featured. (April 5, 2022). UAlbany News, "UAlbany, FIU Researchers Team Up to Launch $1.5 Million Virtual Cybersecurity Institute" Albany, NY, USA. April 5, 2022.

TV (Long form) Interview. (April 20, 2022) Spectrum News 1 TV, "UAlbany artificial intelligence project gets state budget funding" Spectrum News, Albany, New York, USA. April 20, 2022.

Radio Interview. (April 6, 2022). COPUSA Radio, "Online Fraud" Church of Pentecost News, Chicago, IL, USA. April 6, 2022.

Featured. (March 24, 2022) UAlbany News, "Cybersecurity Conference Draws Researchers from Academia, Industry and the Military" Albany, NY, USA. March 24, 2022.

Featured. (March 5, 2022) UAlbany News, "Benjamin Yankson Awarded Drescher Award for Smart Toy Privacy and Safety Research" Online, USA. March 2022.

Panelist. (February 2, 2022). COPUSA Radio, Interview, "Combating Online Scam" Church of Pentecost News, Chicago, IL, USA. February 2, 2022.

Panelist. (January 26, 2022). COPUSA Radio, Panel Discussion, "Managing Online Scam" Church of Pentecost News, Chicago, IL, USA. January 26, 2022.

Long-form Interview. (January 21, 2022) Spectrum News 1, "UAlbany professor trains students for careers in cybersecurity" Spectrum News, Albany, New York, USA. January 21, 2022.

 

2021

Print Interview. (December 7,  2021) UAlbany News, "Cybersecurity Professor Inspires Ghanaian Students to Pursue Their Dream," Albany, New York, USA. December 2021.

TV Interview. (October 16, 2021). WNYT News 13, "Careers in Cybersecurity Expected to Grow." WNYT.COM, Albany, New York, USA. October 16, 2021.

TV Interview. (October 12, 2021). ABC News 10 TechCrunch Interview, "Ransomware – Making Cybersecurity part of Organizational Culture." ABC News, Albany, New York, USA. October 12, 2021.

Featured. (Oct. 1, 2021) UAlbany News, "UAlbany Experts Discuss Cybersecurity Awareness Month" Albany, NY, USA. Oct 1, 2021.

TV Interview. (September 8, 2021) CBS News 6. "Parents warned to avoid sharing personal information in Back To School pictures."  WRGB-Albany, Albany, New York, USA. September 8, 2021.

 

2020

Featured. (Sept. 1, 2020) UAlbany News, "Second Annual School Safety Summit Goes Virtual & Discusses COVID-19 Impacts" Albany, NY, USA. Sept 1, 2020.

Radio Interview. (April 21, 2020). "Staying Safe Online During Covid 19". NORTHEAST Public Radio (WAMC), Albany, New York, USA. April 21, 2020.

Staff

 

Dr. Benjamin Yankson poses for a photo with four of his student researchers inside his lab's office space. Each person holds a different type of robot.

 

Lead Investigator

Benjamin Yankson
Benjamin Yankson
Associate Professor, Cybersecurity Department
College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity; Department of Cybersecurity
[email protected]
ETEC 260J

Team Members

Dr. Edward Ansong 
Visiting Scholar 
[email protected] 
 

Mildred Bonsu 
Research Assistant 
[email protected] 
 

Dimaz C. Ardhi 
Research Assistant 
[email protected]  

Victoria Aidoo 
Research Assistant 
[email protected] 
 

Amanda Gwaba 
Graduate Cyber & Risk Intern 
[email protected] 
 

Venkat Sai Thanooj Balagiri 
Graduate Data Analytics Intern 
[email protected]