Biography
Dr. Guillermo A. Francia III is a Professor and Director of Research and Innovation at the University of West Florida (UWF) Center for Cybersecurity & AI. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Mapúa Institute of Technology. His expertise includes cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, cyber-physical systems, critical infrastructure security, machine learning, and cybersecurity education. Dr. Francia has authored and edited numerous books, book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers and has led major research and education grants supported by U.S. government agencies. He also serves as a Commissioner for the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET and has received Fulbright scholarships and other professional honors.
Abstract
Title: AI-Enabled Cybersecurity for LEO Satellite Systems
Abstract: Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations have transitioned from speculative tech to foundational infrastructure. Powering smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and emergency networks, space-based communications are now critical to modern cyber-physical ecosystems. But with expanded connectivity comes expanded vulnerability—spanning ground stations, cross-links, and user devices. From the 2022 Viasat ground-attack that crippled thousands of terminals across Europe to active electronic warfare against Starlink in modern warfare, satellite networks are prime targets.
Current AI security defenses fall short when faced with cross-layer threats: they struggle to select safe real-time responses and fail to learn new attack vectors without losing past knowledge. In this talk, we introduce a trustworthy, adaptive AI cyber defense framework built specifically to secure next-generation LEO satellite systems against sophisticated, multi-domain attacks.
