Politecnico di Milano’s Zanero on Evolving Malware Detection and Hardware Security
Machine learning excels at identifying repetitive patterns and anomalies, but human insight remains vital for understanding the broader context of cyberattacks – especially in cyber-physical ecosystems, said Stefano Zanero, professor at Politecnico di Milano.
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Cyber-physical systems in industrial environments typically have blind spots that security professionals could miss without having a deep understanding of mechanical and physical systems.
“Security professionals must apply hardware security techniques, such as using trusted execution environments, to protect cyber-physical systems and safeguard controllers from being compromised,” he said.
In this video interview with Information Security Media Group at RSAC Conference 2025, Zanero also discussed:
- Integration of static and dynamic analysis with machine learning;
- The ongoing arms race in cybersecurity in which attackers study weaknesses in detection systems, leading to a battle between defense and offense;
- Why the integration of hardware security into cyber-physical systems is emerging as a key focus area.
Zanero, an associate professor with the Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, focuses his research on malware analysis, cyber-physical security and cybersecurity in general. In addition to teaching computer security and computer forensics at Politecnico, he has co-authored over 90 scientific papers and books.
