A computer scientist at the University of Iowa has been awarded funding to study threats to cellular phone networks.

Omar Chowdhury, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, won a Young Faculty Award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an advanced-technology division of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Chowdury's research will aim to identify security and privacy weaknesses of the existing and emerging cellular network systems through the novel use of formal verification techniques. His research could substantially improve current and future generations of the cellular network ecosystem by empowering device users to be aware of cellular network attacks.

The award is $497,000 for two years with an option to extend the award another year, at $283,000.