How can we best use AI when dealing with cybersecurity threats? Mahshid Helali Moghadam is a Data Scientist and Researcher at Scania and one of the speakers in Track E Cybersecurity and Connectivity. She holds a PhD in Computer Science from Mälardalen University, Sweden, where her work focused on Intelligence-Driven Software Performance Assurance. Mahshid’s research interests lie in performance anomaly detection, cybersecurity in the automotive industry, and ML-driven software testing. At VECS 2025 she will present INTERSTICE – Intelligent Security Solutions for Connected Vehicles and her insights from that project. We had a chat with Mahshid prior to the event in Gothenburg.
Could you please introduce yourself and your work at Scania?
I’m Mahshid Helali Moghadam, a data scientist and researcher at Scania. I hold a Ph.D. in computer science, and my expertise lies in the intersection of machine learning, cybersecurity, and software quality assurance. At Scania, my focus is on intelligence-driven security solutions for connected vehicles. I lead the INTERSTICE research project, which explores machine learning-driven intrusion detection for in-vehicle networks to enhance automotive cybersecurity.
What will you speak about at VECS 2025?
At VECS 2025, I will be presenting INTERSTICE – Intelligent Security Solutions for Connected Vehicles in Track E: Cybersecurity and Connectivity. I’ll discuss the potential of intelligence-driven intrusion detection for detecting evolving cyber threats and outline the challenges we face in moving towards intelligent cyber threat detection. I’ll share Scania’s research experience, in collaboration with project partners, in addressing these challenges and provide a view of our research contributions within INTERSTICE.
How can we best use AI when dealing with cybersecurity threats?
A pragmatic use of ML-driven techniques for enabling adaptive cyber security requires addressing some key challenges. Some of the challenges, to name a few, include the scarcity of real-world, attack-representative data needed for training, testing, and evaluating ML-based security measures; the constraints of ECU-based deployment of ML applications; and the requirements outlined in the EU AI Act impacting onboard intrusion detection systems.
What is the most important takeaway from your presentation?
My presentation will highlight the potential of intelligent security solutions in enabling adaptive cybersecurity for connected vehicles. I will discuss the challenges we need to overcome and provide a summary of Scania’s research contributions within the INTERSTICE project.
What are you most looking forward to by attending and speaking at the event?
I am excited to share insights into adaptive automotive cybersecurity and discuss how intelligent threat detection solutions can safeguard connected vehicles while highlighting their potential and impact. Beyond sharing research, I look forward to exchanging ideas, exploring new collaborations, and learning from the latest advancements in the automotive industry.