Skip to main content

Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

3 comments

This Technology Could Save Millions From Cyberattacks Protecting Against Unknown Digital Threats

In an age where manufacturing is becoming increasingly digital and interconnected, the risk of cyberattacks on factories and production lines is growing. From electronics and cars to spacecraft and biomedical devices, modern manufacturing is vulnerable to malicious actors who can compromise production quality, disrupt supply chains, and even threaten national security. Recognizing this risk, Rajiv Malhotra, associate professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers University, and a team of students and researchers are pioneering a solution: using digital twins to enhance the resilience of manufacturing systems against cyberattacks.

The Growing Threat of Cyberattacks in Manufacturing

Modern manufacturing relies heavily on digital systems, connectivity, and automation. While these advancements have increased efficiency and precision, they have also introduced new vulnerabilities. Malware or cyberattacks targeting these systems can subtly alter the geometry of a part or introduce tiny, hard-to-detect defects during production. Such attacks may not stop production outright, making them particularly dangerous, as they can go unnoticed while gradually degrading quality.

“These attacks can compromise everything from electronic components to biomedical devices, with broad impacts on societal well-being, economic stability, and national security,” Malhotra explained. Traditional approaches to cybersecurity in manufacturing often involve detecting the problem, halting production, patching vulnerabilities, and then restarting operations. This process can take weeks and provides no guarantee that another attack won't exploit a different weakness.

Enter Digital Twins: Virtual Guardians of Manufacturing

To counter these threats, Malhotra and his team are leveraging digital twin technology, a cutting-edge approach that creates virtual replicas of physical systems and processes. These twins can simulate real-world manufacturing operations in a safe, digital environment.

Their framework involves creating geometric and process digital twins. Geometric twins replicate the physical shape and structure of parts being manufactured, while process twins replicate the steps and workflows involved in production. By monitoring these twins alongside the actual manufacturing process, the system can detect, respond to, and even repair potential cyberattacks in real time.

“Instead of shutting down production after a cyberattack, digital twins allow us to maintain continuous operations while correcting potential errors introduced in the digital or physical layer,” Malhotra said.

How Digital Twins Improve Resilience

One of the key strengths of this approach is scalability and adaptability. Cyberattacks in manufacturing can take many forms, often unknown in advance. Digital twins enable rapid detection and correction of attacks, even when the precise nature of the alteration is not known. For example, if a malware attack modifies a part’s geometry or inserts a defect, the twin framework can restore the part’s intended design without requiring multiple rounds of physical printing and correction.

“This scalability to unknown attacks is critical,” Malhotra said. “The twins work together to protect key points in the manufacturing chain—such as the part model, machine firmware, and process plan generation software—where cyberphysical attacks might occur.”

By doing so, the framework ensures uninterrupted production of high-quality, mission-critical parts, even when ongoing attacks in the cyber layer remain unresolved. This capability is particularly vital for industries that rely on precision manufacturing for defense, aerospace, and medical applications.

Addressing the Challenges of Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, is especially susceptible to cyberattacks because it relies on precise digital instructions to build parts layer by layer. A subtle defect in a single layer can compromise the entire part, potentially causing failure in critical systems.

The Rutgers team’s research addresses a long-standing challenge in additive manufacturing: balancing resilience with scalability. Manufacturing constraints such as material limitations, costs, and supply chain dependencies often hinder the ability to quickly recover from attacks. Digital twins provide a solution by enabling rapid repair of attacked digital geometries without repeated cycles of printing and testing.

“By relying on digital twins, we can disrupt the formation of local defects even when the attack is not explicitly known,” Malhotra said. This approach ensures that additive manufacturing processes remain robust against stealthy cyberphysical attacks, maintaining both quality and efficiency.

Collaboration and Commercialization

While the research is ongoing, Malhotra and his team are already collaborating with industry partners to bring this digital twin framework into real-world manufacturing facilities. The goal is to commercialize the technology, making it accessible to companies that produce mission-critical components.

Moving forward, the team plans to expand their research to include attacks on sensor signals, machine and human safety, and hybrid manufacturing systems. This holistic approach aims to protect not just parts and machines but the entire manufacturing ecosystem from cyber threats.

“We are also exploring applications for expeditionary manufacturing in defense and space industries,” Malhotra said. “We’re keen on collaborating with more industry partners to broaden the impact of our work beyond our current scope.”

Implications for National Security and Industry

The potential benefits of this approach extend beyond individual manufacturing facilities. Ensuring the resilience of production systems against cyberattacks can safeguard national infrastructure, protect supply chains, and reduce economic disruption. With industries increasingly reliant on additive manufacturing and digital production, such innovations are vital for maintaining operational security and efficiency.

By integrating digital twins into the manufacturing process, companies can proactively address vulnerabilities, reduce downtime, and prevent defective parts from reaching critical applications. This proactive defense contrasts sharply with reactive approaches, offering a more robust, continuous, and reliable manufacturing environment.

Conclusion

The work of Rajiv Malhotra and the Rutgers team represents a significant step forward in the fight against cyberattacks in manufacturing. By using geometric and process digital twins, they are pioneering a method to ensure uninterrupted, high-quality production of mission-critical components, even in the face of stealthy cyber threats.

As industries continue to digitize and adopt advanced manufacturing technologies, solutions like these will be crucial in protecting national security, supporting economic stability, and ensuring the safety and functionality of critical products. The digital twin framework offers not only a practical solution to current cybersecurity challenges but also a glimpse into the future of resilient, smart, and secure manufacturing.

With ongoing research and collaboration with industry partners, the Rutgers team’s innovation may soon redefine how factories and production lines defend against cyber threats, ensuring that the machinery of modern society keeps running smoothly—no matter what digital dangers lie ahead.

Reference:
Jeremy Cleeman et al., Operational resilience of additively manufactured parts to stealthy cyberphysical attacks using geometric and process digital twins, Journal of Manufacturing Systems (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.10.009

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular

Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

For years, scientists believed that adding even one qubit (a unit of quantum information) to a black hole needed energy. This was based on the idea that a black hole’s entropy must increase with more information, which means it must gain energy. But a new study by Jonah Kudler-Flam and Geoff Penington changes that thinking. They found that quantum information can be teleported into a black hole without adding energy or increasing entropy . This works through a process called black hole decoherence , where “soft” radiation — very low-energy signals — carry information into the black hole. In their method, the qubit enters the black hole while a new pair of entangled particles (like Hawking radiation) is created. This keeps the total information balanced, so there's no violation of the laws of physics. The energy cost only shows up when information is erased from the outside — these are called zerobits . According to Landauer’s principle, erasing information always needs energy. But ...
3 comments
Read more

Black Holes That Never Dies

Black holes are powerful objects in space with gravity so strong that nothing can escape them. In the 1970s, Stephen Hawking showed that black holes can slowly lose energy by giving off tiny particles. This process is called Hawking radiation . Over time, the black hole gets smaller and hotter, and in the end, it disappears completely. But new research by Menezes and his team shows something different. Using a theory called Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) , they studied black holes with quantum corrections. In their model, the black hole does not vanish completely. Instead, it stops shrinking when it reaches a very small size. This leftover is called a black hole remnant . They also studied something called grey-body factors , which affect how much energy escapes from a black hole. Their findings show that the black hole cools down and stops losing mass once it reaches a minimum mass . This new model removes the idea of a “singularity” at the center of the black hole and gives us a better ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Planetary Movements Might Explain Sunspot Cycles and Solar Phenomena

Sunspots, dark patches on the Sun's surface, follow a cycle of increasing and decreasing activity every 11 years. For years, scientists have relied on the dynamo model to explain this cycle. According to this model, the Sun's magnetic field is generated by the movement of plasma and the Sun's rotation. However, this model does not fully explain why the sunspot cycle is sometimes unpredictable. Lauri Jetsu, a researcher, has proposed a new approach. Jetsu’s analysis, using a method called the Discrete Chi-square Method (DCM), suggests that planetary movements, especially those of Earth, Jupiter, and Mercury, play a key role in driving the sunspot cycle. His theory focuses on Flux Transfer Events (FTEs), where the magnetic fields of these planets interact with the Sun’s magnetic field. These interactions could create the sunspots and explain other solar phenomena like the Sun’s magnetic polarity reversing every 11 years. The Sun, our closest star, has been a subject of scient...
Post a Comment
Read more