Rita Foster is globally recognized for innovative research in control system cyber security for critical infrastructure. Two enduring analysis capabilities are disassembled, translated binaries, and codified cyber-threat, infrastructure with protection profiles. Pillars enabling adoptable research outcomes: evidence-based observations, codified results for integration, explainable and trustworthy machine learning.

She currently leads award winning research and development teams in automatic binary analysis of firmware/malware, and cyber-threat mitigation tradeoffs. Challenges are improving software quality, validating supply chain components, measuring attack-surfaces with protections for zero-trust. Enabling technologies are graph theoretics, databases, measures and traversals, machine learning with purpose, relevance, data validation and result visualizations for understandability across multiple cyber roles.

Identifying research gaps that align to INL’s agile and resilient strategies with industry partners is key to her success. She has briefed numerous committees in the United States Senate and House, appointed by cabinet level secretaries to serve on advisory councils and is frequently requested to provide analysis on emerging threats and impacts to critical infrastructure.

Her current role at INL includes over 19 years of experience in cyber security of critical infrastructure identifying research aligned with strategic direction, providing capstone analysis, mentoring, and thought leadership in areas of protection and defense in the energy sector.  She has managed multi-discipline teams bringing together controls system engineers, network engineers, cyber security researchers, machine learning, data scientists and subject matter experts for infrastructure security. Prior to her role in infrastructure security, Rita worked and additional 23 years building control systems and communication networks including life safety double and triple redundant systems.

Rita holds a Computer Information Systems Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Idaho State University; augmented with over 20 non-matriculated graduate level courses from University of Idaho.