Busy teams of students clustered around laptops in a room overlooking Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on Tuesday, focused on solving as many challenges as possible during a “capture-the-flag” style competition. After hours of intense competition in cyberspace, UMBC’s team emerged victorious, named champions of the college division of the 2018 Maryland Cyber Challenge.

Started in 2011, the competition is part of the annual CyberMaryland Conference. UMBC’s team included Niara Richards ‘22, computer science; Nithya Prakash ‘22, information systems; Josh Mpere ‘19, computer science; Seamus Burke ‘20 computer science; and Swathi Krithivasan ‘22, computer science. They worked together to test their skills in a series of real-world cybersecurity challenges over the course of two virtual qualifying rounds and then the final competition, beating talented teams from the U.S. Air Force Academy and University of Maryland, University College.

“It was my first time competing in the Maryland Cyber Challenge, although I have a pretty extensive competition background,” said Burke. “I am especially proud of my freshman teammates who put in a ton of effort, solved challenges, and didn’t get discouraged when the challenges got more difficult.”

Burke is a Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) Scholar and Mpere is a Cyber affiliate. Richards, Prakash, and Krithivasan all participate in UMBC’s Cyber Scholars Program, which works to prepare the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

All five members of the winning team will receive a monetary award and an offer to complete a summer internship to continue growing their experience and skills. Additionally, the university will receive new technologies (including software) to support more UMBC students in developing their cybersecurity skills.

“The competition was a fantastic experience and gave me a lot of exposure into topics that I otherwise would not have gained, especially as a freshman,” said Krithivasan. “We had a mix of both upper and underclassmen on our team, which really enabled us to learn and grow from working with each other.”

Banner image: Niara Richards, left, Josh Mpere, and Nithya Prakash. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Over the past two decades, UMBC and the National Security Agency (NSA) have developed a strong relationship, which has led to research, internship, and career opportunities for faculty, students, and alumni. UMBC is the first institution to be highlighted in NSA’s Featured School Series, which launched on September 4.

“UMBC’s long-standing partnership with NSA has provided valuable experiences for our students, faculty, and alumni to pursue internships, careers, and collaborative research opportunities,” said President Freeman Hrabowski. “Through this work we are helping to address the need for well-trained cyber professionals by creating a network of talented people to protect the state, nation, and world.”

More than 1100 NSA employees are UMBC alumni, including Darniet Jennings ‘98, M.S. ‘99, Ph.D. ‘03, information systems. Jennings continued his dissertation research when he took a job at NSA, where he developed a system to manage big data effectively, which was patented in 2010.

The opportunities at NSA include careers in a broad range of disciplines including cybersecurity, engineering, computer science, language, and biological and chemical sciences. Regina Hambleton ‘87, mathematics, has held a number of positions at NSA and is currently the Agency’s deputy director of Engagement and Policy. She began working at NSA while she was a student at UMBC, and participated in a program that allowed her to spend a semester at UMBC taking courses followed by a semester working at NSA.

The partnership between NSA and UMBC also helps prepare an increasing number of graduates for careers in cybersecurity-related fields, to protect the nation from cyber threats.

Charles Nicholas, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, is also highlighted in the Featured School Series campaign. He has spent two sabbaticals at NSA during his time at UMBC, and has mentored students who completed NSA internships, in addition to students who went on to pursue careers at NSA. Nicholas is interested in the intersection of cybersecurity and data science, and the tools that are used to compare malware specimens.

“There are so many opportunities in the intelligence community, including at NSA,” Nicholas says. “It is important for students interested in those careers to develop technical ability, as well as critical and creative thinking, and I enjoy the chance to help them grow those skills.”

For more information about the partnership, and a few UMBC alumni who work at NSA, visit the UMBC page on the NSA website.

Banner image by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Richard Forno
Senior Lecturer, Cybersecurity & Internet Researcher, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

The Russian attacks on the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the country’s continuing election-related hacking have happened across all three dimensions of cyberspace – physical, informational and cognitive. The first two are well-known: For years, hackers have exploited hardware and software flaws to gain unauthorized access to computers and networks – and stolen information they’ve found. The third dimension, however, is a newer target – and a more concerning one.

This three-dimensional view of cyberspace comes from my late mentor, Professor Dan Kuehl of the National Defense University, who expressed concern about traditional hacking activities and what they meant for national security. But he also foresaw the potential – now clear to the public at large – that those tools could be used to target people’s perceptions and thought processes, too. That’s what the Russians allegedly did, according to federal indictments issued in February and July, laying out evidence that Russian civilians and military personnel used online tools to influence Americans’ political views – and, potentially, their votes. They may be setting up to do it again for the 2018 midterm elections.

Some observers suggest that using internet tools for espionage and as fuel for disinformation campaigns is a new form of “hybrid warfare.” Their idea is that the lines are blurring between the traditional kinetic warfare of bombs, missiles and guns, and the unconventional, stealthy warfare long practiced against foreigners’ “hearts and minds” by intelligence and special forces capabilities.

However, I believe this isn’t a new form of war at all: Rather, it is the same old strategies taking advantage of the latest available technologies. Just as online marketing companies use sponsored content and search engine manipulation to distribute biased information to the public, governments are using internet-based tools to pursue their agendas. In other words, they’re hacking a different kind of system through social engineering on a grand scale.

Old goals, new techniques

More than 2,400 years ago, the Chinese military strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu made it an axiom of war that it’s best to “subdue the enemy without fighting.” Using information – or disinformation, or propaganda – as a weapon can be one way to destabilize a population and disable the target country. In 1984 a former KGB agent who defected to the West discussed this as a long-term process and more or less predicted what’s happening in the U.S. now.

The Russians created false social media accounts to simulate political activists – such as @TEN_GOP, which purported to be associated with the Tennessee Republican Party. Just that one account attracted more than 100,000 followers. The goal was to distribute propaganda, such as captioned photos, posters or short animated graphics, purposely designed to enrage and engage these accounts’ followers. Those people would then pass the information along through their own personal social networks.

Starting from seeds planted by Russian fakers, including some who claimed to be U.S. citizens, those ideas grew and flourished through amplification by real people. Unfortunately, whether originating from Russia or elsewhere, fake information and conspiracy theories can form the basis for discussion at major partisan media outlets.

As ideas with niche online beginnings moved into the traditional mass media landscape, they serve to keep controversies alive by sustaining divisive arguments on both sides. For instance, one Russian troll factory had its online personas host rallies both for and against each of the major candidates in the 2016 presidential election. Though the rallies never took place, the online buzz about them helped inflame divisions in society.

The trolls also set up Twitter accounts purportedly representing local news organizations – including defunct ones – to take advantage of Americans’ greater trust of local news sources than national ones. These accounts operated for several years – one for the Chicago Daily News, closed since 1978, was created in May 2014 and collected 20,000 followers – passing along legitimate local news stories, likely seeking to win followers’ trust ahead of future disinformation campaigns. Shut down before they could fulfill that end, these accounts cleverly aimed to exploit the fact that many Americans’ political views cloud their ability to separate fact from opinion in the news.

These sorts of activities are functions of traditional espionage: Foment discord and then sit back while the target population becomes distracted arguing among themselves.

Fighting digital disinformation is hard

Analyzing, let alone countering, this type of provocative behavior can be difficult. Russia isn’t alone, either: The U.S. tries to influence foreign audiences and global opinions, including through Voice of America online and radio services and intelligence services’ activities. And it’s not just governments that get involved. Companies, advocacy groups and others also can conduct disinformation campaigns.

Unfortunately, laws and regulations are ineffective remedies. Further, social media companies have been fairly slow to respond to this phenomenon. Twitter reportedly suspended more than 70 million fake accounts earlier this summer. That included nearly 50 social media accounts like the fake Chicago Daily News one.

Facebook, too, says it is working to reduce the spread of “fake news” on its platform. Yet both companies make their money from users’ activity on their sites – so they are conflicted, trying to stifle misleading content while also boosting users’ involvement.

Real defense happens in the brain

The best protection against threats to the cognitive dimension of cyberspace depends on users’ own actions and knowledge. Objectively educated, rational citizens should serve as the foundation of a strong democratic society. But that defense fails if people don’t have the skills – or worse, don’t use them – to think critically about what they’re seeing and examine claims of fact before accepting them as true.

American voters expect ongoing Russian interference in U.S. elections. In fact, it appears to have already begun. To help combat that influence, the U.S. Justice Department plans to alert the public when its investigations discover foreign espionage, hacking and disinformation relating to the upcoming 2018 midterm elections. And the National Security Agency has created a task force to counter Russian hacking of election systems and major political parties’ computer network.

These efforts are a good start, but the real solution will begin when people start realizing they’re being subjected to this sort of cognitive attack and that it’s not all just a hoax.

Richard Forno, Senior Lecturer, Cybersecurity & Internet Researcher, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Header image by www.cwcs.co.uk

Cybersecurity is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States and a recent Business-Higher Education Forum report calls Maryland the “epicenter of national cybersecurity.” The report, Building a Diverse Cybersecurity Talent Ecosystem to Address National Security Needs, found that University System of Maryland (USM) efforts to increase the number of students who earn degrees in cyber-related fields has made progress in meeting the needs of the region. It also emphasized that more growth is needed, through programs like those UMBC offers, to meet increasing industry demand for cyber professionals.

In a USM press release, Chancellor Robert L. Caret says, “The University System of Maryland has been committed to growing cybersecurity programs at universities across the state to serve the needs of students and employers in this burgeoning field.” USM highlights programs across the five universities “leading the way” in cybersecurity, including UMBC’s Cyber Scholars program, launched with support from the Northrop Grumman Foundation, and a new cyber apprenticeship program, created through a partnership between UMBC Training Centers, the Maryland Department of Labor, and Gov. Larry Hogan.

In its coverage of the report, The Daily Record focuses on two core findings: the need for students to gain work experience and demand for a diverse cybersecurity workforce. It highlights the work of USM institutions to grow “undergraduate pathways into cybersecurity that attract students with diverse backgrounds and interests, engage them in meaningful learning experiences that reflect the cutting edge of the field and encourage them to stay in the region to build their careers.”

The highlights a UMBC program to explain this idea, noting, “UMBC’s Meyerhoff Scholars program is viewed as a national model for increasing diversity in STEM fields, and the university drew on lessons learned from that model when it launched the Cyber Scholars program in 2013.” As illustration, the report profiles Lauren Mazzoli ’15, computer science and mathematics, M.S. ’17, computer science, a systems engineer in the Future Technical Leaders Program at Northrop Grumman. It showcases her experience as one of UMBC’s first Cyber Scholars and the value she found in UMBC’s Center for Women in Technology and an internship at the Department of Defense.

Graduates from UMBC computing programs continue to have an impact through work with government agencies and top companies in cybersecurity fields. From the Class of 2018, Cyber Scholar Priyanka Ranade ‘18, information systems, is now a cyber software engineer at Northrop Grumman and T-SITE Scholar Bryan Vanek ‘18, computer science is participating in the Computer Network Operations Development Program at the Department of Defense.

Banner image: Mobile technology. Photo by WOCinTechChat, CC BY 2.0.

Global investment management firm T. Rowe Price is supporting cybersecurity research and students at UMBC through a new sponsorship of the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity. The funding reinforces UMBC’s strength in cybersecurity research and talent development, and T. Rowe Price’s leadership in advancing cybersecurity for financial services.

“We are delighted to be working with T. Rowe Price,” says Anupam Joshi, director of the Center for Cybersecurity and chair of computer science and electrical engineering. “This new collaboration with T. Rowe Price’s security team will provide great opportunities for our students to be exposed to cybersecurity in financial services and prepare them for promising careers protecting critical infrastructure.”

The sponsorship from T. Rowe Price will support a graduate student conducting cybersecurity research relevant to financial services and will also support undergraduate cybersecurity students through UMBC’s Cyber Scholars Program. This collaboration will enhance UMBC’s efforts to cultivate new cyber talent and increase diversity in the field. The students will have opportunities to meet, interact with and learn from members of T. Rowe Price’s security team.

“We have built a strong partnership with UMBC over the past few decades that has provided us a robust talent pipeline for the firm. We currently have over 200 associates who are UMBC alumni,” says Tom Quinn, head of information security at T. Rowe Price.

UMBC and T. Rowe Price have built a strategic partnership spanning several decades that provides support to students across disciplines and a highly skilled workforce for the company. T. Rowe Price is a top employer of UMBC graduates and student interns in areas from investment research to technology development.

“For many years, UMBC has consistently provided our firm with hundreds of exceptionally talented students that we have hired across all areas of our business. UMBC students are well-rounded and diverse in their experiences and skills, which make them strong assets to our firm year over year,” said Mindy Silverman, talent acquisition leader for university relations at T. Rowe Price.

Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

The calendar may have flipped to 2018, but there are so many great milestones achieved by the UMBC community to recognize from 2017. Here are twelve top highlights:

1. Rhodes Scholar

The past year was history-making for UMBC as Naomi Mburu ’18 was named as the first Rhodes Scholar in school history. A chemical engineering major, Mburu is one of only 32 students from across the nation to achieve this prestigious honor. “Rhodes Scholars come from all over the world, but they are unified by a joint passion to make great change in their communities,” says Mburu.

2. Alumni Accolades

Sean Pang ’09, English, M.A. ’11, education, has been teaching at Rockville High School since 2011. His commitment to his students hasn’t gone unnoticed as he was named Teacher of the Year 2017 by The Washington Post. “UMBC was not only my home for six years during both my undergraduate and graduate pursuits, but I identify with this university as the place I found my calling,” says Pang. Kavita Krishnaswamy ’07, computer science and mathematics, Ph.D. ’18, computer science, was named both a 2017 Microsoft Fellow and recipient of the Google Lime Scholarship. Krishnaswamy’s research focuses on building a teleoperated mobile robotic prototype that seniors and people with disabilities will be able to control by repositioning their arms and legs.

3. Play Ball

2017 continued to be a year of firsts for UMBC, both in the classroom and on the field. For the first time in program history, UMBC men’s baseball team won the America East championship and played in the NCAA tournament. As a team and individually, 2017 was a year of achievement for the Retrievers. Catcher Hunter Dolshun ’17, health administration and policy, was named America East Tournament Most Valuable Player, and several other players were named to the all-tournament team.

4. Making a Case

For being so young, UMBC’s Mock Trial team has quickly made a name for itself in collegiate competition. Having outperformed hundreds of other college and university teams since last September, these exceptional undergraduates traveled to the American Mock Trial Association’s National Championship Tournament in Los Angeles in April. The tournament included a select group of only 48 teams from across the United States.

5. Faculty Achievements

UMBC biologist Erin Green received a five-year, nearly $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to examine how cells respond to environmental signals at the molecular level. Her work could provide clues to understanding processes as broad as how cancers take hold, the causes of autism, and aging. Lee Blaney, associate professor of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, has received a prestigious CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance his research on contaminants of emerging concern and their effects on the environment. The grant will support Blaney’s research on pharmaceuticals, hormones, and personal care products in the local Gwynns Falls watershed. Tinoosh Mohsenin, assistant professor of computer science and electrical engineering, and Ting Zhu, assistant professor of computer science and electrical engineering, also received NSF CAREER Awards in 2017. 

6. Taking Home Gold

Cyber Dawgs, UMBC’s Cyber Defense Team, traveled to San Antonio, Texas, in April to dominate the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. The UMBC team defeated nine other regional winners from across the country in a contest to protect their networks from cyber attacks and threats efficiently and effectively to become the winners of the 2017 competition. Cyber Dawgs faculty advisor Charles Nicholas, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, calls the win “my proudest moment at UMBC.”

7. A Growing Partnership

UMBC’s strong partnership with Lakeland Elementary and Middle School has grown steadily over the last five years. The relationship includes professional development for Lakeland teachers; an opportunity for Lakeland students to attend special events; and a math coaching program, where UMBC students travel to Lakeland and work with small groups of students during the school day. The positive results of this program are clearly evidenced by Lakeland’s success on the math portion of the PARCC, Maryland’s state test. A $6 million gift from the George and Betsy Sherman Family Foundation to establish a new Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities will continue to support these efforts at Lakeland Elementary and Middle School.

8. Commitment to Diversity

The UMBC economics department received a $1.3 million grant from the  Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to increase the number of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups who complete highly competitive doctoral programs in economics. This five-year program will support students through scholarships, mentoring, research experiences, and, finally, entry into postgraduate programs specializing in doctoral preparation. UMBC continues to prove its commitment to diversity, having recently been recognized as the nation’s leader in producing African-American undergraduates pursuing M.D.-Ph.D.s, according to new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

9. A Peek Behind the Curtain

This past November, students took the stage to perform the William Shakespeare classic Twelfth Night. Looking at the polished set and flawless costuming, it’s easy to forget just how much effort goes into creating a production of this magnitude. Students worked with faculty to create the sets from scratch—and to design the costumes that would transport the audience back in time to 19th century Russia.

10. Reaching for the Stars

UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) dedicated the Earth and Space Institute (ESI) in September 2017. The research center includes a prototyping lab and operations center. It also acts as a physical home for the interdisciplinary earth and space science UMBC researchers do with support from NASA, NOAA, and other federal agencies, as well as collaborators around the world. “The Earth and Space Institute is our opportunity to reach for new heights,” said CNMS dean, Bill LaCourse.

11. Surgeon General

UMBC alumnus Jerome Adams ’97, M4, biochemistry and molecular biology, was sworn in as U.S. surgeon general on September 5, 2017. The baton was passed by Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams Ph.D. ’06, public policy, who served as acting U.S. surgeon general beginning in late April. Adams’ focus during his tenure as surgeon general includes tackling the country’s growing opioid crisis.

12. High Honors

UMBC was honored by U.S. News as a national leader in innovation and teaching, in addition to being named one of Times Higher Ed‘s top universities in the world for teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook. The Princeton Review again named UMBC as one of the nation’s top universities in its highly revered The Best 382 Colleges, an undergraduate guide.

To hear the latest UMBC news as it happens in 2018, follow UMBC on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat (@UMBClife), UMBC News, and the UMBC Magazine, and subscribe to the UMBC News “Top Stories of the Week” email.

All photos courtesy of Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC unless otherwise stated.

What happens when you send a Department of Defense (DoD) cybersecurity expert to Capitol Hill for a year? Starting in January 2017, I had the opportunity to serve as a Brookings Legis Congressional Senior Fellow where Executive Branch employees work on the Hill to learn the legislative process. Little did I know that in addition to putting my technical expertise to work, I’d also learn civics lessons far beyond anything I could ever read about in a textbook.

Armed with my resume containing my UMBC undergraduate degree in Information Systems Management, graduate degree from National Defense University, NSA and UMBC Cybersecurity job credentials, I set off to find an assignment with a member of the House of Representatives or Senate. I explored the historic halls of the Senate and the House, dropped off resumes with starry-eyed interns, and crossed paths with red-hatted Trump Inauguration attendees picking up tickets at their Representative’s offices. It was a cold January day when I was walking the halls of the Rayburn building interviewing with Legislative Directors for fellowship jobs, when I found myself in a ladies room with several inauguration attendees from Georgia. They were lovely in their red hats with big feathers and “Make America Great Again” scarves. Noticing my business attire did not quite fit the standard Trump Inauguration attendee’s dress code, one of them asked me in her sweet, southern accent about my work. When I told her that I was nervously interviewing for a job with Congress, she said, “Honey, I will pray for you to get a good job.”

I guess the prayers worked because after two weeks of interviews, I landed at an exciting office with a progressive Congressman from California – Representative Ted Lieu. Congressman Lieu was heavily focused on cybersecurity and was glad to have someone help write legislation to address the many cyber vulnerabilities we were facing in the world. But the year took an interesting turn for Congressman Lieu when the new Trump administration immediately started discussing crowd sizes at the Inauguration, drastic immigration reforms, and claims about access to “alternative facts.” The Congressman quickly became known as the member with an “alternative facts free zone” and took to Twitter to express his progressive views and dissatisfaction with the new administration.

But there was plenty of serious work to be done. I attended every hearing I could find on cybersecurity including those about election hacking. As a lifelong technology guru, I would never have imagined that Twitter and Facebook would become the vehicles of information warfare?

I began attending Cybersecurity Caucus meetings and was asked to use my UMBC connection to find a leader in academia to speak at a hearing on cybersecurity education. I reached out to Dr. Richard Forno, Director of UMBC’s Cybersecurity Graduate Program, who was selected to be one of the featured speakers for the Caucus event.

I had the opportunity to draft bills to increase scholarship money for Cybersecurity education, re-train industrial workers in cybersecurity specialties, create a certification program for Internet-of-Things devices, and build special cybersecurity labs at schools in economically-distressed regions as part of an American progressive infrastructure Bill. I especially enjoyed researching cybersecurity issues for domestic and international elections.

Dr. Richard Forno seated second from right at Cybersecurity Caucus Event on Education, July 2017.

Working for a Congressman from California, with Hollywood as part of his district, gave me the opportunity to occasionally rub elbows with celebrities. The ladies in our office became celebrities on International Women’s Day when we got our picture taken with the Congressman for The Washington Post. That red dress will forever remind me of my year on the Hill (I’m the one at far left).

Working on the Hill during 2017 was an experience of a lifetime. This was the year of massive health protesters working tirelessly to save their health care coverage provided under the Affordable Care Act. I saw children and citizens with extreme disabilities riding through Congressional halls in their motorized wheelchairs. I was humbled by their focus and drive and learned the importance of advocacy.

My year on the Hill taught me civics lessons that you read about in textbooks, but never truly appreciate until you live them. The meaning of laws and Constitutional establishment of the many pillars of government providing checks and balances became crystal clear to me during 2017. I also saw the power and importance of a free press for maintaining an open and transparent government. As I return to my home agency, I have many wonderful lessons and memories to make me proud to be an American living in a free democracy.

To answer my original question of what happens when you send a Department of Defense cybersecurity expert to Capitol Hill – you get a slew of Cybersecurity legislation and collaboration between Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, academia, for profit and the non-profit community. You get the value of new progressive ideas that generated new legislation for future generations to come. And you get a Cyber Ninja – me! – who developed a whole new appreciation of the patriotism and passion of American people, from every state in this great nation, and their passion for issues requiring policy changes to better their lives.

=====================

The opinions expressed are those of the affiliate and do not reflect those of NSA/CSS.

Diana Parr ’85, information systems management, was a Brookings 2017 Legis Congressional Senior Fellow. She is currently employed at NSA as a Cybersecurity Leader and is also an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in their Cybersecurity graduate program.  

Cybersecurity is regularly a headliner in the news, especially when personal information stored online has been compromised, whether through a breach, hack, or threat. On Thursday, December 7, UMBC hosted experts from industry and academia at the National Press Club to discuss the cyber challenges professionals face, and how those groups can work together to prepare future generations of cybersecurity professionals.

Scott Shane, a reporter with The New York Times, led the discussion with five panelists representing industry, small business, and higher education. “I think it’s fair to say the internet was built without adequate attention to security,” stated Shane, who writes about cyber and information attacks regularly. “It’s almost like somebody who starts a bank with branches all over the world, and after it’s up and running and has millions of account holders, suddenly starts to think about safes, locks on the doors and bulletproof glass. I think that’s sort of the stage that we’re at right now.”

UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski and Anupam Joshi, professor and chair of computer science and electrical engineering, and director of the Center for Cybersecurity at UMBC, were joined by alumni and partners who have been working together on the urgent need to build the cybersecurity workforce. Hrabowski explained that there are currently about 350,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs, and that number is expected to continue to grow. By 2021, it is anticipated that there will be approximately three million job openings in cyber-related fields.

Over the course of his professional career, Nigel Faulkner, chief technology officer at T. Rowe Price, has experienced the emergence of technology and many changes. “As the CTO of a medium-large company, cyber is a defensive investment for us. The best thing that can happen is nothing happens,” Faulkner said, adding that he is always thinking about whether the company is investing enough, doing the right thing, and making the right connections in the industry to keep clients’ information safe.

As president and founder of TCecure, LLC, and cybersecurity academic innovation officer for University System of Maryland (USM), Tina Williams ’02, computer science, shared the importance of building security into technology from the beginning, rather than adding these features on at the “tail end of a development cycle.” Not only does her company handle security, they also monitor threats and risks that can compromise the technology’s health. In her role at USM, Williams represents the system as a whole to integrate academia and academic research, relationships, and resources into what’s taking place nationally, at the Federally Funded Research and Development Centers.

As head of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity, Joshi explained that UMBC is combating these national challenges by partnering with industry and government leaders to conduct research that addresses specific real-world needs that benefit both. Collaborative relationships, such as UMBC’s work with Northrop Grumman and T. Rowe Price, is one way that UMBC is working to cultivate the next generation of cybersecurity talent.

As an alumna of UMBC and a current employee at Northrop Grumman, Lauren Mazzoli ’15, computer science and mathematics, M.S. ’17, computer science, a systems engineer in the Future Technical Leaders Program at Northrop Grumman, discussed her experience in the Cyber Scholars Program. The Cyber Scholars Program works to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in the field. Mazzoli explained that her experience at UMBC, in the Cyber Scholars Program, and working alongside mentors on and off-campus led her to be involved with continuing to encourage women to pursue careers in cybersecurity. “For me it’s been a product of the relationship between academia and industry, that have allowed me to find my own career path, and at the same time help others find theirs,” she explained, noting her passion for helping students consider careers in cybersecurity and related fields.

“We know there’s a huge workforce that we need and we can’t fill that pipeline. So yes, we need more women, yes, we need students of all backgrounds, but we need diversity of thought, experience, education, and problem-solving skills,” said Mazzoli, adding that it is important for students to know from a young age that cybersecurity is a field they can pursue.

Banner image: Tina Williams, center, talking with Anupam Joshi, left, audience members during the Cyber Press Event at the National Press Club. Photo by Abnet Shiferaw ’11, visual arts. 

UMBC faculty who focus on cybersecurity are sharing their expertise in articles across the web to help people protect themselves from fraud and hacks.

One of the projects – a collaboration between Ravi Kuber, associate professor of information systems, and Adam Aviv, assistant professor at the U.S. Naval Academy – looks closely at “shoulder surfing attacks,” which occur when people watch users of electronic devices to obtain their security codes. According to an article about them in Wired, the researchers found that a “casual observer can visually pick up and then reproduce an Android unlock pattern with relative ease.” Together, they are studying the most effective and secure patterns and passcodes to have on mobile devices.

“Observational attacks continue to represent a threat to mobile device users,” explains Kuber.

Kuber and Aviv conducted an online survey and asked participants to watch video of an actor entering passcodes on various devices using different length patterns and hand positions, and determine the authentication patterns that were entered by the actor. They found that six-digit personal identification numbers (PINs) were less likely to be successfully replicated by an attacker. Android unlock patterns with six steps had the highest duplication rates and led to more attacks.

“While six-length Android unlock patterns may sound like a more secure choice from onlookers, in reality, users may be better off selecting a six-digit PIN instead,” says Kuber. “Users should consider turning off feedback lines when entering patterns to lower the change of observation attacks.”

Securing mobile devices is only one aspect of what people need to consider when protecting their personal information from hackers and attacks. In an article in The Conversation, Rick Forno, assistant director of the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity and director of the Cybersecurity Graduate Program at UMBC, discussed the Equifax data breach. He explains that companies need to hire people who will be creative and solve overarching problems, rather than only address day-to-day issues. “Until then, major breaches will keep happening and may get even worse,” Forno warns.

Even though basic cybersecurity practices have been identified and discussed for several years, Forno says that many individuals, companies, and government agencies do not follow the recommended practices. “We all must take a realistic look at the state of cybersecurity, admit the mistakes that have happened, and change our thinking for the better,” he explains.

Karuna Pande Joshi M.S. ‘99, computer science, Ph.D. ‘12, computer science, assistant professor of information systems, shared several ways that people can protect themselves and their information from identity fraud in an article in WalletHub. Many of the tips that she shares are related to technology and the internet. Being mindful about who you connect with online, and regularly monitoring online accounts and credit scores can help keep information safe.

While social media may contribute to some identity fraud that consumers face, Joshi thinks that diligence can protect people from fraud. “I believe that a regular audit of all organizations managing private data of consumers should be mandated,” she says.  

To learn more about Kuber and Aviv’s work, read the article about them in Wired. This research was also featured in Gizmodo, Tech Times, Helpnet Security, Lifehack Australia, Komando.com, ThreatPost, and Thai Tech. Read Forno’s full article in The Conversation, Charlotte Observer, and Los Angeles Times. Joshi offers additional recommendations in WalletHub.

Image: Mobile technology in use. Photo by Flickr user WOCinTech Chat under license CC BY 2.0.

The latest special section on education in The Baltimore Sun highlights several UMBC programs that prepare students to succeed in careers in rapidly growing and already high-demand industries. The Sun highlights how the flexibility of these programs makes them particularly accessible and valuable to students, allowing students to tailor their pathway to match specific areas of interest.

Marc Olano, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering and director of the game development track in computer science, described UMBC’s multiple pathways for learning game development. “We created two programs, the game development track in computer science and the animation and interactive media concentration in visual arts,” he explained. “In both cases, the students get a degree in the primary discipline, a B.S. in computer science or a B.A. or B.F.A. in visual arts,” he noted. The “track” system helps students focus their electives specifically on skills “that are used in the games industry.”

Jacqueline Wojcik ‘17, visual arts, who completed a concentration in animation and interactive media and a minor in computer science, shared her experience as a member of UMBC’s Game Developers Club. Collaborating with other students in the club helped her apply skills she learned in the classroom to other creative opportunities. For the coming year, Wojcik has received a Fulbright research grant to complete an innovative project in Oslo, Norway. “I will create digital models from two Viking Age ship burials and then place in interactive, game-like environments so that people can see how the artifacts would have used in the lives of their owners,” she told the Sun. “The project will explore the intersection of games, learning and archeological visualization.”

The education section also highlighted UMBC programs in health information technology and cybersecurity.  

The health IT program prepares professionals with backgrounds in computer science, information systems, and health care for growing opportunities in work to prevent medical errors, improve care delivery, and address other major health care challenges through technology. “Not only does it provide students with technical information technology skills, but it also provides a pragmatic understanding of the health care system, which has its own terminology,” explains Krystl Haerian ‘99, biological science, an instructor in the program.

Laura Humber ‘16, health administration and policy, a current student in the health IT master’s program, says that she didn’t think she would end up pursuing an advanced degree in such a technical-sounding field, but she came to realize it could help her take the next steps in a research career focused on addressing opioid addiction. “People think when you say, ‘IT’ that you’re dealing with computers, but it’s making computers work for you and get you the information you need,” Humber explained.

Rick Forno, assistant director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity and director of the graduate cybersecurity program, described in the Sun how UMBC’s cybersecurity graduate programs are also designed work across fields and to connect students with skills that will help them advance their careers. He noted that at UMBC, studying cybersecurity can include courses in economics, public policy, and biotechnology. “Pick a field or major, and cybersecurity applies to it,” he said. “It really is interdisciplinary.”

Students are encouraged to tailor the program to their interests, and gain experience through research and internship opportunities, so they can explore the full range of career opportunities available to them.“You can go to grad school and get a degree and get a job,” Forno reflected. “But we want you to be a professional. You can do more than just your degree. There’s depth to what we offer.”

Read the full education section in The Baltimore Sun. 

Banner image: The game developers club display in House of Grit at UMBC’s 50th Anniversary celebration. Photo by Jay Baker.