Baltimore’s WBAL-TV ran a short news item on UMBC’s new partnership with Keio Research Institute (KRIS) in Japan, and Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL) in the UK to investigate the use of common system simulation tools for modeling critical national infrastructure. This partnership is part of a broader international collaboration, the International Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (INCS-COE). It will also involve Hitachi, an international operator in power systems, telecommunication, railways, and other core infrastructure areas.

Because cybersecurity attacks may not be limited to national borders, this collaboration argues that defense against such attacks should not be siloed either.

The post UMBC’s cybersecurity research partnership featured in WBAL-TV piece appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

UMBC launches infrastructure-focused cybersecurity research collaboration with Japanese and UK partners

UMBC is one of three leading academic institutions collaborating on a new research initiative focused on cybersecurity for critical national infrastructures, including information technology, public transit, and financial services. University leaders signed the three-nation agreement in a ceremony at the sixth International Cybersecurity Symposium in Japan.

UMBC, Keio Research Institute (KRIS) in Japan, and Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL) in the UK will partner to investigate the use of common system simulation tools for modeling critical national infrastructure. This partnership is part of a broader international collaboration, the International Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (INCS-COE). It will also involve Hitachi, an international operator in power systems, telecommunication, railways, and other core infrastructure areas.

Because cybersecurity attacks may not be limited to national borders, this collaboration argues that defense against such attacks should not be siloed either.

“Cybersecurity can no longer be treated as a national issue,” emphasizes Karl V. Steiner, vice president for research at UMBC. “Long-term and productive international collaborations are needed to make significant progress.”

Jun Murai, professor of environment and information studies at Keio University, notes, “We look forward to working with our research colleagues in the UK and U.S. to help address the increasingly challenging cyber threats to the security of our respective critical national infrastructures.”

Working with a common toolset will enable mixed nationality teams to run simulations together. This will help cybersecurity experts learn how to more effectively address human factors, including cultural differences, in predicting how attacks and responses to those attacks might play out across different geographies.

“We are excited to participate in this new research collaboration with our colleagues in Japan and the UK to help us better understand and address some of the key cybersecurity challenges that our nations face from increasingly aggressive international adversaries,” says Anupam Joshi, director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity.

The partners in this research see the modeling of system security as increasingly vital for industry and government, for both training purposes and vulnerability analysis.

“This initiative creates many future opportunities including, for example, the opportunity to address the impact on critical national infrastructure security of the exponential growth of the internet of things, and for potential exchanges of expert staff and students,” explains Keith Mayes, head of the Information Security Group (ISG) at Royal Holloway University.

Steiner shares Mayes’s excitement about expanding opportunities for both established and emerging researchers in this growing field. Thanks to leading academic programs in cybersecurity, the bwtech@UMBC Cyber Incubator, and UMBC’s internationally-known Center for Cybersecurity, he says, “UMBC is uniquely positioned in Maryland to become a major global force for research in cybersecurity.”

“This partnership,” says Steiner, “builds important connections to move this essential work forward.”

Adapted from a UMBC News article written by Megan Hanks. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

The post UMBC launches cybersecurity research collaboration with Japanese and UK partners appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

UMBC SFS Cybersecurity Spring Meeting

Student Project Reports and

Cybersecurity from the view of NSA’s Cybersecurity Threat Operations Center
Dave Hogue, Technical Director of NSA’s Cybersecurity Threat Operations Center (NCTOC)

11am-3pm, Friday, 25 May 2018, ITE 456, UMBC

Open to the public

Scholarship for Service (SFS) students will present their cybersecurity research from spring 2018. Eight SFS students from Montgomery College (MC) and Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) will present their results solving IT security problems for their universities and county governments. In spring 2018, these students worked collaboratively in a special applied research course at their school to help their schools and county governments. In fall 2018, these students will transfer to UMBC to complete their four-year degrees. This activity is part of a pioneering program centered at UMBC to extend SFS scholarships to community college students. In January 2018, all SFS scholars at UMBC, PGCC, and MC worked collaboratively to analyze the security of UMBC’s WebAdmin system.

David Hogue will talk about cybersecurity from the view of NSA’s Cybersecurity Threat Operations Center, including the key threats, techniques, and challenges posed by the sophisticated threat actors that NCTOC is charged to defend against.

11:00am Introductions

Alan T. Sherman (UMBC)
Casey W. O’Brien (PGCC)
David Kuijt (MC)

11:30am-1:00pm Student Project Reports

PGCC students
MC students
UMBC – Mohammad Khan, UMBC parking system
UMBC – Enis Golaszewski, winter research study on UMBC’s WebAdmin

1:00pm-2:00pm Lunch

2:00pm-3:00pm Dave Hogue, Technical Director, NSA Cybersecurity Threat Operations Center (NCTOC)

Cybersecurity from the view of NSA’s Cybersecurity Threat Operations Center: Key threats, techniques, and challenges posed by the sophisticated threat actors that NCTOC is charged to defend against.

3:00pm Adjourn

Host: Alan T. Sherman, *protected email*

Alan T. Sherman is a professor of computer science and Director of the UMBC Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA), which center is responsible for UMBC’s designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education and Cyber Defense Research.

Casey W. O’Brien is Executive Director and Principal Investigator of the National CyberWatch Center, Prince George’s Community College.

David Kuijt is an associate professor at Montgomery College, Rockville.

Joe Roundy is the Cybersecurity Program Manager at Montgomery College, Germantown.

Support for this event is provided in part by the National Science Foundation under SFS Grant 1241576.

The post UMBC Scholarship for Service Cybersecurity Spring Meeting, Fri 25 May 2018 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Big Data, Security and Privacy

Prof. Bhavani Thuraisingham, University of Texas at Dallas
11:00-12:00 Wednesday, 16 May 2018, ITE 459, UMBC

The collection, storage, manipulation and retention of massive amounts of data have resulted in serious security and privacy considerations. Various regulations are being proposed to handle big data so that the privacy of the individuals is not violated. For example, even if personally identifiable information is removed from the data, when data is combined with other data, an individual can be identified. This is essentially the inference and aggregation problem that data security researchers have been exploring for the past four decades. This problem is exacerbated with the management of big data as different sources of data now exist that are related to various individuals.

While collecting massive amounts of data causes security and privacy concerns, big data analytics applications in cyber security is exploding. For example, an organization can outsource activities such as identity management, email filtering and intrusion detection to the cloud. This is because massive amounts of data are being collected for such applications and this data has to be analyzed. The question is, how can the developments in big data management and analytics techniques be used to solve security problems? These problems include malware detection, insider threat detection, and intrusion detection.

To address the challenges of big data security and privacy as well as big data analytics for cyber security applications, we organized a workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation in September 2014 and presented the results in 2015 at an inter-agency workshop in Washington DC. Since then several developments have been reported on big data security and privacy as well as on big data analytics of cyber security. This presenting will summarize the findings of the workshop and discuss the developments and directions.

Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham is the Louis A. Beecherl, Jr. Distinguished Professor in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and the Executive Director of UTD’s Cyber Security Research and Education Institute since October 2004. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at Kings College, University of London (2015-2018) and a New America Cyber Security Policy Fellow (2017-2018). Her current research is on integrating cyber security and data science. Prior to joining UTD she worked at the MITRE Corporation for 16 years including a three-year stint as a Program Director at the NSF. She initiated the Data and Applications Security program at NSF and was a member of the Cyber Trust theme. While at MITRE she was a department head and was also a technical advisor to the DoD, the NSA, the CIA, and the IRS. Prior to that, she worked for the commercial industry for six years including at Honeywell, Inc. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the IEEE CS 1997 Technical Achievement Award, the IEEE ISI 2010 Research Leadership Award, ACM SIGSAC 2010 Outstanding Contributions Award, SDPS 2012 Transformative Achievement Gold Medal, 2013 IBM Faculty Award, ACM CODASPY 2017 Innovative and Lasting Research Contributions Award, IEEE CS Services Computing 2017 Research Innovation Award, and Dallas Business Journal 2017 Women in Technology Award. She is a 2003 Fellow of the IEEE and the AAAS and a 2005 Fellow of the British Computer Society. She has published over 120 journal articles, 250 conference papers, 15 books, has delivered over 130 keynote and featured addresses, and is the inventor of six US patents. She has chaired/co-chaired top tier conferences including the Women in Cyber Security (WiCyS) 2016, ACM CCS 2017, and is serving as the Program co-Chair for IEEE ICDM 2018. She also delivered a featured address at the Women in Data Science (WiDS) conference in 2018. She received her PhD at the University of Wales, Swansea, UK, and the earned higher doctorate (D. Eng) from the University of Bristol, England, UK for her published research in secure data management.

The post talk: Big Data, Security and Privacy, 11am Wed 5/16 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

UMBC Cyber Defense Lab

SPARCLE: Practical Homomorphic Encryption

Russ Fink

Senior Scientist
Johns Hopkins University / Applied Physics Laboratory

12:00–1:00pm Friday, April 27, 2018, ITE 237, UMBC

In the newly coined Privacy Age, researchers are building systems with homomorphic algorithms that enable “never decrypt” operations on sensitive data in applications such as computational private information retrieval (cPIR). The trouble is, the leading algorithms incur significant computational and space challenges, relegating them mainly to large cloud computing platforms. We have invented a special-purpose, ring-homomorphic (aka, “fully homomorphic”) algorithm that, owing to some specializing assumptions, trades general-purpose cryptographic utility for linear performance in speed and space.

We will present the cryptosystem and discuss several current challenges. We will also throw in a fun, simple, tactile concept demonstration of PIR for those just generally curious about what all this is, hopefully demystifying how you can enable a server to search for something without knowing what it’s looking for, and without knowing what (if any) results it found.

Russ Fink (UMBC ’10) is a senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins University / Applied Physics Laboratory. His current research interests include private information retrieval, applied cryptography, and cyber security.

Host: Alan T. Sherman, *protected email*

The post talk: SPARCLE: Practical Homomorphic Encryption, 12pm Fri 4/27 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

SFS cyberdefense scholarship applications due April 27

The next application deadline for SFS cyberdefense scholarships to UMBC is 12noon Friday April 27, 2018, for possible scholarships beginning fall 2018. See www.cisa.umbc.edu for details and application forms.

These major scholarships include tuition, generous stipend, and more, in return for government employment. Applicants must have at least junior status in fall 2018. BS, MS, MPS, PhD in any cyber-related field may apply (CS, CE, EE, IS, Cyber). SFS applicants must be citizens or lawful permanent residents capable of obtaining a secret clearance at federal, state, local, or tribal government. The annual stipends are $22,500 undergraduate and $34,000 graduate.

These scholarships are highly competitive (e.g., the median GPA of current SFS scholars at UMBC is 3.8) and favor students who have excelled in upper-level technical courses and who have demonstrated a passion and talent for cybersecurity through relevant accomplishments. We will consider applications from rising juniors and above with GPA over 3.0. All SFS scholars at UMBC are expected to engage in cohort and research activities. For more information, see the SFS FAQ page.

Interested students should contact

Dr. Alan T. Sherman
Professor of Computer Science
Director, UMBC Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA)
*protected email*

The post SFS cyberdefense scholarship applications due April 27 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab presents

Classifying Malware using Data Compression

Charles Nicholas, UMBC

12:00–1:00pm Friday, 20 April 2018, ITE 229

Comparing large binary objects can be tricky and expensive. We describe a method for comparing such strings, using ideas form data compression, that is both fast and effective. We present results from experiments applying this method, which we refer to as LZJD, to the areas of malware classification and digital forensics.

Charles Nicholas (*protected email*) earned his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan – Flint in 1979, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from Ohio State University in 1982 and 1988, respectively. He joined the Computer Science Department at UMBC in 1988. His research interests include electronic document processing, intelligent information systems, and software engineering. In recent years he has focused on the problems of storing and retrieving information from large collections of documents. Intelligent software agents are an important aspect of this work. Host: Alan T. Sherman, *protected email*

The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab meets biweekly Fridays. All meetings are open to the public.

The post 🗣 talk: Classifying Malware using Data Compression, 12-1 Fri 4/20, ITE229 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab presents

Human Factors in Cyber Security

Dr. Josiah Dykstra

Cyber Security Researcher, US Department of Defense

12:00–1:00pm Friday, 13 April 2018, ITE 229, UMBC

Humans play many roles in the effectiveness of cyber security. While users are often blamed for security compromises, human strengths and weaknesses also affect people who perform design, implementation, configuration, monitoring, analysis, and response. The fields of human computer interaction generally, and usable security specifically, have drawn attention and research to some aspects of human factors, but many opportunities remain for future work.

In this talk, I describe several of my research projects related to human factors in cyber security. The first was a study of how individual differences affect cyber security behavior, and active follow-on research to predict users who might become victimized. The second was a study of stress and fatigue in security operations centers, including a new survey instrument for collecting data in tactical environments. The third was a research prototype using augmented reality to assist humans in cyber security analysis, and an analysis of preliminary results.

Finally, I will present and invite discussion about a new idea for improving security by making it “disappear.” Despite decades of tools and techniques for secure development, and valiant work at adoption and usability, it is clear that many users cannot or will not avail themselves of appropriate cyber security options. It may be time to rethink the amount of interaction required for most users, and if hands-off, behind-the-scenes cyber defense should be the norm.

Josiah Dykstra serves as a Senior Executive Service government civilian and Subject Matter Expert for Computer Network Operations research in the Laboratory for Telecommunication Sciences within the Research Directorate of the National Security Agency. His research includes human augmentation, cyber risk assessment, and cyber effects. He is an active collaborator with academic, industry, and government researchers around the country. Dykstra earned the PhD degree in computer science at UMBC in 2013 studying under Alan T. Sherman. Dr. Dykstra is the author of the 2016 O’Reilly book, Essential Cybersecurity Science, Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and winner of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Host: Alan T. Sherman, *protected email*

The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab meets biweekly Fridays. All meetings are open to the public.

The post 🗣️ talk: Human Factors in Cyber Security, 12-1 Fri 4/13, ITE 229, UMBC appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

The UMBC at Shady Grove Cybersecurity Program Presents

Cybersecurity as a Team Sport – Understanding Counsel’s Role

Allison Bender J.D.

6:00-8:00pm Wednesday, 4 April 2018

The Universities at Shady Grove
Building III (Camille Kendall Academic Center) Room 4230
9636 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850
Directions/Parking

In this presentation by seasoned incident response counsel, Allison Bender, you will gain a risk-informed perspective on the role of counsel in cybersecurity governance and incident response. Also, learn strategies for more effective communication and cooperation with other cybersecurity stakeholders (e.g., IT, IT Security, HR, Communications, business leaders, senior executives and the board); and take away practical tips for prioritizing efforts that help tame the chaos of cybersecurity incident response while maintaining privilege as appropriate.

Allison Bender counsels Fortune 50 companies and startups in a range of industries on cybersecurity and privacy matters in the U.S. and internationally. Drawing from her roots in government, national security, and R&D, she helps clients navigate legal issues associated with emerging technologies and aids clients in strategically managing legal, financial, and reputational cybersecurity risks. Allison translates technical, operational, legal, and policy issues to create practical solutions for clients’ legal challenges. Her cybersecurity and national security preparedness counseling is informed by over 80 incident response efforts. When drafting corporate policies and considering product design options, Allison’s advice is seasoned in the management of breaches involving personal data, intellectual property, payment card information, export controlled technical data, and other regulated information. Her experience also extends to counseling on cybersecurity and national security due diligence in mergers and acquisitions, vendor management, and transactions. From DHS, Allison brings experience in incident response as well as cybersecurity policy, information sharing, liability, and incentives. She was the primary operational legal counsel for the federal response to the Heartbleed vulnerability, the USIS-KeyPoint data breach, and the Healthcare.gov data breach.

Hosts: Dr. Behnam Shariati (*protected email*) and the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Association at USG

The UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Association at USG is an organization created and managed by UMBC Cybersecurity graduate students at Shady Grove. The mission of Cybersecurity Association is to promote the study of Cybersecurity and to raise Cybersecurity awareness and knowledge in the community through panel discussions, conferences, and Cyber competitions. Also, the Cybersecurity Association aspires to create a supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to network, learn, and grow.

The post talk: Cybersecurity as a Team Sport – Understanding Counsel’s Role, 6pm Wed 4/4 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Global Impact, Promise & Perils of Blockchain

UMBC Professors Haibin Zhang (Computer Science and Electrical Engineering) and Karuna Joshi (Information Systems) will be panelists for an event focused on the impact, promise and perils of blockchain technologies at the bwtech@UMBC Research & Technology Park. The event will take place from 8:15 to 11:15am on Tuesday, March 20 2018 at and will include breakfast and time for networking.  They will be joined on the panel by Marcus Edwards, from Northrop Grumman’s Cyber & Intelligence Mission Solutions, Steve Cook of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, Sean Manion of  Science Distributed and moderator Razvan Miutescu of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, LLP.   For more information and tickets are available on eventbrite.

CyberInnovation Briefing: The Global Impact, Promise & Perils of Blockchain

8:15 – 11:15 Tuesday, March 20, 2018

bwtech@UMBC Research & Technology Park
5520 Research Park Drive, Baltimore, MD 21228

Cryptocurrency market capitalizations have soared over the past year and new innovative blockchain applications are continuing to emerge seemingly by the day. However, the average end-user is left to singularly make sense of a vast and global marketplace that is rapidly converging the core tenets of economics and technology development. The future prospects of traditional business and financial models is uncertain as blockchain technology leaves key decision makers in an untenable position to either adopt and adapt or simply be left behind. Industry and academic experts in the field will discuss the pros and cons and opportunities and challenges of this disruptive technology movement.

The post 🗣️ CyberInnovation Briefing: Global Impact, Promise & Perils of Blockchain appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.