UMBC ACM techTalk

Increasing Base-Station Anonymity in
Wireless Ad-hoc and Sensor Networks

Profesor Mohamed Younis
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

1:15pm Wednesday, 12 November 2014, ITE 325b

In many applications of ad-hoc networks, the bulk of the traffic is targeted to few nodes. For example, in wireless sensor networks the base-station (BS) collects data from a large number of sensor nodes. Another example is a surveillance network in which the gathered intelligence data about criminal activities flow towards field commanders and/or an in-situ BS. Such a network operation model makes the BS a critical asset for these applications. An adversary can nullify the value of a network by simply disrupting or physically damaging the BS, without targeting individual data sources. The failure of the BS can also cause a loss of important data that may not have been processed and can cause a major negative impact if the BS represents a commanding authority for the network. Therefore, concealing the location and role of the BS is of utmost importance for maintaining a robust network operation.

Packet encryption does not achieve BS anonymity since an adversary can intercept the individual wireless transmissions and employ traffic analysis techniques to follow the data paths without knowing the content of intercepted traffic. Since all active routes end at the BS, the adversary may be able to determine the BS’s location and launch targeted attacks. Similarly, camouflaging or hiding the BS does not provide protection when its location is unveiled via traffic analysis. Employing spread spectrum signaling methods is not a sufficient BS anonymity countermeasure as adversaries are becoming more advanced and equipped with sophisticated intercept technologies. In addition, signal spreading reduces rather than eliminates the prospect of transmission detection. This talk will highlight the traffic analysis threat, present anonymity assessment metrics, provide an overview of effective cross-layer techniques developed in the ESNet Lab for increasing the BS anonymity, and outline open research problems.

Dr. Mohamed Younis is an associate professor in the department of computer science and electrical engineering at the university of Maryland, Baltimore County. He received his Ph.D. degree in computer science from New Jersey Institute of Technology. Before joining UMBC, he was with the Advanced Systems Technology Group, an Aerospace Electronic Systems R&D organization of Honeywell International Inc. While at Honeywell he led multiple projects for building integrated fault tolerant avionics and dependable computing infrastructure. He also participated in the development of the Redundancy Management System, which is a key component of the Vehicle and Mission Computer for NASA-s X-33 space launch vehicle. He has published over 150 technical papers in refereed conferences and journals. Dr. Younis has five granted and two pending patents. In addition, he serves/served on the editorial board of multiple journals and the organizing and technical program committees of numerous conferences. Dr. Younis is a senior member of the IEEE.

In 2012-2017, UMBC will support a total of 22 new Cybersecurity students at the BS, MS, MPS, and PhD levels in computer science and related fields. Each scholarship is for the final two years of study (three years for PhD and combined BS/MS). Each scholarship covers full tuition, fees, travel, books, and an academic year stipend of $30,000 for PhD, $25,000 for MS, and $20,000 for BS students.

Interested full-time degree students should submit an application to Dr. Alan T. Sherman, as explained on the CISA website. The same application form is used for the Scholarship For Service (SFS) and Information Assurance Scholarship Program (IASP) scholarships. Clearly state on the cover page to which program you are applying. Be sure to include official transcripts and original signed letters of reference on letterhead (preferably from tenure-track faculty who can comment on your research potential and accomplishments).

The applications must be received by the deadlines: 12noon Monday, November 17, 2014, for scholarships beginning in spring 2015 and 12noon Monday, February 2, 2015, for scholarships beginning fall 2015.

We expect to make up to two new SFS awards for spring 2015, and up to six new SFS awards for fall 2015. We do not yet know if any IASP scholarships will be possible for fall 2015.

Applicants must be US citizens capable of obtaining a secret or top-secret clearance. Each scholar must work for the federal, state, or tribal government (for pay) for one year for each year of award. Each scholar must also carry out an appropriate cybersecurity summer internship (for pay) for each year of support.

Recipients are expected to engage vigorously in cybersecurity education, research, and other cybersecurity activities while at UMBC.

For more information, contact Dr. Alan T, Sherman, Director, UMBC Center for Information Security and Assurance, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

CSEE’S Dr. Marc Olano, Director of the Computer Science Game Development Track and Co-director of the VANGOGH Lab, talked with the Baltimore Sun’s Scott Dance about fluctuations in the local video game industry.

In recent years, the local gaming industry has been subject to major upheavals, resulting in the closure of several well-known gaming companies. Fortunately, the local gaming industry finally seems to be on the uptick, with announcements of new titles from two studios. Firaxis released “Civilization: Beyond Earth” on October 24th, and the newly resurrected Big Huge Games will be launching “DomiNations” in 2015. These announcements signal a rebirth of sorts for the Maryland gaming industry.

The Baltimore Sun article can be found here.

Intern Scientist, Yahoo Labs (Job Number: 1450702)
Apply

Yahoo Labs sets the course for the future. We’re Yahoo’s incubator for bold scientific experimentation. We specialize in deep, creative thought on the company’s hardest technical problems, and hire amazing research scientists and engineers who serve as Yahoo’s most forward-looking thinkers. We stretch the limits of theory, we apply novel ideas in practice, and we experiment. We love challenging problems, we love bleeding-edge technology, and we love data.

Yahoo Labs is one of the most highly collaborative places you’ll ever see. Partnerships abound within our own teams, with all key product teams, and with the international scientific community. We’ll challenge your brain every day, and when you succeed you’ll change the lives of hundreds of millions of people, allowing them to do things they never dreamed they could do. Come join us and use your scientific background to drive Yahoo-scale innovation!

A Little About Us

Yahoo Labs is pioneering the new sciences underlying the Web. As the center of scientific excellence for Yahoo, Yahoo Labs delivers both fundamental and applied scientific leadership through published research and new technologies powering the company’s products.

Your Opportunity

We are looking for exceptional PhD student who want to work with us in our intern program for the summer of 2015. We will have openings in the US (New York City, Sunnyvale) and other locations. We seek world-class graduate students in pursuit of a PhD in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related area. We are particularly interested in students working on Machine Learning, algorithms, Natural Language Processing, Knowledge Representation, HCI, Multimedia, Mobile Innovations, search (systems or algorithms), collaborative filtering, auctions, mechanism design, linear algebra, Systems or analysis of large data. Ideal candidates will have finished at least 2 years of graduate work.

Your Day

• Work with scientists to perform original research
• Apply scientific thinking and techniques to improve the performance
  and effectiveness of our products
• Solve problems for our users and advertisers by analyzing mountains
  of data
• Have the opportunity to publish your work and expand the horizons
  of web science

You Must Have

• Currently working on the PhD degree, preferably in Computer
  Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or related area.
• Finished at least 2 years of graduate work
• Have some experience in Machine Learning, algorithms, Natural
  Language Processing, Knowledge Representation, HCI, Multimedia,
  Mobile Innovations, search (systems or algorithms), collaborative
  filtering, auctions, mechanism, design, linear algebra, systems, or
  analysis of large data Learning, algorithms, Natural Language
  Processing, Knowledge Representation, HCI, Multimedia, Mobile
  Innovations, search (systems or algorithms), collaborative
  filtering, auctions, mechanism, design, linear algebra, systems, or
  analysis of large data
• A CV with strong recommendations from your graduate advisor

Apply

CSEE Faculty members Rick Forno and Marie desJardins were mentioned in a recent Baltimore Sun article, in which the Catonsville High School Cyber Club is interviewed as they prepare for the final round of the Maryland Cyber Challenge.

The Maryland Cyber Challenge & Competition, designed by Dr. Rick Forno, was created to encourage more high school students to consider STEM careers. This statewide cyber security competition consists of three competitive divisions: high school, college age, and professional. During the final round of the challenge, which takes place October 29th-30th, teams compete to solve increasingly complex tasks.

The popularity of the Maryland Cyber Challenge, and the recent proliferation of high school cyber clubs both tie into the state of Maryland’s plan to “put more of an emphasis on computer science education.” Professor Marie desJardins and Catonsville High School teacher Christina Morris are both part of CS Matters in Maryland, an NSF-funded project that seeks to “increase the expertise of high school computer science teachers in Maryland.”

The Baltimore Sun article and video can be found here.

UMBC Quantum Computation Seminar

Quantum Probabilistic Logic Programming

Radhakrishnan Balu
Army Research Laboratory

2:30-4:00pm, Tuesday, 28 October 2014, ITE 325B

We describe a logic programming language that supports Horn clauses, random variables, and covariance matrices to express and solve problems in probabilistic logic. The Horn clauses of the language wrap random variables and matrices to express probability distributions and statistical correlations, a powerful way to capture relationship between identical distributions that are not independent. A salient feature of the language is a mechanism to implement statistical ensembles and to solve the underlying SAT instances of probabilistic predicates using quantum mechanical machinery. We exploit the fact that classical random variables have quantum decompositions to build the quantum mechanical observables. We establish the semantics of the language in a rigorous fashion by considering an existing probabilistic logic language called PRISM with classical probability measures defined on the Herbrand base and extend it to the case of quantum probability. In the classical case H-interpretations form the sample space and probability measures defined on them lead to consistent definition of probabilities for well formed formulae. In the quantum analogue probability amplitudes are attached to H-interpretations facilitating the model generations and verifications via quantum mechanical superpositions and entanglements. The well formed formulae of the language can be cast as quantum mechanical observables and thus providing an elegant interpretation for their probabilities. We discuss several examples to combine statistical ensembles and predicates of first order logic to reason with situations involving uncertainty.Further studies include extension of the semantics to temporal logic constructs using quantum dynamic evolutions.

Radhakrishnan Balu is a computational scientist with a research focus on application of quantum mechanics to computation, communications, Chemistry, Physics, and biology. He has been working at the Army Research Lab since 2007 and uses D-wave system, a quantum annealer, and state-of-the-art quantum mechanics based software leveraging the high performance computing infrastructure for research. He has over 20 publications, including peer reviewed journal papers. He has five degrees in science and engineering, with a Ph.D in computational chemistry from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, an M.S in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.S in computer science from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Organizer: Prof. Samuel Lomonaco, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

If you are interested in going on to graduate school after graduation, either directly or later, and either full-time and part time, you might attend the following workshop on Monday, October 27.

An Inside Look at Graduate School & Summer Research:
How to Prepare, Get Accepted, and Succeed

Evelyn S. Erenrich, PhD
Asst Dean, Rutgers Graduate School-New Brunswick
Rutgers University

12– 1pm, Monday October 27, 2014
Public Policy Bldg 105

In addition to discussing strategies for research success, I will spotlight exciting programs and interdisciplinary opportunities at Rutgers University, including a summer program, RiSE (Research in Science & Engineering). I will be joined by a UMBC alumnus, now a doctoral Fellow at Rutgers, who will give his personal perspective. Several current UMBC undergraduates who participated in our RiSE program last summer will discuss their experiences.

This session is arranged by the Meyerhoff Program, but all UMBC students are welcome. Students can also sign up for individual appointments before or after the presentation by contacting Ms. Alicia Hall, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

For a flyer and more details, see here. Please contact Dr. Erenrich if you have any questions (Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. , 848.932.9286).

October 19-25th is National Chemistry Week (NCW). The theme for this year is “The Sweet Side of Chemistry: Candy.”

In conjunction with this week-long celebration of chemistry, each day the National Science Foundation has been highlighting a different “sweet molecule” in a stop-motion video post. These posts also give mention to the lead scientist(s) working on any relevant NSF research projects.

The video post about glucose mentions CSEE professor and NSF-funded engineer Gymama Slaughter, who has created a new type of sensor that is entirely powered by glucose. This wireless, implantable sensor can be used to monitor the blood sugar level in medical patients. A short video about the glucose sugar molecule can be found below.

You can find out more about National Chemistry Week here.

CSEE Professor Chintan Patel and computer engineering student Gurashish Singh recently demonstrated a prototype system that can detect distracted driving behavior at the ATPA expo, the largest gathering of industries involved with transportation. Their novel wearable proximity sensor-based system alerts drivers who show signs of falling asleep, being distracted or driving dangerously.

The project is a collaboration between Professors Ryan Robucci, Chintan Patel and Nilanjan Banerjee. The system was built by graduate students Gurashish Singh and Tsu An Chen. This short video shows some of the dangerous behaviors being detected.