Department of Information Systems Colloquium

Beyond Reactive Management of Network Intrusions

Professor Sushil Jajodia
Center for Secure Information Systems
George Mason University

12:00pm Wednesday, 12 October 2011, ITE456, UMBC

This talk will discuss issues and methods for survivability of systems under malicious attacks. To protect from such attacks, it is necessary to take steps to prevent attacks from succeeding. At the same time, it is important to recognize that not all attacks can be averted at the outset; attacks that are successful to some degree must be recognized as unavoidable and comprehensive support for identifying and responding to attacks is required.

In my talk, I will describe the recent research on attack graphs that represent known attack sequences attackers can use to penetrate computer networks. I will show how attack graphs can be used to compute actual sets of hardening measures that guarantee the safety of given critical resources. Attack graphs can also be used to correlate received alerts, hypothesize missing alerts, and predict future alerts, all at the same time. Thus, they offer a promising solution for administrators to monitor and predict the progress of an intrusion, and take appropriate countermeasures in a timely manner.

I will conclude my talk with a demo of the working system.

Sushil Jajodia is University Professor, BDM International Professor, and the director of Center for Secure Information Systems in the Volgenau School of Engineering at the George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. He served as the chair of the Department of Information and Software Engineering during 1998-2002. He joined Mason after serving as the director of the Database and Expert Systems Program within the Division of Information, Robotics, and Intelligent Systems at the National Science Foundation. Before that he was the head of the Database and Distributed Systems Section in the Computer Science and Systems Branch at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington and Associate Professor of Computer Science and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Milan, Italy; Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge University, England; and King's College, London, England.

The UMBC ACM Student Chapter is co-hosting Interdisciplinary Engineering Panel Night at 7:00pm on Thursday 6 October 201 in the Commons Skylight Lounge. This free event is open to both undergraduate and graduate students in all engineering disciplines. Students have a chance to hear the perspective of professionals from industry, socializing and expanding their network. The event is co-sponsored with mechanical engineering (ASME), chemical engineering (AIChE), Device and the National Society of Black Engineers. Hors d’oeuvres will be served. Business casual dress suggested.

Image from LA Times

After reconsidering a run for president, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie stuck with his original answer…

Heck no!

The Republican governor had originally said some time ago he wouldn’t seek the White House.  But, pressure from voters and donors unimpressed by the current Republican field caused him to give it one last look.

A media frenzy surrounded Christie’s possible entrance into the race, which would have offered an alternative to front-runners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

During a press conference, he cited his current role as governor as the driving reason behind his decision.

It did not feel right to me, in my gut, to leave now when the job here was not finished.”

Thanks to USA Today!

Hey! That’s not the iPhone 5.

Bad News Bernanke: Fed Chair delivers report on the nations’ economy.

Putting it on “paws?” Hollywood Council pushes back ban on fur.

Football & Führers: Country singer’s theme song pulled.

And, will a picture still last longer?

Psalm 103:1-5 (NIV)

Of David

1 Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Reflection:

“Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits…!” You can almost feel the deep sense of joy and gratitude that the psalmist is trying to express with every single word. He doesn’t want to praise God on just a superficial level, but with all of who he is, and from the deepest places of his heart. Likewise, when we see and know the wonderful things that God has done for us, we too are to erupt with this sense of joyful life of consuming praise. Not merely worshipping with God with small compartments of our lives, but with every single thing. This does not only cover our physical being but everything that our lives touch: work, school, family, etc. He is the One who has forgiven us of every terrible thing we have ever done, and He healed the diseases that plagued our lives for so long. How else could we respond, but to give all of who we are? Let’s praise the Lord!

Response:

God truly is the One who has worked through the many situations that we have gone through in this life in order to bring us into a life of knowing Him. Therefore, after a time of reflecting on the things He has rescued you from, spend some time praising Him and declaring what He has done. This can be with a simple song, a short prayer, or even a poem, but whatever it is let’s do it with all of our hearts and richly offer up our lives again. Praise the Lord!