CyberCorps SFS Spring Meeting at UMBC

10:00am-2:00pm Friday, 22 May 2020
Open to the public
via: https://umbc.webex.com/meet/sherman

UMBC’s Spring CyberCorps Scholarship for Service meeting will take place from 10 am to 2 pm on Friday, 22 May 2020. It will feature a discussion with Dr. Dan Guernsey (NSA) on Ghidra, Software Reverse Engineering, and Cybersecurity Careers at NSA, presentations by SFS students, and a hands-on Capture the Flag exercise.

10:00-10:30 Student presentations
Scholarship for Service (SFS) students from UMBC, Montgomery College (MC), and Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) will present their results solving IT security problems for their universities, county governments, and local companies. This activity is part of a pioneering program centered at UMBC to extend SFS scholarships to community college students. In January 2020, all SFS scholars at UMBC, PGCC, and MC worked collaboratively to analyze the security of a custom shadow-IT software application to query research grant information

10:30-11:30 Discussion with Dr. Dan Guernsey (NSA)
Learn about Ghidra, software reverse engineering, and cybersecurity careers at NSA. Ghidra is a software reverse engineering framework developed by NSA’s Research Directorate for NSA’s cybersecurity mission. It helps analyze malicious code and malware like viruses, and can give cybersecurity professionals a better understanding of potential vulnerabilities in their networks and systems (GitHub).

11:30-12:30 Lunch and discussion among attendees

12:30-2:00 Hands-on cyber defense exercise
Sharpen your cybersecurity skills by participating in a hands-on Capture the Flag exercise developed by the UMBC Cyber Dawgs and Cyrus Bonyadi, an SFS scholar and a member of the Cyber Dawgs, whose cyberdefense team won first place at the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MACCDC) in April 2020 and is competing in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC).

Participants and organizers

Dr. Dan Guernsey earned the Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of Tulsa. Since 2011, he worked at the Department of Defense as a Computer Scientist and Architectures Researcher. During his studies at Tulsa, Dr. Guernsey contracted with the DoD Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Secret Service, and local law firms. He performed reverse engineering and authored software analysis tools for product evaluation and digital forensics. His work helped solve criminal cases and helped resolve civil disputes involving software copyrights. Dr. Guernsey is an Adjunct Instructor at UMBC in the graduate Cybersecurity Program.

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

Richard Forno is a senior lecturer, Director of the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program, and Assistant Director of the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity.

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

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 DGE-1753681 and by the Department of Defense under CySP grant H98230-19-1-0308.

The post CyberCorps SFS Spring Meeting at UMBC appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

CyberCorps SFS Spring Meeting at UMBC

10:00am-2:00pm Friday, 22 May 2020
Open to the public
via: https://umbc.webex.com/meet/sherman

UMBC’s Spring CyberCorps Scholarship for Service meeting will take place from 10 am to 2 pm on Friday, 22 May 2020. It will feature a discussion with Dr. Dan Guernsey (NSA) on Ghidra, Software Reverse Engineering, and Cybersecurity Careers at NSA, presentations by SFS students, and a hands-on Capture the Flag exercise.

10:00-10:30 Student presentations
Scholarship for Service (SFS) students from UMBC, Montgomery College (MC), and Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) will present their results solving IT security problems for their universities, county governments, and local companies. This activity is part of a pioneering program centered at UMBC to extend SFS scholarships to community college students. In January 2020, all SFS scholars at UMBC, PGCC, and MC worked collaboratively to analyze the security of a custom shadow-IT software application to query research grant information

10:30-11:30 Discussion with Dr. Dan Guernsey (NSA)
Learn about Ghidra, software reverse engineering, and cybersecurity careers at NSA. Ghidra is a software reverse engineering framework developed by NSA’s Research Directorate for NSA’s cybersecurity mission. It helps analyze malicious code and malware like viruses, and can give cybersecurity professionals a better understanding of potential vulnerabilities in their networks and systems (GitHub).

11:30-12:30 Lunch and discussion among attendees

12:30-2:00 Hands-on cyber defense exercise
Sharpen your cybersecurity skills by participating in a hands-on Capture the Flag exercise developed by the UMBC Cyber Dawgs and Cyrus Bonyadi, an SFS scholar and a member of the Cyber Dawgs, whose cyberdefense team won first place at the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MACCDC) in April 2020 and is competing in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC).

Participants and organizers

Dr. Dan Guernsey earned the Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of Tulsa. Since 2011, he worked at the Department of Defense as a Computer Scientist and Architectures Researcher. During his studies at Tulsa, Dr. Guernsey contracted with the DoD Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Secret Service, and local law firms. He performed reverse engineering and authored software analysis tools for product evaluation and digital forensics. His work helped solve criminal cases and helped resolve civil disputes involving software copyrights. Dr. Guernsey is an Adjunct Instructor at UMBC in the graduate Cybersecurity Program.

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

Richard Forno is a senior lecturer, Director of the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program, and Assistant Director of the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity.

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

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 DGE-1753681 and by the Department of Defense under CySP grant H98230-19-1-0308.

The post CyberCorps SFS Spring Meeting at UMBC appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

UMBC alumni businesses are doing what they can to stay strong and build community during these troubled times. UMBC Magazine will be publishing occasional interviews with alumni business owners to show their resilience in the face of this global pandemic.

Find more alumni businesses at the UMBC Alumni Business Directory.

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Powered by a number of UMBC alumni, Fearless is a digital services firm in Baltimore. Partner John Foster ’04, computer engineering, tells us about the ways the company is giving back, and what it means to thoroughly understand the “why” of what you do.

Can you tell us a little bit about what you do? What’s your favorite part of the work?

I manage the day-to-day operation at Fearless. We are a full-stack digital services firm in Baltimore that delivers sleek, modern, and user-friendly software designed to push the boundaries of possibility. It’s our mission to build software with a soul–tools that empower communities and make a difference–so we can create a world where good software powers the things that matter. As one of Fearless’ earliest team members, I’ve seen the company from many different perspectives, first as a software engineer then moving into executive team roles as Fearless has become a company of 100+ people. 

How do you connect your work back to your experience at UMBC? 

Fearless has many UMBC alumni. CEO Delali Dzirasa ’04, computer engineering, is a Retriever and we used to joke that a prerequisite for working at Fearless was a UMBC degree.  Candace Campbell ’19, computer science, is a DevOps engineer working on solutions for the Small Business Administration in the midst of COVID19.

In these tough times, how do you keep going? What inspires you?

Simon Sinek often talks about starting with “why” as the root for anything you want to do in life that has purpose. For Fearless that “why” is our Culture, Customers, and Community. So connecting our employees “why” to our customers and community “why” keeps us going. Knowing that our people really want to make an impact in the world and finding ways to do that for our customers and community is all inspiring and keeps Fearless moving forward.

Are there specific ways you’re giving back to the community right now? Tell us about it!

Giving back has always been an important part of Fearless. Throughout the year we partner with nonprofits and other organizations in Baltimore that help Baltimore City students. We like to be the first people to raise our hand. Help is needed in our city. Now that is more important than ever. We are working with our community partners to identify their needs and how best we can serve them and the people they work with. Fearless has also launched a community hours initiative, where team members get eight hours of paid time for volunteering and other community service projects. Team members are using the time now to sew mask covers for healthcare workers and others are donating blood to the American Red Cross. It’s a small gesture but we also bought coffee for all of the hospitals in COVID-19 testing sites in Montgomery, Alabama. Montgomery is the site of our second office and even though we can’t be with our Southern team right now, we want them to know we support them and the city.

What advice would you give to others looking to start their own business?

Businesses are formed in their owners’ and founders’ image. For the best businesses, that image is rooted deeply in a person’s “why.” Before you take even the smallest of baby steps be certain that your passion translates into your personal “why.” By doing so, it will get you through the rough times or times where you doubt yourself.

Header image: Foster, at right. Images courtesy of John Foster.