The Challenges of Smart Cities Cybersecurity and Privacy with Blockchain

Dr. Jacob Mendel, Tel Aviv University

11:00am Thursday, 15 November 2018, ITE 459, UMBC

The last decades have witnessed unprecedented population and urbanization growth with the implication that today, for the first time in human history, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities. The consequences of the cybersecurity threats of this urbanization trend along with the notion of smart cities are the main subject of this session. The smart city (system of systems) integrates Big-data and the Internet of Things (IoT) to optimize the operation cost, efficiency and to provide a better services to the residents. Smart cities worldwide are checking blockchain as the foundation for urban living. Using blockchain technology in smart city can create a marketplace for Smart Grid.

The increased complexity of smart cities (system of systems), globally connected, economic and political systems has increased the cybersecurity vulnerability. The cybersecurity threats get magnified by the city big-data and its dependency on the technology. The cybersecurity challenges that smart cities faces demand for research and investment in physical security and economic security. In this session we will highlight various cybersecurity and blockchain parameters of a smart city, existing cybersecurity challenges and possible solutions.

Dr. Jacob Mandel is The Moshe Hogeg Blockchain Research Institute managing director at the Tel Aviv University, and former the General Manager Cyber Security COE at Intel. He is a serial cyber security entrepreneur; He has been the CEO and Co-Founder of SCsquare Ltd., where he founded a business enabler for cybersecurity technologies. Dr. Jacob holds 16 approved patents in the area of cybersecurity. His career in cybersecurity over the past 20 years is a unique mixture of broad practical experience and research expertise. His practice included extensive involvement in cybersecurity offensive projects (software and hardware), business development and product management. Proven worldwide track records in secure operating systems, digital rights management, security certification (CC, FIPS), penetration test, reverses engineering, Machine Learning, Blockchain, IoT security and Smart Grid cybersecurity.

His current main research interest is on The Economic Perspective on Smart Grid Cybersecurity and Blockchain technology with a special focus on malware attacks, privacy issues and business continuation. He holds a PhD in Economics from Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

The post talk: Challenges of Smart Cities Cybersecurity and Privacy with Blockchain, 11am Thr 11/15 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Dr. Jacob Mendel, Tel Aviv University

11:00am Thursday, 15 November 2018, ITE 459, UMBC

The last decades have witnessed unprecedented population and urbanization growth with the implication that today, for the first time in human history, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities. The consequences of the cybersecurity threats of this urbanization trend along with the notion of smart cities are the main subject of this session. The smart city (system of systems) integrates Big-data and the Internet of Things (IoT) to optimize the operation cost, efficiency and to provide a better services to the residents. Smart cities worldwide are checking blockchain as the foundation for urban living. Using blockchain technology in smart city can create a marketplace for Smart Grid.

The increased complexity of smart cities (system of systems), globally connected, economic and political systems has increased the cybersecurity vulnerability. The cybersecurity threats get magnified by the city big-data and its dependency on the technology. The cybersecurity challenges that smart cities faces demand for research and investment in physical security and economic security. In this session we will highlight various cybersecurity and blockchain parameters of a smart city, existing cybersecurity challenges and possible solutions.

Dr. Jacob Mandel is The Moshe Hogeg Blockchain Research Institute managing director at the Tel Aviv University, and former the General Manager Cyber Security COE at Intel. He is a serial cyber security entrepreneur; He has been the CEO and Co-Founder of SCsquare Ltd., where he founded a business enabler for cybersecurity technologies. Dr. Jacob holds 16 approved patents in the area of cybersecurity. His career in cybersecurity over the past 20 years is a unique mixture of broad practical experience and research expertise. His practice included extensive involvement in cybersecurity offensive projects (software and hardware), business development and product management. Proven worldwide track records in secure operating systems, digital rights management, security certification (CC, FIPS), penetration test, reverses engineering, Machine Learning, Blockchain, IoT security and Smart Grid cybersecurity.

His current main research interest is on The Economic Perspective on Smart Grid Cybersecurity and Blockchain technology with a special focus on malware attacks, privacy issues and business continuation. He holds a PhD in Economics from Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

The post talk: Challenges of Smart Cities Cybersecurity and Privacy with Blockchain, 11am Thr 11/15 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

UMBC and Morgan Stanley have established a new partnership to support students and research in data-intensive computing fields. The collaboration is made possible by Morgan Stanley’s contribution of $125,000 toward several UMBC initiatives, renewable annually for up to four additional years.

The financial services firm will support scholarships for students in UMBC’s computer science programs who are doing research focused on data science related topics, to help meet increasing demand for skilled data professionals in Maryland and across the United States. UMBC’s Center of Accelerated Real Time Analytics will also receive funding from Morgan Stanley to support research addressing major data storage and analytics/machine learning  challenges by using next-generation hardware. Additionally, Morgan Stanley will continue to work with the UMBC Career Center as an employer partner, and leverage UMBC Training Centers for Morgan Stanley leadership and data science course training.

Reflecting on the new scholarship program in particular, Anupam Joshi, UMBC’s chair of computer science and electrical engineering, says, “We are excited to grow our collaboration with Morgan Stanley to prepare talented students for data-focused careers.”

Scholarships will be awarded through the newly established Data Science Scholarship Fund. UMBC faculty and staff will select student recipients based on academic achievement and a desire to do research in data science related areas.

The initial group of selected scholars has four women and four men. “Morgan Stanley already employs so many UMBC graduates and student interns,” says Joshi. “This scholarship fund further supports our shared commitment to developing a diverse talent pool for the future.”

“Training the next generation of data scientists and investing in data science research are both key to advancing technology innovation,” said Michael Wertheimer, Technology Managing Director at Morgan Stanley. “We are thrilled to support UMBC and look forward to welcoming UMBC graduates interested in joining Morgan Stanley.”

Scholarship recipients will also have the opportunity to meet with Morgan Stanley executives to network and learn about career pathways within the company, while taking courses at UMBC in topics such as computing principles, data analysis, machine learning, high performance computing, data management, and ethical and legal issues.

Banner image: Morgan Stanley scholarship recipients with Dr. Joshi in October 2018. From top left, Caroline Kery ’18, computer science and mathematics, and M.S. ’20, computer science; Kasra Darvish, Ph.D. ’24, computer science; and Nitu Choudhary, M.S. ’20, computer science. From middle left, Sandesh Timilsina, M.S. ’20, computer science; Devajit Asem, M.S. ’20, computer science; and Christian Angel Ph.D. ’24, computer science. From bottom left, Prachi Bhalerao, M.S. ’20, computer science, and Rebecca Brennan, M.S. ’20, computer science. Photo by Raquel Hamner ’21, visual arts.