The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab presents

Thinking Like an Attacker:
Towards a Definition and Non-Technical Assessment of Adversarial Thinking

Prof. Peter A. H. Peterson
Department of Computer Science
University of Minnesota Duluth

12:00–1:00 pm ET,  Friday, 30 April 2021
via WebEx

“Adversarial thinking” (AT), sometimes called the “security mindset” or described as the ability to “think like an attacker,” is widely accepted in the computer security community as an essential ability for successful cybersecurity practice. Supported by intuition and anecdotes, many in the community stress the importance of AT, and multiple projects have produced interventions explicitly intended to strengthen individual AT skills to improve security in general. However, there is no agreed-upon definition of “adversarial thinking” or its components, and accordingly, no test for it. Because of this absence, it is impossible to meaningfully quantify AT in subjects, AT’s importance for cybersecurity practitioners, or the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve AT. Working towards the goal of a characterization of AT in cybersecurity and a non-technical test for AT that anyone can take, I will discuss existing conceptions of AT from the security community, as well as ideas about AT in other fields with adversarial aspects including war, politics, law, critical thinking, and games. I will also describe some of the unique difficulties of creating a non-technical test for AT, compare and contrast this effort to our work on the CATS and Security Misconceptions projects, and describe some potential solutions. I will explore potential uses for such an instrument, including measuring a student’s change in AT over time, measuring the effectiveness of interventions meant to improve AT, comparing AT in different populations (e.g., security professionals vs. software engineers), and identifying individuals from all walks of life with strong AT skills—people who might help meet our world’s pressing need for skilled and insightful security professionals and researchers. Along the way, I will give some sample non-technical adversarial thinking challenges and describe how they might be graded and validated.

 Peter A. H. Peterson is an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he teaches and directs the Laboratory for Advanced Research in Systems (LARS), a group dedicated to research in operating systems and security, with a special focus on research and development to make security education more effective and accessible. He is an active member of the Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATS) project working to create and validate two concept inventories for cybersecurity, is working on an NSF-funded grant to identify and remediate commonsense misconceptions about cybersecurity, and is also the author of several hands-on security exercises for Deterlab that have been used at many institutions around the world. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles for work on “adaptive compression”—systems that make compression decisions dynamically to improve efficiency. He can be reached at *protected email*.

Host: Alan T. Sherman, *protected email* Support for this event was provided in part by the National Science Foundation under SFS grant DGE-1753681. The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab meets biweekly Fridays.  All meetings are open to the public. Upcoming CDL Meetings: May 7, Farid Javani (UMBC), Anonymization by oblivious transfer

The post talk: Thinking Like an Attacker: Towards a Definition and Non-Technical Assessment of Adversarial Thinking, 12-1pm ET 4/30 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

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The UMBC Center for Cybersecurity (UCYBR) & The Department of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering (CSEE) Present:

“Cyber Lessons, Learned and Unlearned”

Professor Eugene Spafford
Professor of Computer Science & Executive Director Emeritus of the Purdue CERIAS (Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security)
Purdue University

Tuesday 20 April 2021 1-2PM ET

WHERE
https://umbc.webex.com/umbc/j.php?MTID=m576a3dada9e0c63c07beb51fedbff3d1

Dr. Eugene Spafford is a professor with an appointment in Computer Science at Purdue University, where he has served on the faculty since 1987. He is also a professor of Philosophy (courtesy), a professor of Communication (courtesy), a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (courtesy) and a Professor of Political Science (courtesy). He serves on a number of advisory and editorial boards. Spafford’s current research interests are primarily in the areas of information security, computer crime investigation and information ethics. He is generally recognized as one of the senior leaders in the field of computing.

Among other things, Spaf (as he is known to his friends, colleagues, and students) is Executive Director Emeritus of the Purdue CERIAS (Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security), and was the founder and director of the (superseded) COAST Laboratory. He is Editor-on-Chief of the Elsevier journal Computers & Security, the oldest journal in the field of information security, and the official outlet of IFIP TC-11.

Spaf has been a student and researcher in computing for over 40 years, 35 of which have been in security-related areas. During that time, computing has evolved from mainframes to the Internet of Things. Of course, along with these changes in computing have been changes in technology, access, and both how we use and misuse computing resources. Who knows what the future holds?

In this UCYBR talk, Spaf will reflect upon this evolution and trends and discuss what he sees as significant “lessons learned” from history. Will we learn from our past? Or are we destined to repeat history (again!) and never break free from the many cybersecurity challenges that continue to impact our world? Join UCYBR and CSEE for an engaging and informative presentation from one of the most respected luminaries of the cybersecurity field!

More information about Spaf’s distinguished career in cybersecurity, his publications, talks, and more can be found at https://spaf.cerias.purdue.edu/.

Host: Dr. Richard Forno (*protected email*)

The post Talk: Cyber Lessons, Learned and Unlearned, 1-2 pm ET 4/20/21 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Four UMBC students have been named 2021-2022 Goldwater Scholars, setting a new university record for the most Retrievers to earn this prestigious undergraduate award in a single year. They are Joshua Slaughter ‘22, computer engineering; Kaitlynn Lilly ‘22, physics and mathematics; Gerson Kroiz ‘22, mathematics; and Karan Luthria ‘22, bioinformatics. 

The goal of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program is to provide the United States with “a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers” to move the nation forward. UMBC’s prior Goldwater Scholars, including Rhodes Scholar Naomi Mburu ‘18, chemical engineering, have gone on to top graduate programs and promising research careers.

That four UMBC students won awards, from over 1,250 STEM student applicants across the country is remarkable, notes April Householder’95, director of undergraduate research and prestigious scholarships at UMBC. “Winning the Goldwater means that Slaughter, Lilly, Kroiz, and Luthria join a legacy of scholars who have gone on to become this country’s leading scientists, engineers, and mathematicians,” she says. 

This is a repost on behalf of the Women’s Center. Original post can be found here.

The events, activism, discussions, support, and stories that stem from Sexual Assault Awareness Month are some of the Women’s Center’s most significant and special. Take Back the Night (TBTN) is one of the largest events the Women's Center hosts every year. To honor this special event that centers survivors stories and healing and invites our community to dismantle rape culture, we created a virtual TBTN experience.

We invite our community to visit this platform and engage in the visual and audio content. Spend time alone or with others sitting with the reflection questions and action items. Share your thoughts on social media using #UMBCtbtn.

Join the Women's Center on April 20th at 4pm to be in community as we experience virtual TBTN 2021 together!

Thank you to the student who shared their voices to make the experience a richer and deeper experience for the UMBC community. Special thanks to OIA staff, Bryan Barnes and Kevin McGuire, who took a glimmer of idea and turned it into a reality.

To learn more about UMBC's Sexual Assault Awareness Month programming and resources, visit our SAAM 2021 myUMBC post.