Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Making Physical Inferences to Enhance Wireless Security

Prof. Jie Yang, Oakland University

1:00pm Tuesday, 8 April 2014, ITE 325b

The ubiquity of wireless is redefining security challenges as the increasingly pervasive wireless networks make it easier to conduct attacks for new and rapidly evolving adversaries. There is an urgent need to seek security solutions that can be built into any wireless network stack to defend against attacks across the current heterogeneous mix of wireless technologies, which do not require extensive customization on wireless devices and cannot be undermined easily even when nodes are compromised. In particular, security solutions that are generic across all wireless technologies and can complement conventional security methods must be devised. My research efforts are centered around exploiting physical properties correlated with pervasive wireless environments to enhance wireless security and make inferences for context-aware applications. In this talk, I will present my research work in exploiting spatial correlation as a unique physical property inherited from any wireless device to address identity-based attacks including both spoofing and Sybil. These attacks are especially harmful as the claimed identity of a wireless device is often considered as an important first step in an adversary’s attempt to launch a variety of attacks in different network layers.

Our proposed techniques address several challenges include (1) detecting identity-based attacks in challenging mobile environments, (2) determining the number of attackers, and (3) localizing multiple adversaries. I will also present our work in secret key generation for facilitating secure data communication in the increasing dynamic wireless environments. Our work addressed the problem of collaborative secret key extraction for a group of wireless devices without relying on a key distribution infrastructure. Moreover, in order to provide efficient secret key generation, we exploit fine-grained physical layer information, such as the channel state information made available from OFDM system, to improve the secret key generation rate and make the secret key extraction approach more practical.

Jie Yang received his Ph.D. degree in Computer Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2011. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Oakland University. His research interests include cyber security and privacy, and mobile and pervasive computing, with an emphasis on network security, smartphone security and applications, security in cognitive radio and smart grid, location systems and vehicular applications. His research is supported by National Science Foundation and Army Research Office. He is the recipient of the Best Paper Runner-up Award from IEEE Conference on Communications and Network Security 2013 and the Best Paper Award from ACM MobiCom 2011. His research has received wide press coverage including MIT Technology Review, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, CNET News, and Yahoo News.

Hosts: Nilanjan Banerjee and Tim Finin

The UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program is offering the following courses over the Summer 2014 session.

Each class will meet one or two days a week in the late afternoon or evening, depending on the length of the session where the course is offered.

• CYBR 620: Introduction to Cybersecurity (Parr)
  T/TH 6-8:45PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
• CYBR 691:  Special Topics in Cybersecurity: “Software Security” (Coman)
  M/W 7:10-9:40PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
  Pre-Req: CYBR 620 or equivalent

Offered to students enrolled at the Universities at Shady Grove campus ONLY

• CYBR 691: Special Topics in Cybersecurity: “Cybersecurity Risk Management” (Shariati)
  M/W 7:10-9:40PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
  PreReq: CYBR 620 and enrollment at the Universities at Shady Grove

The deadline to apply for Fall 2014 admission to the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program is August 1, 2014.

The UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program is offering the following courses over the Summer 2014 session.

Each class will meet one or two days a week in the late afternoon or evening, depending on the length of the session where the course is offered.

• CYBR 620: Introduction to Cybersecurity (Parr)
  T/TH 6-8:45PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
• CYBR 691:  Special Topics in Cybersecurity: “Software Security” (Coman)
  M/W 7:10-9:40PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
  Pre-Req: CYBR 620 or equivalent

Offered to students enrolled at the Universities at Shady Grove campus ONLY

• CYBR 691: Special Topics in Cybersecurity: “Cybersecurity Risk Management” (Shariati)
  M/W 7:10-9:40PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
  PreReq: CYBR 620 and enrollment at the Universities at Shady Grove

The deadline to apply for Fall 2014 admission to the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program is August 1, 2014.

The UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program is offering the following courses over the Summer 2014 session.

Each class will meet one or two days a week in the late afternoon or evening, depending on the length of the session where the course is offered.

• CYBR 620: Introduction to Cybersecurity (Parr)
  T/TH 6-8:45PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
• CYBR 691:  Special Topics in Cybersecurity: “Software Security” (Coman)
  M/W 7:10-9:40PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
  Pre-Req: CYBR 620 or equivalent

Offered to students enrolled at the Universities at Shady Grove campus ONLY

• CYBR 691: Special Topics in Cybersecurity: “Cybersecurity Risk Management” (Shariati)
  M/W 7:10-9:40PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
  PreReq: CYBR 620 and enrollment at the Universities at Shady Grove

The deadline to apply for Fall 2014 admission to the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program is August 1, 2014.

The UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program is offering the following courses over the Summer 2014 session.

Each class will meet one or two days a week in the late afternoon or evening, depending on the length of the session where the course is offered.

• CYBR 620: Introduction to Cybersecurity (Parr)
  T/TH 6-8:45PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
• CYBR 691:  Special Topics in Cybersecurity: “Software Security” (Coman)
  M/W 7:10-9:40PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
  Pre-Req: CYBR 620 or equivalent

Offered to students enrolled at the Universities at Shady Grove campus ONLY

• CYBR 691: Special Topics in Cybersecurity: “Cybersecurity Risk Management” (Shariati)
  M/W 7:10-9:40PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
  PreReq: CYBR 620 and enrollment at the Universities at Shady Grove

The deadline to apply for Fall 2014 admission to the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program is August 1, 2014.

The UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program is offering the following courses over the Summer 2014 session.

Each class will meet one or two days a week in the late afternoon or evening, depending on the length of the session where the course is offered.

• CYBR 620: Introduction to Cybersecurity (Parr)
  T/TH 6-8:45PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
• CYBR 691:  Special Topics in Cybersecurity: “Software Security” (Coman)
  M/W 7:10-9:40PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
  Pre-Req: CYBR 620 or equivalent

Offered to students enrolled at the Universities at Shady Grove campus ONLY

• CYBR 691: Special Topics in Cybersecurity: “Cybersecurity Risk Management” (Shariati)
  M/W 7:10-9:40PM
  Summer I (6 weeks) May 27th-July 3rd, 2014
  PreReq: CYBR 620 and enrollment at the Universities at Shady Grove

The deadline to apply for Fall 2014 admission to the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program is August 1, 2014.

The most challenging part about this research was creating my own reading list and preparing for the archaeological excavation. I plan to have a future career in archaeology and so the field work was the easy part for me, it was the reviewing and reading beforehand that was difficult because there would be times that I would not be sure if I was reading the best sources or understanding the core concepts of what I should be learning and how to connect it to the archaeology. Once I arrived in Romania and I ventured through the capital, Bucharest, I saw a great deal of Roman presence through archaeological artifacts in the Bucharest Museum and this was a pivotal moment for me when my readings and preparation fused with the Roman archaeology and it proved crucial for my own Mithraeum project.

Read about her research here...

Maryland Department of Planning
Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum

* * * NEWS RELEASE * * *

FOR MORE INFORMATION:  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Kate Dinnel, 410-586-8538                                                            March 31, 2014

Education

Discovering Archaeology Day at JPPM!

St. Leonard- April is Maryland Archaeology Month…how will you celebrate?  Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum's first event of the season is Discovering Archaeology Day, which is held on Saturday, April 19 from 10AM – 5PM.  This event is free and all ages are welcome.  JPPM is home to approximately 70 identified archaeological sites and is the site of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory or MAC Lab for short. 

The day will consist of tours of the MAC Lab and visits to the ongoing excavation of an 18^th century plantation.  Both the JPPM's FAQ Archaeology and War of 1812 exhibits will be open throughout the day.  Also enjoy displays, games and activities presented by professional archaeologists from throughout Maryland.  Ask questions, participate in hands on activities and learn about this exciting field! 

Ride our solar powered bus or take a walk to the Indian Village to enjoy demonstrations and activities.  Do you have a historical item you know little about?  Bring it to the Artifact ID table where a professional will look at it.  Food and beverages will be available for purchase. 

Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum, a state museum of archaeology and home to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, is a program of the Maryland Historical Trust, a division of the Maryland Department of Planning.  It is located on 560 scenic acres along the Patuxent River and the St. Leonard Creek in St. Leonard, Calvert County, Maryland.  For more information, call 410-586-8501 or visit www.jefpat.org.

DiscoveringArchaeologyDayatJPPM4.pdf

Computer Engineering graduate student Alexander Nelson received an honorable mention for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate fellowship. Alex’s research is focused on developing innovative cyber-physical systems that can dramatically improve a person’s standard of living in an impactful way. His current and past projects have involved emergency communications, assistive devices and home automation.

His prior research in assistive devices has gained acceptance to the 2013 IEEE Sensors Conference and 2013 Real Time Systems Symposium and contributed to a Microsoft Software Engineering Innovation Foundation award. His current research gained acceptance to a Works-in-Progress session at the 2013 Real Time Systems Symposium. His research co-mentors are Professors Nilanjan Banerjee and Ryan Robucci.

The NSF honorable mention designation is considered a significant national academic achievement and provides access to cyberinfrastructure resources through NSF’s Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) computing infrastruture. XSEDE is the most advanced, powerful, and robust collection of integrated advanced digital resources and services in the world. It is a single virtual system that scientists can use to interactively share computing resources, data, and expertise.