UMBC Cyber Defense Lab presents

Usable String Matching by Humans through Overlaid Presentation: Turning Syntactic Tasks into Perceptual Tasks

12:00–1pm, Friday, October 31, 2025 via WebEx

Alan T. Sherman, CSEE Department, UMBC

Joint work with Enka Blanchard, Ted Selker, Ryan Robucci, Levi Gabasova, and Mehdi Bouhamidi

Comparing two strings of characters is a basic activity that occurs in innocuous contexts (checking that an email address was entered correctly) and critical ones (from bank wire transfers to nuclear codes), where it is not always possible to trust a machine to perform the task. Because human performance on this task has received limited attention, we explore the limits and capabilities of humans to compare strings when presented in various formats. I am especially motivated by the important application of checking audit data in end-to-end voting systems including Scantegrity.

We present results from two online experiments with a total of 178 human subjects who compared pairs of text strings to determine for each pair whether the two strings are identical. Each subject was asked to complete 20 trials, which presented strings of 5, 10, or 15 characters or short nonsense sentences. For each pair, the strings were either identical or differed by one character (randomly changed or changed to be difficult to detect).

Our main insight was to check the difference between strings shown side by side, or overlaid in two colors.  Our hypothesis is that, by turning complex syntactic tasks into simple perceptual tasks, such overlay formats can offer advantages in speed and accuracy in comparison with simple side-by-side presentations. Results show that, in comparison with side-by-side comparison, overlay offers a substantially faster method, with substantially improved accuracy for long strings, which has many applications including comparing fingerprints of cryptographic keys and establishing authenticity of authorization tickets.

Our work lays a foundation on which other new perceptual string-comparison strategies can be explored, such as using reflection to compare a string presented on a smartphone with one on a computer display monitor.

Dr. Alan T. Sherman is a professor of computer science at UMBC in the CSEE Department, associate director of UMBC's Cybersecurity Institute, and director of the Cyber Defense Lab.  His main research interest is high-integrity voting systems. He has carried out research in election systems, protocol analysis, algorithm design, cryptanalysis, theoretical foundations for cryptography, applications of cryptography, cloud forensics, and cybersecurity education. Dr. Sherman is also a private consultant performing security analyses and serving as an expert witness. Sherman earned the PhD degree in computer science at MIT in 1987 studying under Ronald L. Rivest.  His research accomplishments include contributions to the Scantegrity and VoteXX election systems and development and validation of the Cybersecurity Concept Inventory (CCI) and Cybersecurity Curriculum Assessment (CCA). This work has been presented at USENIX Security 2010 and E-VOTE-ID 2025, and won best research paper at SIGSCE 2023. Sherman received approximately $15 million in funding from NSF, NSA, and IBM.

Support for this event was provided in part by the NSF under SFS grants DGE-1753681 and 2438185. The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab meets biweekly Fridays 12-1pm.  All meetings are open to the public.

GSA is looking for two dedicated graduate students to co-chair the Elections Committee and oversee the 2026–2027 GSA elections. This is a great leadership opportunity—especially for those graduating in 2026!

Eligibility:

• One co-chair must be a current GSA Senator or Executive Council member.
• One co-chair must be a graduate student not currently serving as a GSA officer, senator, or committee chair.
  Note: Serving on this committee means you cannot run for any other GSA positions in Spring 2026.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee all aspects of the election process.
• Establish and review election policies and eligibility criteria.
• Vet candidates and resolve election-related concerns.
• Ensure transparent publication of results.

Commitment:

• Start: November 15, 2025 | End: April 2026
• ~5 hours/week, including meetings every Tuesday (11 AM–12 PM, Commons 229) and 2nd Wednesday of each month (1–3 PM).
• Includes a stipend for your service.

Timeline:

• Q&A of Shortlisted Candidates: November 11, 2025
• Senate Vote Results: November 12, 2025
• Committee Formation: November 25, 2025
• Elections for GSA 2026-2027 Begin: February 2, 2026
• GSA 2026-2027 Election Results: First week of April 2026

How to Nominate Yourself: SELF NOMINATIONS ONLY
Submit your name, student ID, headshot, short bio (250 words), and statement of interest (500 words) by Wednesday, November 5, 2025, using the link below:
Nomination Form

You must be logged into your UMBC account to access the form.

 For any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out at gsapresident@umbc.edu

Rishi Nixon, a senior biological sciences major and member of the Honors College, brings a kaleidoscope of interests and skills to his time at UMBC after transferring from Montgomery College. He’s been a performing storyteller for more than 10 years, originally with his 4-H youth club and now independently. Nixon conducts research on Parkinson’s disease at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and plans to pursue a medical degree after UMBC.  

Q: Tell us about someone in the UMBC community who has inspired or supported you.

A: Meeting Kendyl Walker, my honors college advisor, on my first day of classes made UMBC feel like home. Especially coming into this new environment after leaving my community college—she met me where I was on day one and continues to make me feel supported every time we meet. 

Q: Tell us about what you love about your academic program or an organization you’re involved in.

A: My honors college seminar on race, poverty, and gender in Baltimore, taught by Dr. Jodi Kelber-Kaye (“Dr. K.”) opened my eyes to issues facing the city and was one of my most impactful UMBC courses. It helped cut through the ways the city is sometimes talked about in Maryland politics, emphasizing the importance of funding programs that help lift up Baltimore. 

This past summer, I had the opportunity to complete a second seminar with Dr. K: an applied community service experience at a nonprofit organization in the city called Moveable Feast, which helps deliver medically-tailored meals to Baltimore residents experiencing food insecurity.

In August 2025, I engaged with the city for the first time in my capacity as a performing storyteller. I performed at the Irvington Peace Park for an annual summer camp organized by Cynthia Wagner, teaching professor in biological sciences, for youth who live in her West Baltimore community. The peace park—a beautiful space built by community members from clearing a vacant lot—was a magical site for the camp, and the kids were a wonderful audience.

Photo right: Rishi Nixon at the National Storytelling Conference in Georgia with the vice chair and vice chair-elect of the board of the National Storytelling Network.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about it?

A: Something Dr. K. said once sums it up: “UMBC is a small town.” I see UMBC as a really welcoming place for students who are comfortable leaning on their advisors, mentors, and supporters. It’s very comforting to see faces you recognize each day all over “town.”

Q: What brought you to UMBC? 

A: I came to UMBC because of its excellent reputation for undergraduate teaching and scientific research opportunities, but also to maintain the small-town feeling and one-on-one learning I received at Montgomery College.

Now that I’m here, UMBC’s research reputation has proven true. I’ve conducted research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and also in my coursework. At UMSOM, I study a neuron protein called proSAAS that helps unclump misfolded proteins in the brain that are responsible for neuron death in Parkinson’s disease. 

And in my Experimental Biology Lab course, taught by Dr. Tracy Smith, associate teaching professor in biological sciences, I got to participate in ecological research. We visited on-campus sections of the West Branch of Herbert Run to measure the diversity of macroinvertebrates (e.g. fly larvae, water beetles, etc.). We collected them from the stream bed, logged their abundance and the number of types of organisms, and drew a conclusion about the stream’s overall health and pollution levels based on an index of biodiversity levels associated with different degrees of stream health. 

Our calculations determined that the stream is very healthy, which is probably a result of UMBC and the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund investing in restoring the streams. In fact, the most abundant species of macroinvertebrate we found (damselfly larvae), are actually sensitive to pollutants, yet they were thriving in campus streams when we surveyed in September 2025.

Q: How has UMBC supported your “why”? 

A: UMBC’s Honors College has been core to supporting my “why.” They have been huge supporters in connecting me with opportunities for research, and their seminars are excellent for deep one-on-one learning in very niche areas (e.g., Dr. K. and Baltimore). It’s hard for me to imagine my UMBC experience without the Honors College. Its staff and programming helped deepen my existing interests, including pursuing service in Baltimore after my coursework on the city and taking a seminar in neuroscience after conducting research in neurobiology.

Q: What would you tell other transfer students about UMBC?

A: I would encourage other transfer students to apply to the Honors College—I think the small class sizes and the one-on-one advising preserve a similar experience at community colleges. I am also very grateful that UMBC is able to provide generous merit scholarships to support transfer students coming from honors programs at Maryland community colleges.

Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a five-day immersive learning experience for UMBC undergraduate and graduate students to explore the systemic and human dimensions of complex social issues in Baltimore. Participants will spend much of the week in Baltimore City connecting with local leaders, policymakers, organizations, and community members, to gain a nuanced understanding of the resources and challenges related to their topic areas. The program supports students in linking their knowledge and interests to local contexts, and in identifying pathways for long-term community engagement.

This year's ASB program will take place from Monday, March 16 to Friday, March 20, 2026. Participants spend much of the week in small groups, each co-led by UMBC students trained by the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, exploring a specific topic in depth. 

This year's focus areas are:

• Housing Equity and Access
• Justice in Psychiatric Care
• Fostering LGBT+ Belonging in Schools

Complete the ASB 2026 application by December 19, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Accepted and waitlisted applicants will be notified via email in late January.

ASB is hosted by the Center for Democracy and Civic Life. More information is available on the the Center for Democracy and Civic Life website.

ASB is open for full participation by all undergraduate and graduate students regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) is offering 5 free tickets to current UMBC pre-law students to attend their "Celebrate Pro Bono 2025" event.

Join Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) at The Factory, a West Baltimore Opportunity Center, in one of the communities MVLS serves to recognize the remarkable impact of pro bono volunteers and community partners whose commitment to pro bono inspires us and changed the lives of Marylanders in 2025!

This is an excellent networking opportunity.

Date: Thursday, October 30, 2025

Time: 6:30–9:00 pm

Location: The Factory, 5 N Calhoun St., Baltimore, MD

Note: Students will be responsible for their own transportation to and from the event.

The Stage Supervisor manages stage operations and supervises the run crew during all technical rehearsals, previews, and performances. They are a critical member of the production department who primarily works with Stage and Production Management to maintain a safe and productive environment backstage. The Stage Supervisor reports to the Production Manager and Technical Director and will be assigned stagehand responsibilities for 6 shows per season. As the lead member of the run-crew, they coordinate stage operations in cooperation with Stage Management.