cybersecurity – Page 4 – Seidenberg School News

Alumnus David Kelly speaks at Big Data Innovator Series

November is Big Data month, and we’ve been working hard to demonstrate how important (and cool) big data is in many ways – one of which is the Big Data Innovator Series taking place here at Seidenberg.

The series is a collection of talks and interviews with Seidenberg alumni who work with big data. There are three talks – two in November and one in December – and we strongly encourage our students to attend!

The first event took place on Wednesday November 9^th in the Seidenberg Lounge at 163 William St. The speaker was David Kelly (MS Information Systems ’94), and he spoke to an incredible turnout of 120 students! David is the CIO and co-chief operating officer at Pine River Capital Management, so he had a lot of great advice to share with our students interested in going into the financial world.

In an interview with Seidenberg Dean Jonathan Hill, David spoke about his career, things he had learned, and what he looked for when interviewing candidates for a particular job. “I’m going to assume you know how to code,” he said about his expectations of potential employees. “Going to school in lower Manhattan also shows that you’ve got character.”

He added that internships and travel, particularly international travel, were all good signs, and that if a student has “a cool and unique background . . . the interviewer will like finding a connection.”

One of David’s most important pieces of advice to students was showing a willingness to work hard and to learn, even if you are asked to do something that you don’t know or that isn’t included in your job description. “Show willingness to do what you’re asked to do,” he said.

“Be flexible. Do as they ask you to do. Over time you become regarded as a well-rounded person. Don’t have a deterministic view of what your job should be. Don’t be religious with technology – there’s a classic trick question we like to use: do you prefer using Lotus 1-2-3 or Excel? The correct answer is that it doesn’t matter – if you’re religious about one type of technology, it can hinder you.”

David also had some insights into the big data and cybersecurity fields, saying that the job prospects in cybersecurity were going to be just as good in 2019 as they are now.

“I think they are converging,” David said of big data and cybersecurity. “A lot of security solutions are out there . . . but how do you stitch all of these different solutions together? Real time analysis – that’s where big data comes in.”

We really enjoyed having David visit for our Big Data Innovator Series and would like to extend a big thank you to David and to organizer Deth Sao.

Next up is Jason Molfetas, the CIO of Amtrak!

Student post: East Coast Cyberattack poses the question: Are we truly safe?

On Friday October 21st, at around 7:10am EST, many internet users from all over the country lost connection to many commonly used sites in an attack that rippled across the country from east to west. The company was able to restore service a few hours later but then had to shut down at around noon. By this time, the hackers had started to make their journey to the West coast.

What happened? There was a huge attack on one major provider of the Domain Name System, Dyn Inc., which resulted in them taking down a few popular sites such as Netflix and Spotify (to name a few). Oh the horror!!!!

Kyle York, who is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of Dyn, said the hackers launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack using tons of malware – infected devices connected to the internet. According to their records, this is the third attack they have experienced this year.

A DDoS can be achieved in a number of ways, but usually involves a distributed network of “zombie” machines, referred to as botnets. A botnet is formed with computers and other connected devices in homes or offices infected with vicious code which, upon a hacker’s request, can take over a web server with data. One or two machines wouldn’t be an issue, but if tens or hundreds of thousands fire such data simultaneously, it can impair even the best of web servers.

By Friday evening, the attacks were stopped and all was right in the world again.

Unfortunately, security professionals are anticipating more cyber attacks centered around the Internet of Things (IoT). This assumption was made after a hacker released a software code that powers the malware, called Mirai, just a few weeks prior.

“I have never seen severity this big, impacting so many sites and lasting over such a prolonged period of time,” said Dave Anderson, the vice president of marketing at Dynatrace LLC. “It just shows how vulnerable and interconnected the world is, and when something happens in one region, it impacts every other region.”

Cybersecurity is an ever growing concern across the globe. As hackers become more and more sophisticated, they constantly change their tactics to overcome security measures in place by companies and organizations. This causes an issue where cybersecurity professionals are forced to respond to attacks as they happen rather than prevent them entirely – no matter what security measures are in place, dedicated hackers are focused on finding a way to beat the ‘challenge’. As a result, the cybersecurity industry is constantly on the look out for talented professionals.

Seidenberg hosts cybersecurity programs for high school teachers and students

Recently, the Seidenberg School welcomed teachers and high school students from 10 states for free training as part of an NSA grant to promote K-12 cybersecurity education.

The programs invited participants to visit Pace University’s Pleasantville campus for a week of cybersecurity education training. 25 high school teachers attended the first session, and 30 high school students the second. Since there’s plenty to cover, this post is all about the GenCyber teachers’ workshop and you’ll just have to wait for the next post to hear about Camp Cyberbot!

“The GenCyber summer programs aim to train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals by preparing our educators and by getting young students interested in the cybersecurity area, which is one of strengths of the Seidenberg School at Pace University,” said Professor Li-Chiou Chen, the principal investigator of the project.

One of the attendees, Nathan VanDyke, a high school math and computer science teacher from Minnesota, said: “This is really a whole new world for us. Cybersecurity will be a major area of study and we need to prepare our students for this field.’’

VanDyke was one of 25 high school teachers from 10 states who were at Pace University from July 14-22 to attend a program at the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. The school is the only one in the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) to host the teachers’ cybercamp as a part of the national GenCyber program funded by the National Security Agency to promote cybersecurity education at the K-to-12 level.

Teachers were introduced to Raspberry Pi, a tiny, inexpensive computer that makes it easier to teach computing concepts, such as encryption and programming in the classroom.

After the GenCyber workshop’s conclusion, participants were awarded with certificates of completion.

Next post, we’re talking about the second session, Camp Cyberbot, which saw high school students building underwater SeaPerch robots and testing them in the PLV campus pond!

Seidenberg professors organize IEEE CSCloud/SSC 2016 in Beijing, China

Dr. Meikang Qiu of the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems recently organized two conferences that were held in Beijing, China.

Prof. Qiu deliveries “Certificate of Appreciation” to Ohio State University Prof. Xiaodong Zhang — Prof. Qiu presents “Certificate of Appreciation” to Ohio State University Prof. Xiaodong Zhang

The 3^rd annual IEEE International Conference on Cybersecurity and Cloud Computing and the 2^nd annual IEEE International Conference of Scalable and Smart Cloud (SSC 2016) took place on June 25-27 at at Beihang University in China.

This academic event is a great gathering for scholars and professionals in the fields of cybersecurity, cloud computing, and smart computing. More than 60 delegates attended from more than 10 countries.

Professor Qiu served as the General Chair for both conferences, and also gave a talk entitled Proactive User-Centric Attribute-Based Semantic Access Control for a Mobile Cloud.

Prof. Qiu deliveries “Certificate of Appreciation” to Princeton University Prof. Sun-Yuan Kung — Prof. Qiu presents “Certificate of Appreciation” to Princeton University Prof. Sun-Yuan Kung

Dr. Lixin Tao, the Chair of the Computer Science Department (PLV) also attended the conference. Seidenberg faculty and PhD and DPS students at Seidenberg presented their recent research work, including 14 conference papers.

World famous professors Sun-Yuan Kung (Princeton University, IEEE Fellow) and Xiaodong Zhang (Ohio State University, IEEE/ACM Fellow) also exciting keynotes on Cloud Computing and Big Data.

Pace University was a major sponsor of the conference – and we are already looking forward to next year!

Seidenberg hits the 2016 Women in Cybersecurity Conference

As a student in the Seidenberg School you have ample opportunities for professional and personal development, and adventure! Along these lines, a Seidenberg team attended the 2016 Women in Cybersecurity Conference (WiCyS) in Dallas, TX last week. The team, comprised of amazing students pursuing degrees with a cybersecurity focus, included Alexa Piccoli (MS/CS’16), Norissa Lamaute (MS/CS’17), Siobhan Kiernan (BS/IT’17) and Adriana Aluia (BS/IT’18). In addition, the team also included Lindsay Peckham (AAS/Cybersecurity’17) and Sara DaCosta (AAS/Cybersecurity’18) from Westchester Community College, a Pace Cybersecurity Academic partner.

Not only are women underrepresented in the IT field, but a report sponsored by ISC2 and Booz Allen Hamilton found that in 2013 women made up just 11 percent of global cybersecurity workforce and only nine percent were in senior leadership roles. It is in this context that WiCyS aims to bring together female students, faculty, researchers, and professionals in cybersecurity for knowledge sharing, networking and mentoring. The conference aims to raise awareness about the importance and nature of cybersecurity careers and to generate interest among students to consider cybersecurity as a viable career option.

From left to right: Lindsay Peckham, Alexa Piccoli, Sara DaCosta, Andrea Wright (Bank of America) Adriana Aluia, Siobhan Kiernan, and Norissa Lamaute

2016 WiCyS had great energy and blended both academic and professional speakers and content. The conference gathered more than 700 attendees! The tech talks included reverse engineering, cyber criminology, perspectives on research, exploit development, cyber-physical system security. Other professional talks covered tools and strategies for education as well as workshops oriented toward specific career tracks in cyber security. A job fair with over 30 prominent employers and numerous “networking socials” provided students with the opportunity to learn specifics about the skills in need in the industry, and in many cases get job offers on the spot.

Here is what the some of the participants had to say about the conference experience:

One take away from the WiCyS conference was the ample opportunity and support for women in cybersecurity. While the statistic showcase the dramatic lack of women in this field, it felt great to be in a place where women in cyber were encouraged to do great things. I really enjoyed the key note speakers from various top companies and felt empowered and driven to one day be at the level they are at. I got to meet many academics and professionals who offered guidance and reassurance that this is what I want to do as a lifelong career. I learned that it is okay to feel confused at times, and that if you keep working hard, you can reach your goals. I was inspired to take on new opportunities and dig deeper into my school work and cyber related topics.

Alexa Piccoli (MS/CS’16)

Lindsay Peckham (AAS/Cybersecurity ‘17, Westchester Community College): There were so many inspiring moments that it’s difficult to choose only one so I would love to share two items that have stuck with me since returning home.

First, the field of cyber security offers everything I desire in a career: technology, cutting-edge ideas, innovations and helping others but there are many specialties within the field that I had to be exposed to and barely understood in the real-world sense. Personally, the conference offered me a way to navigate the many career opportunities in this field. Through anecdotes, insightful speeches, networking opportunities and plentiful resources, I spent nearly 3 days putting myself in the shoes of others and thinking about how that career specialty may suit me in the future.

Second, one of my hopes for attending WiCyS was to learn about what other schools are doing for their cyber security clubs. It’s been one of my passions at WCC to improve and grow our club in meaningful and exciting ways. Attending the “CyberSecurity Club: 101 from Inception to Installment and Beyond” workshop gave me an opportunity to see what other colleges, both community and university, are doing in their clubs. […] I am very excited for 2016-2017 school year because I think some really neat changes are going to be made!

Many thanks to Dr. Li-Chiou Chen and Andreea Cotoranu for making this experience possible!

Are you working on cybersecurity related projects and have an interest in attending the next edition of WiCyS? Submit a research poster or just apply for a scholarship to attend the conference! Contact Andreea Cotoranu for questions related to future participation in this event.

Interested in learning more about cybersecurity? No problem! The Seidenberg School invites you to take cybersecurity courses, join the Pace Cyber Team, or apply for the CyberCorps scholarship program!

Introducing the 2016 Pace Cyber Team

Who’s that?

Let us introduce you to the 2016 Pace Cyber Team! From left to right, back row first: Benjamin Longobardi, Kenneth Almodovar, Gabriel Rivera, Joel Thomas, Norissa Lamaute, Mario Pichardo, and Jordan Adelman. In the front row: Joseph Glasser, Carlo Clarke, and Alexa Piccoli

These cybersecurity enthusiasts trained assiduously throughout the fall semester in preparation to compete in the Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NECCDC). The competition season started with a qualifier aiming to place the team for the regional event. Unfortunately, in spite of obtaining a qualifying score in the virtual qualifier, the team could not proceed to the regionals.

Wait… what happened?

Well, it was all Jonas’ fault! Don’t worry, Jonas is not one of the team members, but the snow storm that blasted our region on January 23, 2016. It was Jonas who forced these warriors to compete in their PJs from the comfort of their homes, rather than from their cyber den on the Pleasantville campus (aka Security Lab). We know, we know, the event was virtual, so why did this matter? Well, the game requires that the team be in one location, and their performance be observed by competition officials who ensure all rules are abided by.

Thanks a lot, Jonas!

What is CDCC?

For those not familiar with the event, CCDC is a highly regarded security competition with tiers at the state, regional, and national level. The competition challenges students to practice both their technical and business skills. Student teams are engaged in the process of securing and managing a small business network, which includes maintaining a set of critical services and responding to business requests (injects), all while defending against a “red team” attacking the network. Critical services include e-mail server, e-commerce site, DNS, etc. Examples of injects from this year’s competition include performing host vulnerability assessment and hardening, monitoring web site integrity, performing an assessment of external services, configuring NTP and a centralized logging service, and identifying and reporting on network attacks to name a few.

That sounds awesome, how do I join?

You’d be more than welcome to take part! Team training continues throughout the spring semester, primarily on weekends. The team meets in the Security Lab on the Pleasantville campus. Students interested in joining the team should reach out to Andreea Cotoranu at acotoranu@pace.edu – all skill levels are welcome!

And it’s all thanks to…

The Pace Cyber Team is supported by Dr. Li-Chiou Chen, Professor and Chair of the IT Department (WEST), and is coached by Professor Andreea Cotoranu and graduate assistant, Joseph Glasser.