This proposal provides funding for the third GREPSEC: Underrepresented Groups in Security Research workshop, which will held in May 2017, in San Jose CA. This day-and-a-half-long workshop intended for women and underrepresented minorities in computer security and privacy, will be co-located with the IEEE Computer Society's Security and Privacy Symposium, the premier conference in security.
The broad goal of the workshop is to increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities in computer security research. Security is a wide field, encompassing network security, operating system security, language-based security, forensics, privacy, as well as legal and policy issues. The goal of the organizers is to encourage Ph.D. students who are female and from underrepresented groups to choose security as their field of specialization. Their approach is to show the wide range of problems within the field and how women and underrepresented groups are working towards solving those problems.
Ms. Benzel is the Director of the Networking and Cybersecurity Division at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute. She manages all aspects of the technical research division, acts as a spokesperson in representing projects to funding agencies, and is responsible for the strategic and technical direction of the division. She has a Masters Degree in Mathematics, from Boston University and an Executive MBA from UCLA. Her research interests are in the science of cyber security experimentation and next generation distributed experimentation methodologies. Ms. Benzel is a member of the NSF CISE Advisory Committee, the NSF CISE Committee of Visitors, Sandia National Labs SECURE External Advisory Board, NSF FABRIC Advisory Committee and a member of several private boards. She has testified twice before the U.S. House Committee on Science.
Ms. Benzel has long been involved in IEEE Computer Society Conferences and publications. She was the Vice Chair and Chair of the IEEE Computer Society TC on Security and Privacy from 1992 - 1995 and Treasurer from 2009 - 2012. She served on the organizing committees of the IEEE Security and Privacy (S&P) Conferences since 1988. She has been an Associate Editor-in-Chief for IEEE Security and Privacy Magazine since 2009. As a senior member of the editorial board she is responsible for curating special issues highlighting the IEEE Computer Society Conferences including the S&P Conference, the SPW Workshops and the European S&P Conference.
Ms. Benzel was recently elevated to Senior Member standing in the IEEE Computer Society and has received awards and recognition from DHS, USC, and the IEEE Computer Society for Outstanding Community Service and Continuing Service.
Ms. Benzel is one of the founders of the GREPSEC Workshop for women in computer security research, held in conjunction with the IEEE S&P. She has been a senior manager in both industry (VP at McAfee) and academic positions and is a champion for diversity.
GREPSEC III: Underrepresented Groups in Security Research