KU SoS Lablet Quarterly Executive Summary - April 2019

A. Fundamental Research
The University of Kansas Lablet continued work on four projects on resliency, IoT and cloud privacy, preventing side channel communication, and developing semantics and infrastructure for trust and initiated a fifth project on secure native binary execution.  Specifically, we are: (i) developing a method to enable cloud-assisted, privacy-preserving machine learning classification over encrypted data for IoT devices; (ii) reducing micro-architectural side-channels by introducing new OS abstractions while minimally modifying micro-architecture and OS; (iii) developing an epistemology and ontology for framing resilience; (iv) formalizing the remote attestation and defining sufficiency and soundness; and (v) developing a framework for client-side security assessment and enforcement for COTS software.  As described in full reports for each project we are making progress on research goals including publications.

B. Community Engagement(s)

We participated in HoTSoS'19 presenting two papers. Two of our PIs and four students attended the conference and two KU researchers were on the program committee.

We continue preparations for the Computational Methods and the Future of Science (https://cps-vo.org/group/CMFS) conference in support of our resilience effort.  CMFS will be supported on the KU campus by our Labet and feature keynotes and technical presentations focusing on the intersection of science and computation.

KU will host the Summer 2019 Lablet PI meeting July 9-10.  The venue is set and the program is being developed focusing on cyber-physical systems.  The KU Lablet Industrial Advisory Board will be invited to participate in this PI meeting in addition to Lablet investigators.

KU will host HoTSoS April 6-8 2020.  Potential venues have been identified and we are starting the process of planning the program.  In addition to traditional paper presentations we plan to add workshop style presentations and a student focused cyber competition.

We will hold a meeting of our industrial advisory board May 15 on the KU campus.  The board is being extended to include Ripple who funds research at KU that comliments our Lablet research.  Presentations will include updates on Lablet research focusing on Secure Native Binary Execution and Cloud-based IoT Privacy, overviews of newly initiated research, and opportunities for funding research.  Additionally, the Board will plan its presentation at the Lablet Quarterly in July.

C. Educational Advances
Lablet researchers proposed a new undergraduate cyber security certificate for undergraduate students at KU.  The new certificate consists of 5 classes and participation in our competitive prgramming/hacking team.  Pending University approval, the certificate will be offered starting in Fall 2019.