Collaborative

Online advertising plays a critical role in allowing a vast majority of web content to be offered free of charge to users, with the implicit quid pro quo agreement that users agree to watch targeted ads to support these "free" services. Unfortunately, the economic magnetism of online advertising has made it an attractive target for various types of abuses. For instance, online advertising incentivizes the widespread tracking of users across websites raising privacy and surveillance concerns. Malvertising is another serious security threat to users.

This project investigates how to apply big-data analysis techniques to analyze mobile apps for the Android platform, for the purpose of accurately identifying security problems therein. A major challenge is the scale of the problem, with thousands of new apps entering the online app markets on a daily basis. Current technologies cannot keep up with the pace of the threats, and malware are regularly found in both large-scale marketplaces such as the official Google Play market and in third-party markets.

Natural language privacy policies have become a de facto standard to address expectations of notice and choice on the Web. Yet, there is ample evidence that users generally do not read these policies and that those who occasionally do struggle to understand what they read. Initiatives aimed at addressing this problem through the development of machine implementable standards or other solutions that require website operators to adhere to more stringent requirements have run into obstacles, with many website operators showing reluctance to commit to anything more than what they currently do.

Wireless connectivity has become the primary way most users access cyberspace. The wide use of the internet on wireless and mobile devices is further encouraged with new services that simultaneously engage and connect a large number of users. As a result, the society at large is quickly getting comfortable with the idea of conducting everyday lives on mobile devices most of which require communicating sensitive and confidential information over the wireless medium. Consequently, secure access to cyberspace necessitates wireless security.

In 2016, the cyberthreat landscape showcased advanced attack techniques, escalated attack frequency, and high levels of adversarial sophistication. Conventional cyberattack management is response-driven, with organizations focusing their efforts on detecting threats, rather than anticipating adversarial actions. This reactive approach has limited efficacy, as it does not capture advanced and sophisticated adversaries, mutating or unknown malware, living-off-the-land techniques or new variants being deployed. There is thus an immediate need for a paradigm shift in the area of cybersecurity.