Cybersecurity Workforce

Attacks on computer networks are an all too familiar event, leaving operators with little choice but to deploy a myriad of monitoring devices to ensure dependable and stable service on the networks they operate. However, as networks grow bigger and faster, staying ahead of the constant deluge of attack traffic is becoming increasingly difficult. A case in point is the attacks on enterprise name servers that interact with the Domain Name System (DNS). These name servers are critical infrastructure, busily translating human readable domain names to IP addresses.

Society's dependence on mobile technologies rapidly increases as we entrust mobile applications with more and more private information and capabilities. Existing security research follows a common threat model that treats apps as monolithic entities and only captures attack surface between apps. However, recent research reveals that app internal attacks are emerging quickly as complex entities with conflicting interests are commonly included inside a single app to allow for rich features and fast development.

This frontier project tackles many of the fundamental research challenges necessary to provide trustworthy information systems for health and wellness, as sensitive information and health-related tasks are increasingly pushed into mobile devices and cloud-based services.

Every time someone uses a phone or computer to connect to an Internet site, software determines whether the connection is safe or being intercepted by attackers. Unfortunately, this software is error-prone, leaving users vulnerable to having their privacy violated or their personal information stolen due to phishing attacks, identity theft, and unauthorized inspection of their encrypted traffic. A number of solutions are being proposed, but the software is fragmented across many platforms and redundantly or incorrectly implemented.

Information security remains a persistent and growing problem in the United States due to ever-progressing reliance on information technologies and systems to provide critical services and enable society's contemporary way of life. The economics of computing favor performance and functionality over security and may continue to do so for some time. This environment is created by graduates of education programs, programs which can be argued to be lacking in emphasis on security impacts associated with this new information age.