ADVANCE COMPUTES TRICKS: November 2013

The Passing of A Pioneer

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 09:24 PM PST

Willis H. Ware, a highly respected and admired pioneer in the fields of computing security and privacy, passed away on November 22nd, 2013, aged 93. Born August 31,1920, Mr. Ware received a BSEE from the University of Pennsylvania (1941), and an SM in EE from MIT (1942). He worked on classified radar and IFF electronic systems during WWII. After the war he received his Ph.D. in EE from Princeton University (1951) while working at the Institute for Advanced Studies for John von Neumann, building an early computer system. Upon receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Ware took a position with North American Aviation (now part of Boeing Corporation). After a year, he joined the RAND Corporation (in 1952) where he stayed for the remainder of his career -- 40 more years — and thereafter as an emeritus computer scientist. His first task at RAND was helping to build the "Johnniac," an early computer system. During his career at RAND he advanced to senior leadership positions, eventually becoming the chairman of the Computer Science Department. Willis was influential in many aspects of computing. As an educator, he initiated and taught one of the first computing courses, at UCLA, and wrote some of the field's first textbooks. In professional activities, he was involved in early activities of the ACM, and was the founding president of AFIPS (American Federation of Information Processing Societies). From 1958-1959 he served as chairman of the IRE Group on computers, a forerunner of the current Computer Society of the IEEE. He served as the Vice Chair of IFIP TC 11 from 1985-1994. At the time of his death he was still serving as a member of the EPIC Advisory Board. Dr. Ware chaired several influential studies, including one in 1967 that produced a groundbreaking and transformational report for ARPA (now DARPA) that was known thereafter as "The Ware Report." To this day, some of the material in that report could be applied to better understand and protect computing systems security. The follow-on work to that study eventually led, albeit somewhat indirectly, to the development of the NCSC "Rainbow Series" of publications. In 1972, Dr. Ware was tapped to chair the Advisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systems for the HEW (now HHS) Secretary. That report, and Willis's subsequent paper,"Records, Computers, and the Rights of Citizens," established the first version of the Code of Fair Information Practices. That, in turn, significantly influenced the Privacy Act of 1974, and many subsequent versions of fair information practices. The Privacy Act mandated the creation of the Privacy Protection Study Commission, of which Dr. Ware was vice chair. Willis was the first chairman of the Information System and Privacy Advisory Board, created by the Computer Security Act of 1987. He remained chairman of that board for 11 years following its establishment. Over the years, Dr. Ware served on many other advisory boards, including the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the NSA Scientific Advisory Board, and over 30 National Research Council boards and committees. Willis Ware was one of the most honored professionals in computing. He was a Member of the National Academy of Engineering. He was a Fellow of the AAAS, Fellow of the IEEE, and Fellow of the ACM (perhaps the first person to accrue all four honors). He was a recipient of the IEEE Centennial Medal in 1984, the IEEE Computer Pioneer Award in 1993, and a USAF Exceptional Civilian Service Medal in 1979. He was the recipient of the NIST/NSA National Computer System Security Award in 1989, the IFIP Kristian Beckman Award in 1999, a lifetime achievement award from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (2012), and was inducted into the Cyber Security Hall of Fame in 2013. Dr. Willis H. Ware was truly a pioneer computer scientist, an early innovator in computing education, one of the founders of the field of computer security, and an early proponent of the need to understand appropriate use of computing and the importance of privacy. His dedication to the field and the public interest was both exceptional and seminal. (Any updates or corrections will be posted here as they become available.)

Saurabh Bagchi Recognized as a Distinguished Scientist by ACM

Posted: 22 Nov 2013 08:03 AM PST

Saurabh Bagchi, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and CERIAS Fellow, has been selected for Individual Achievements and Contributions to International Computing Community by the Association for Computer Machinery (ACM). Press Release, NEW YORK, NY, November 20, 2013—ACM (the Association for Computing Machinery) has named 40 Distinguished Members for their individual contributions and their singular impacts on the vital field of computing. Their achievements have advanced the science, engineering, and education of computing, and highlight the widening role that computing plays in a range of disciplines and domains around the globe. The 2013 Distinguished Members hail from universities in Denmark, Japan, Israel, Italy, China, and the United Kingdom in addition to North America, and from leading international corporations and research institutions. ACM President Vinton G. Cerf described the recipients as "the problem solvers, prophets, and producers who are powering the future of the digital age." He noted that these ACM members "are the driving force for enabling the computing community to change how we live and work. They demonstrate the advantages of ACM membership, which empowers self-improvement and inspires a bold vision for their own careers as well as their impact on the future." The ACM Distinguished Member program can recognize the top 10 percent of ACM worldwide membership based on professional experience as well as significant achievements in the computing field. ACM's current worldwide membership exceeds 100,000. Seventy percent of the 2013 recipients are from leading international academic institutions around the world. Another 30 percent represent prominent corporate and national research laboratories from North America, the UK, Europe and India. Their achievements in critical areas of computing include high performance computing, computer architecture, data management, user interface, cybersecurity, wireless network management, software engineering, and innovative instruction. For more information about the selection criteria and the 2013 Distinguished Members, click on http://awards.acm.org/distinguished_member/. Prof. Bagchi's research interests include dependable distributed systems, network security, reliable high performance computing, and embedded wireless networks. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and ACM, a Distinguished Speaker for ACM, an IMPACT Faculty Fellow at Purdue (2013-14), and a Fellow of the CERIAS security center at Purdue.

Marc Rogers Receives AAFS Case Study Award

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 12:15 PM PST

Marcus K. Rogers, Professor of CIT and CERIAS Fellow, has been named as the recipient AAFS Digital and Multimedia Sciences Outstanding Case Study Award for 2014. AAFS is the American Association of Forensic Sciences — the major professional association of investigators across all types of investigations. The award will be presented in February 2014 at the annual AAFS meeting in Seattle, WA. Professor Rogers is an internationally recognized expert in digital investigation techniques and cybercrime. He is an innovator in this area at Purdue, working with CERIAS personnel and students on advanced research topics and certification as a national center of excellence. Questions may be directed to Professor Rogers at mkr@cerias.purdue.edu

Thoughts—Some Random, Some Structured

Posted: 14 Nov 2013 05:09 PM PST

On October 9th, 2013, I delivered one of the keynote addresses at the ISSA International Conference. I included a number of observations on computing, security, education, hacking, malware, women in computing, and the future of cyber security. You can see a recording of my talk on YouTube or view it here. You might find it somewhat amusing. See the old guy with the bow tie ramble on. (If you work in cyber security, you should think about joining the ISSA.) (Also, if you didn't know, I have two other blogs. One blog is a Tumblr blog feed of various media stories about security, privacy and cybercrime. The other blog is about various personal items that aren't really related to CERIAS, or even necessarily to cyber security — some serious, some not so much.)

Purdue Experts Part Of Electric Grid Cyberattack Drill

Posted: 13 Nov 2013 12:39 PM PST

Marc Rogers, director of Purdue's Cyberforensics Lab and CERIAS Fellow, says the drill will recreate everything from a partial shutdown of electricity across North America to a virtual blackout affecting all of the U-S, Canada, and Mexico. "They will look at how vulnerable (the grid is) or what the weaknesses are, how would these things be identified; could they be identified in time; once they were identified and once there were bad things happening to the grid, how would the grid recover, and how long it would take to recover," said Rogers. More information »

BSIMM-V Released

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 08:48 AM PST

The BSIMM-V project provides insight into 67 of the most successful software security initiatives in the world and describes how these initiatives evolve, change, and improve over time. The multi-year study is based on in-depth measurement of leading enterprises including Adobe, Aetna, Bank of America, Box, Capital One, Comerica Bank, EMC, Epsilon, F-Secure, Fannie Mae, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Intel, Intuit, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Lender Processing Services Inc., Marks and Spencer, Mashery, McAfee, McKesson, Microsoft, NetSuite, Neustar, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, PayPal, Pearson Learning Technologies, QUALCOMM, Rackspace, Salesforce, Sallie Mae, SAP, Sony Mobile, Standard Life, SWIFT, Symantec, Telecom Italia, Thomson Reuters, TomTom, Vanguard, Visa, VMware, Wells Fargo, and Zynga. More information »

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Second Afternoon Hearing

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 04:39 AM PST

Prof. Spafford participated as a panelist on the Privacy & Civil Liberties Oversight Board hearing. The topic was potential reform of the laws that govern NSA domestic surveillance. More information »

How a grad student trying to build the first botnet brought the Internet to its knees

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 04:38 AM PST

More information »

Feds Proving Internet-Adept and Inept at same Time

Posted: 31 Oct 2013 11:29 AM PDT

More information »

ADVANCE COMPUTES TRICKS

The Passing of A Pioneer

The Passing of A Pioneer

Career Bobs

Saurabh Bagchi Recognized as a Distinguished Scientist by ACM

Saurabh Bagchi Recognized as a Distinguished Scientist by ACM

Career Bobs

Marc Rogers Receives AAFS Case Study Award

Marc Rogers Receives AAFS Case Study Award

Career Bobs

Thoughts—Some Random, Some Structured

Thoughts—Some Random, Some Structured

Career Bobs

Purdue Experts Part Of Electric Grid Cyberattack Drill

Purdue Experts Part Of Electric Grid Cyberattack Drill

Career Bobs

BSIMM-V Released

BSIMM-V Released

Career Bobs

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Second Afternoon Hearing

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Second Afternoon Hearing

Career Bobs

Feds Proving Internet-Adept and Inept at same Time

Feds Proving Internet-Adept and Inept at same Time

Career Bobs

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