Purdue Renewed as CAE/R

Purdue Renewed as CAE/R


Purdue Renewed as CAE/R

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 01:02 PM PST

The NSA has announced that Purdue-CERIAS has received a five year renewal as a Center for Academic Excellence in Research. More information »

If you are bored or morbidly curious…

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 09:23 AM PST

The Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota is devoted to research and preservation of the history of computing. They have amassed an interesting collection of literature and memorabilia that shows the history of the field. One of the projects associated with the CBI is to gather oral histories of notable figures in the field of computing security. They have some fascinating oral histories of people including Willis Ware, Peter Neumann, Becky Bace, Roger Schell, Donn Parker and others, as well as lots of oral histories in other subfields of computing. You can find the full set online. In July, there will be a workshop on the history of computing security. CBI has issued a call for papers. This effort is funded by the National Science Foundation. Late last year, Jeff Yost of the CBI visited Purdue to conduct an interview with me. He got a lot of material out of me, including some anecdotes that I don't think I have ever related to anyone else before. We spent a good portion of a day going through this. It's long. I question how many people might really want to read through the whole thing, but if you're interested in some of the history of the security program at Purdue, how I ended up at Purdue, my start in software engineering, my initial work in digital forensics, how I got involved in security, or any of a bunch of other topics likely to be of little or no interest to most people, then you can check out my oral history at CBI. I've mentioned a lot of students, colleagues, and influences by name. If you're one of them, I hope what I said doesn't bother you! (Unless I intended it to bother you, in which case…. I don't think I said anything unduly embarrassing, and I'm actually happy to have documented some of the history of how CERIAS got started. So, if that kind of thing floats your boat (or balances your parity), then check it out.

You’re invited!

You’re invited!


You’re invited!

Posted: 08 Feb 2014 12:26 PM PST

Four days -- two major events! The 15th Annual CERIAS Security Symposium Purdue University, March 26-27, 2014 We're living in a time of transition. Cyberthreats are increasing and becoming more sophisticated, victimized organizations are cooperating with competitors and fighting back, and the discussion of expected privacy has become front-page news. These topics, and more, will be explored at the 15th Annual CERIAS Security Symposium. Join the conversation amongst academic educators and researchers, commercial R&D engineers, government researchers, and industry practitioners as we examine the current state, possible solutions and emerging technologies addressing issues of information assurance, security, privacy and cybercrime. CERIAS Symposium activities will include: Keynotes: Amy S. Hess Executive Assistant Director of Science and Technology, Federal Bureau of Investigation George Kurtz President/CEO and Co-Founder, CrowdStrike Featured Technical Presentation: Josh Corman Chief Technology Officer, Sonatype Panel Discussions: APT, Threat Actors and Trends in Cybercrime Sharing Incident Data While Under Attack Security vs. Privacy and the Implications of Surveillance Security Research and Project Poster Session Featuring a selection of the 60+ projects currently in progress by by CERIAS faculty and students. Meet the researchers while hearing about their work. Networking Opportunities The event has a number of built-in opportunities for social and professional networking, and exploration of new opportunities. CERIAS partners will be provided an exclusive opportunity for recruiting CERIAS students for internships and employment; non-partners can find out more about joining the CERIAS consortium. Attendees may also schedule other visits and tours while on campus. For more information and to register visit: http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/site/symposium2014/ The 9th Annual International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security Purdue University, March 24-25, 2014 CERIAS Symposium attendees are invited to join the ICCWS conference being held the two days prior to the CERIAS Symposium. The ICCWS provides an opportunity for the cyber warfare and security community of interest and practice to gather and exchange their views on the current state of the security research, governance and implementation. The conference is intended to draw an audience of practitioners, researchers, consultants and regulators from academia, business and government. CERIAS Symposium attendees will receive a discount off ICCWS registration. For more information on ICCWS-2014 visit: http://academic-conferences.org/iciw/iciw2014/iciw14-home.htm We hope to see you at Purdue the week of March 24!

Purdue Profiles: Marcus Rogers

Purdue Profiles: Marcus Rogers


Purdue Profiles: Marcus Rogers

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 05:42 AM PST

(Purdue News 02/04/2014) If it involves combating digital crime — whether it's analyzing major cases, assisting local, state and federal investigations, or training current and future cyber forensics professionals — it's a good bet Marcus Rogers is involved. Rogers is professor of computer and information technology, associate department head, faculty lead for Purdue's cyber forensics graduate program and a University Faculty Scholar. In addition to being a deputized investigator for the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department, Rogers is a go-to media expert on cyber forensics and an award-winning researcher. What are some details about Purdue's cyber forensics graduate program? I helped build the program when I joined Purdue's faculty in 2004, after I spent a year conducting cyber forensics research at Purdue's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS). Right now, the program has 43 graduate students and one other faculty member. Each semester, we also have one or two visiting faculty members from across the world, including China, South Korea, Germany, Turkey and India. All of our graduate classes take place in our Cyber Forensics Laboratory, which is equipped with the tools needed to gather digital evidence that would stand up in a court of law. We train our students to always meet that standard when gathering evidence because many of them will go on to careers as investigators for law-enforcement and intelligence agencies. Once our students have enough training, they provide operational assistance for local law enforcement. Our students assist with almost every kind of case, because almost every case involves some kind of digital evidence. For example, drugs cases almost always involve cellphones. Money laundering usually involves a digital footprint, and so on. The only cases our students don't handle are ones that involve offenses against children, because federal law dictates that only sworn officers can work on those cases. That's why I'm a sworn officer for Tippecanoe County — because I assist them with those kinds of cases. Do the program's students participate in internships? Yes, our students all complete an internship that's worth three credit hours. In fact, while their coursework involves learning about and assisting with criminal as well as civil cases, we try to match students with internships that align with their interests. Some students might intern for corporations or law firms that handle civil cases, if they want to pursue that kind of work after graduating. Others might intern with public agencies that handle criminal cases. Our alumni have gone on to some very illustrious careers. About half work in academia as faculty members or administrators, and about half work for national labs or law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Our program doesn't just train students — we also train current industry professionals, including investigators at all levels. Our program has a top-notch reputation — for every student we admit, we have 10 applicants vying for that spot. A lot of students domestically and internationally apply because we've been involved in the academics of cyber forensics for longer than just about anyone else. We also have a 100 percent graduate placement rate. In fact, most of our students receive job offers before they've finished their first year. What kind of research do you conduct outside of your teaching duties? I focus a lot on predictive modeling, which tries to pinpoint things such as future terrorism targets. For example, one of my projects involved putting together profiles of criminals based on several years of their Web browsing history. In 2013, that project won the Outstanding Research Award in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences' Digital and Multimedia Sciences section. In 2014, another of my projects won that organization's Case Study Award. That project discovered a piece of malware that can commit a crime — such as hijacking bank accounts — while a person is using his or her computer. Once the malware has committed the crime, it can then erase itself without the person ever knowing the computer was infected. How did you become interested in cyber forensics? For me, cyber forensics was the perfect marriage of technology and law enforcement. My background is as a forensic psychologist, but I was also building computers at home when I was a kid in Canada. I've always been fascinated with how and why people use technology to commit crimes. Now, I get to use my knowledge and skills to work on cases and to train the next generation of cyber forensics professionals. For me, it's a great situation. Writer: Amanda Hamon, 49-61325, ahamon@purdue.edu