Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity students prepare for inaugural DistrictCon Hacker Conference

Shayla Brown — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 17:21:53 +0000

Cybersecurity students prepare for inaugural DistrictCon Hacker Conference Shayla Brown Mon, 01/27/2025 - 12:21

Students from ��AV’s Competitive Cybersecurity (MCC) club have dominated in multiple national competitions. The team got 1st place in the 2024 VMI CyberFusion and 2nd place in the 2024 Spring National Cyber League.

Next, the students will be competing in the inaugural DistrictCon Hacker Conference on February 21-22.

Club president Dylan Knoff working on routers. Photo provided.

“We'll be presenting live demos with our exploits in front of a judge and audience. So, we'll basically go from not having access to a certain device to showing that we can get access in the eight different attack vectors that we discovered,” said club president Dylan Knoff, a junior computer science major.

This demonstration is known as the junkyard competition, and the device they’re hacking is a router. In preparation for the demo, the team is conducting multiple analyses and rehearsing talking points for verification of their research.

“We basically ripped the firmware off of it, which is the code that runs on embedded devices like this one,” said Knoff, who participated in the International Cybersecurity Championship in Chile with the U.S. Cyber Team.

“We utilized hardware debugging interfaces on the device to both find potential bugs by analyzing our own local copy of the firmware and confirm their existence and exploitability by trying to trigger them on the live device and utilizing the debug interface exposed,” he said.

In addition to Knoff, his teammates Danyaal Shaozab and Ryan Murphy will also participate in the junkyard competition and other cybersecurity challenges including “capture the flag,” also called CTF, where the teams receive challenges, such as web app exploitation, binary exploitation, cryptography, reverse engineering, forensics, and a description that they must solve and then get a flag that is redeemed for points.

In September 2023, MCC hosted its own international CTF event, attracting more than 3,000 participants and 1,600 teams as well as hosted PatriotCTF 2024 attracting over 5400 participants and 2200 teams. The club practices are offensive cybersecurity, which is a type of ethical hacking used to evaluate and determine a system’s security, Murphy explained.

Club member Ryan Murphy working on routers. Photo provided.

Murphy, who transferred to George Mason from Virginia Peninsula Community College as a part of the Mason Virginia Promise, has been passionate about cybersecurity since middle school and participated in CyberPatriot, a national youth cyber education program.

“I'm still pretty new at George Mason, but it's been a really good experience so far,” said Murphy, a junior cyber security engineering major. “I got involved with the club from the get- go because they're a bunch of like-minded people and I’m really grateful for the opportunities the club and the university have offered me.”

The team will have two time slots and two presentations. They plan to do a dry run the day before the conference, as well as more analysis to solidify the information, said Murphy.

Shaozab is currently working as an associate vulnerability researcher at TFP0 Labs, a Reston-based security research firm. Shaozab’s role entails finding and exploiting vulnerabilities of various security systems and he compares his professional responsibilities to that of his club and school assignments.

“Working with Dylan and Ryan is great. We all have similar career goals, and it makes projects and assignments a lot easier,” said Shaozab, who is a senior cyber security engineering major.

Shaozab credits his courses, including CYSE 465 Transportation Systems Design, for helping him prepare for the upcoming competition.

“Dr. [Tanvir] Arafi is a very smart professor and a very talented individual in this field. His course really helped me hone my cyber techniques,” he said.

Shaozab explained that the team is focused on exploiting the [Control Area Network] bus, which is like the nervous system of a vehicle, allowing different components like the engine, brakes, and doors to communicate with each other. “Exploiting it involves sending malicious messages in the CAN bus to manipulate the car's function, such as unlocking doors or starting the engine,” he said.

“What made this particularly interesting to me is that I'm a huge car enthusiast, so being able to merge my passion for cars and cybersecurity was a unique experience. Getting hands-on with that in a classroom setting made it even more engaging. It’s rare to get that kind of knowledge taught in schools,” he said.

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Student team wins first place, $60k from cyber warfare challenge

Teresa Donnellan — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 15:44:34 +0000

Student team wins first place, $60k from cyber warfare challenge Teresa Donnellan Fri, 11/01/2024 - 11:44

A student team from a research group in ��AV's Center for Secure Information Systems, led by Professor Kun Sun, won first place in the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) Cyber Resiliency and Measurement Challenge. The students were selected to compete in person from October 22–23 at the University of Mary Washington’s Dahlgren Campus.

The team consisted of two undergraduates, Sam Best and Noah Korzak, majoring in computer science and cyber security engineering, respectively, and doctoral student Tommy Chin.

Samuel Best, Noah Korzak, and Tommy Chin at the NSWCDD Cyber Resilience and Measurement Challenge

“I thought the competition was a great opportunity to learn from,” said Best, adding, “Although the prize is a great plus, the skills I learned are far more valuable to my career.”

Sun reflected on the experience: "Over the past two months, it has been a valuable opportunity for our students to apply their knowledge from the classroom to tackle real-world cyber warfare challenges.”

“Eleven teams from colleges and universities across the nation competed in the challenge, aiming to address real-world cybersecurity problems faced by the Navy while gaining valuable knowledge and skills essential for tackling complex cyber threats in the future,” wrote Morgan Tabor of NSWCDD Corporate Communications.

“One of NSWCDD’s priorities is to develop innovative solutions that strengthen our nation’s cyber defenses and enhance system resiliency against cyber threats. By participating in this challenge, teams are helping us explore new ways to measure and improve tools that assess and improve cyber defensive capabilities,” said another NSWCDD representative.

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Cybersecurity faculty teams pitch startup ideas at Commonwealth Cyber Initiative competition

Teresa Donnellan — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 17:11:08 +0000

Cybersecurity faculty teams pitch startup ideas at Commonwealth Cyber Initiative competition Teresa Donnellan Fri, 10/11/2024 - 13:11

In This Story

Liza Wilson Durant

Andre Marshall, PhD

On October 9, 2024, the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s Northern Virginia Node accelerator program (CCI+A) culminated in a final pitch competition in front of a panel of cybersecurity industry experts and entrepreneurs at Mason Square. Program participants, cybersecurity engineering academics from throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, spent the past few months bringing their ideas for businesses to life.

The program helped participants connect with mentors, identify funding and how to obtain it, investigate their target customer, further develop their minimum viable product and hone their elevator pitch. CCI Northern Virginia Node Director Liza Wilson Durant, who welcomed event attendees, encouraged participants to change their perspective from faculty member explaining the technical basis for their idea, to end user who is trying to understand the problem it will solve.

CCI+A 2024 participants and advisors. Photo by Teresa Donnellan.

Each of the eight 2024 faculty teams presented a pitch and received insights on the industry and investment landscapes from the esteemed judging panel. The panel included Jennifer Addie, chief operating officer of Mach37 Cyber Accelerator and VentureScope; Maria Swainson, a managing vice president at Gartner and a member of Citrine Angels, an investment group; Maurice Boissiere, chief customer officer at DataTribe; and, Alicia Lynch, chief information security officer at TD Synnex. Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason and venture partner with Paladin Capital Group moderated the panel.

Faculty team products included everything from hardware to protect a person’s identity to encryption software. CyberGuard AI, led by Old Dominion University’s Peter Foytick; PrivacyGuard, led by Old Dominion’s Rui Ning; CyberSeQurity, led by ��AV's Weiwen Jiang; EngineeRD Solutions, led by George Mason’s Brian Ngac; MedChai, led by William & Mary’s Ran Yang; Continuous and Lightweight Authentication for Wearable and Portable Systems (CLAWS), led by George Mason’s Sai Manoj Pudukotai Dinakarrao; RADAR - Real-time Anomaly Detection with Edge AI Hardware, led by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Jayasimha Atulasimhal; and, Machine Learning Operations Executed in an Encrypted Environment (MOXIE), led by Old Dominion scientists all presented pitches.

Robert Podswadt pitches MOXIE to a panel of cybersecurity industry expert. Photo by Teresa Donnellan.

Robert Podswadt, the development lead for MOXIE, made the winning pitch. His teammates include John Matter and Daniel Takabi. The panel praised Podswadt’s clarity, particularly his use of simple graphics to explain MOXIE, a proposed homomorphic computing encryption service.

“We’re leveraging our vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, and we’re leveraging our deep pool of cybersecurity talent here in Northern Virginia,” said Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact at ��AV Andre Marshall, who spoke at the event. He added that CCI was “a visionary initiative by the state of Virginia” whereby more than 40 academic units are working together to foster cybersecurity research and workforce development in Virginia.

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��AV announces first commercial tenant at Fuse at Mason Square

Colleen Rich — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 19:40:57 +0000

��AV announces first commercial tenant at Fuse at Mason Square Colleen Rich Wed, 10/02/2024 - 15:40

��AV and Mason Innovation Partners (MIP), a development consortium led by Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate, announce the first commercial tenant for Fuse at Mason Square in Arlington, Virginia. The new tenant, Cybastion, is an American technology company that delivers world-class cybersecurity and digital enhancement solutions to accelerate digital transformation in emerging markets, especially Africa.

Cybastion CEO Thierry Wandji. Photo provided

“The Fuse commercial opening and partnership with Cybastion marks a major milestone for the university’s growth and commitment to research and economic development for the region,” said Ken Walsh, George Mason’s executive vice president for strategic initiatives. “The Mason Square campus is part of our vision to redefine the role of a modern university as a vital partner in strengthening local business and community infrastructures, as well as continue to propel Virginia forward as the number one state for business and education.”

The 345,000+ square foot building is designed with collaborative spaces and emerging-tech labs and offices for business, research scholarship, and community engagement within the Arlington innovation corridor. Cybastion will move in to Fuse in the spring of 2025.

“Fuse will provide unique opportunities and bespoke amenities that will enhance innovation and collaboration for co-located industry partners, faculty, and the talent pipeline,” said Brian Naumick, managing director with Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate. “We look forward to the great work Cybastion and many more partners will do at Fuse, driving impact for the greater D.C. market and the world.”

From left, George Mason professor Duminda Wijesekera, U.S. Ambassador to the Ivory Coast Jessica Davis Ba, U.S. Small Business Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, and Cybastion CEO Thierry Wandji at the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan. Photo provided

Cybastion and George Mason have been collaborating on cybersecurity and 5G/6G research in the U.S. and African nations since 2022. Cybastion CEO Thierry Wandji has been working with the Cyber Living Innovation Lab at Mason Square, and George Mason Professor Duminda Wijesekera. Originally funded by the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s Northern Virginia Node and now sustained with funding from federal agencies and the private sector, the Cyber Living Innovation Lab has significant expertise and capability in cybersecurity, NextG communications, transportation, manufacturing, and other infrastructure systems.

“Given its location and research talent, including Wijesekera’s team, Cybastion is pleased to take up residency in Fuse,” said Wandji. “The partnership with ��AV offers us an opportunity to seamlessly blend our strengths for fostering digital innovation while tapping into the university’s wealth of research and development to scale.”

Wandji serves as the director of cybersecurity education at the cybersecurity Centers of Academic Excellence at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.

“With their significant expertise in cybersecurity, and George Mason’s long-standing pre-eminence in this sector, Cybastion’s co-location in Fuse alongside George Mason faculty and students will amplify our collective research impact and speed to innovate in cybersecurity together,” added Liza Wilson Durant, associate provost for strategic directions and community engagement.

George Mason faculty and students from the Cyber Innovation Lab have traveled to Côte d’Ivoire with Wandji to support the design and implementation of the country’s vision for digital transformation and building a secure digital economy.

“The collaboration is a significant milestone for my group to get involved in international cybersecurity and telecommunications work that includes multiple government entities from both sides of the Atlantic,” said Wijesekera. “We are very fortunate and grateful to Cybastion as the only academic institution from the U.S. to be included in their family.”

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Information technology students stepped up to secure Virginia’s elections

Teresa Donnellan — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:19:47 +0000

Information technology students stepped up to secure Virginia’s elections Teresa Donnellan Wed, 08/28/2024 - 10:19

Secure elections are the cornerstone of democracy, and the Virginia Cyber Navigator Internship Program (VA-CNIP) has equipped students with the skills to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of election infrastructures. As an intern last summer, information technology (IT) major Duong Thuy Nguyen helped secure a rural county's technology for the upcoming presidential election alongside two other George Mason students, Maha Khan and Sophie Bates.

Sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA) and run by the University of Virginia (UVA) and five other Virginia universities including George Mason, VA-CNIP was developed to address the need for improved election security in localities that may not have the resources to implement necessary cybersecurity measures.

Nguyen, who is pursuing a dual concentration in database technology and programming and cyber security, traveled to Campbell County for a few days each week over the summer to support the county’s dedicated and hard-working IT staff in complying with the Locality Election Security Standards (LESS) required by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The LESS requirements are designed to ensure that all localities, regardless of size, have baseline cybersecurity measures in place, with further goals to achieve "preferred" or "premium" levels of security. The program thus not only prepared students for future careers but also left a lasting impact on the local governments they serve.

From left to right, Albanese, Hicks, and Nguyen with two other VA-CNIP interns. Photo provided.

George Mason Associate Professor Max Albanese helped lead VA-CNIP, designing a course in election security that was a prerequisite for all interns. In addition to the course, a two-day boot camp at UVA provided interns with training, including hands-on activities and talks from high profile industry experts and election officials. This year United States Election Assistance Commissioner Thomas Hicks spoke at the boot camp.

“Especially this year, the focus was on trying to send interns to localities that were in most need of upgrading their security posture,” said Albanese, “and that means the more rural or less technologically advanced counties.”

Each week, students worked remotely for part of their assignments but also traveled to their assigned localities for on-site work. Due to the often-rural nature of the counties involved, VA-CNIP provided a $3,000 travel allowance to each intern in addition to their $9,000 stipend. This allowed students to travel long distances and, when necessary, stay overnight in nearby towns to avoid lengthy commutes. The George Mason interns this year traveled about four hours one way to reach Campbell County.

Nguyen in Campbell County. Photo provided.

Nguyen noted how rewarding it was to work in-person with the local IT department. Her tasks included developing security policies, conducting research on cybersecurity tools, and even designing tabletop exercises to prepare local officials for possible cyber incidents on election day. Nguyen raved about her internship, which was her first. Even though she had to travel a lot, she said, she would not change her experience.

“They were all very welcoming, and they gave us all the support that we needed,” she said.

VA-CNIP exemplifies the power of academia, government, and students working together to tackle one of the most pressing challenges of our time—ensuring the security and integrity of democratic processes. While funding for VA-CNIP ends this year, there are ongoing discussions about sustaining the program going forward.

In This Story

Massimiliano Albanese

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George Mason, Howard receive $1 million from Google to launch Cybersecurity Clinic

Colleen Rich — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 19:11:38 +0000

George Mason, Howard receive $1 million from Google to launch Cybersecurity Clinic Colleen Rich Wed, 06/05/2024 - 15:11

The National Security Institute’s Cyber and Tech Center (CTC) at ��AV’s Antonin Scalia Law School and Howard University School of Business (HUSB) have been selected to receive $1 million in support from Google’s Cybersecurity Clinics Fund to establish the NSI CTC – HUSB Cybersecurity Clinic. The funding from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, is part of a $25 million collaboration with the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics.

Hazel Hall at Mason Square. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

Cybersecurity clinics at higher education institutions provide free digital security services to under-resourced organizations, similar to how law or medical schools offer free community clinics. The new NSI CTC – HUSB Cybersecurity Clinic will give students from George Mason and HUSB the opportunity to learn cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) skills in an effective, hands-on manner while simultaneously helping to protect vulnerable organizations and critical infrastructure, such as local small businesses, hospitals, schools, and nonprofit organizations, from cyber attacks.

The added opportunities for George Mason students come at a critical time and could prove beneficial in fueling the growing tech talent workforce needed for the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. Forty-one percent of the undergraduates of the Class of 2024—and 44 percent of the graduate students—earned degrees in STEM fields and the health sciences. Computer science was among the top five majors for bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degree recipients.

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risks Report, cyber insecurity remains one of the top 10 global risks over the next 10 years. Currently, there are nearly 450,000 open cybersecurity jobs available in the United States, including more than 90,000 cybersecurity jobs across the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and demand for cyber professionals is projected to grow 32% by 2033. To ensure that communities, critical infrastructure, and businesses big and small across the United States are secure, a skilled, diverse, and AI savvy cybersecurity workforce is needed.

The NSI CTC – HUSB Cybersecurity Clinic is a jointly developed and run multidisciplinary clinic that educates and trains students from both universities on cybersecurity in a classroom and clinical setting. Thanks to the generous support of Google, the clinic will be able to provide students critical hands-on practical experience from faculty, lecturers, and mentors, enabling them to provide direct cybersecurity assistance to public critical infrastructure organizations, including state and local governments, K-12 schools, utilities, public hospitals, and small businesses within the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area—all of which are facing a barrage of cybersecurity threats without the resources to address these threats.

The region is not only a thriving tech hub, but it also houses numerous universities and other educational institutions that are training the next generation of cybersecurity practitioners. The new clinic seeks to ensure that tomorrow’s workforce is diverse, capable, and motivated to strengthen the overall cybersecurity resilience of the broader communities.

“Scalia Law is thrilled to be partnering with the Howard University School of Business and Google.org on this important effort to educate young leaders and drive positive cybersecurity outcomes in the local community,” said Ken Randall, Allison and Dorothy Rouse Dean and ��AV Foundation Professor of Law at the Scalia Law School.

“This funding from Google for a new cybersecurity clinic allows both institutions to extend our efforts to support workforce development in the region and increase exposure to this technology. The work of the clinic promises to be very impactful in addressing an important educational need in a critical technology area,” said Anthony D. Wilbon, PhD, dean of the Howard University School of Business.

“Both universities have deep ties to cybersecurity and innovation—from expert faculty to students eager to tackling tomorrow’s technology challenges—and the clinic will be a great step forward to broadening and diversifying the technology education pipeline in the region,” said Jessica Jones, deputy executive director of the National Security Institute.

“The world is in a moment where emerging technologies, like AI, are creating both new opportunities and threats in the world of cybersecurity,” said Heather Adkins, vice president of Security Engineering at Google. “It’s essential that we invest in growing a strong, diverse and widespread cybersecurity workforce to help protect everyone—from critical infrastructure to small businesses and schools.”

The NSI CTC – HUSB Cybersecurity Clinic is one of 15 new clinics set to launch in 2024 at higher education institutions across the country, thanks to a collaboration from Google and the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics. In addition to the Google.org support, the tech company is offering NSI CTC and HUSB volunteer mentorship from Google employees, Google Titan Security Keys, and scholarships for the Google Career Certificate in Cybersecurity. Learn more on Google’s blog and the consortium’s website.

The announcement builds on Google’s 2023 support for 10 clinics, part of a combined commitment to launch 25 Google-supported cyber clinics nationwide by 2025. With the latest round of funding, Google.org has now committed more than $25 million toward creating the diverse and AI- and digital-security savvy workforce needed to protect critical U.S. infrastructure from cyber-attacks.

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Mason Competitive Cyber scores multiple wins at CyberForge 2024

Martha Bushong — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 17:50:37 +0000

Mason Competitive Cyber scores multiple wins at CyberForge 2024 Martha Bushong Wed, 02/14/2024 - 12:50

In This Story

Paulo Costa

The ��AV team Mason Competitive Cyber scored first, second, and fourth place at the Cyberforge 2024 competition held on February 11-12. During the two-day conference students heard from industry professionals and enhanced their cyberskills by competing in the Capture the Flag (CTF) competition.

“Winning a Virginia-wide competition is pretty good news by itself,” said Cyber Security Engineering Department Chair Paulo Costa. “CyberForge is especially important due to the quality of the teams, the level of effort every team and associated organizations/universities put into it, and the impact it has in the Virginia cybersecurity space."

Costa consider this one of the two most important competitions in the area. The other is Virginia Military Institute’s Cyber Fusion event happening later this month on February 23-24.

The Cyberforge event featured companies such as MITRE, CCI, G2OPS, HAK5, CompTIA, Virginia Cyber Range, WiCyS, TCM Security, and more. The Mason students competed against top collegiate teams and industry professionals from around Virginia. Students value competitions as these events allow them to meet talented students and industry professionals outside their home institution.

The team won multiple different prizes, including but not limited to Canakit raspberry pi 5 kits, CompTIA vouchers, and HAK5 gift cards, but they are most proud of the winner’s plaque, which they hope to display in the department’s office.

The event was hosted by the Coastal Virginia Cybersecurity Student Association (CVCSA), Coastal Virginia Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (COVA CCI), and a local college/university's cybersecurity club.

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Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s Cybersecurity Traineeship launches careers in cybersecurity

Teresa Donnellan — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 03:36:28 +0000

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s Cybersecurity Traineeship launches careers in cybersecurity Teresa Donnellan Mon, 02/12/2024 - 22:36

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Northern Virginia Node (CCI NoVa Node) is preparing for the third iteration of its Cybersecurity Traineeship Program, which offers a seven-week course to Northern Virginia residents interested in pivoting into the cybersecurity sector followed by career support from ��AV and Northern Virginia Community College professionals.

CCI NoVa Node's region is outlined in light blue.

Course Beginnings

The program’s intensive, full-time course curriculum familiarizes trainees with subjects relevant to Information Technology and cybersecurity, such as Python, database design, SPLUNK, and AWS. Trainees attend class all day and complete homework assignments outside of class.

Keyvon Riley, Aaron Hornbuckle, and Walter WIlliams, members of the program’s first cohort, credit the program with launching their careers in tech.

“The course days go by really quickly, so practicing is important,” said Riley. “The workload was very fair and needed in order to learn as much as a person can in the allotted time.”

“Through a fast-paced learning environment, we were introduced to many concepts, processes, and tools that would be useful and relevant to entering this new environment,” said Hornbuckle. “It also prepared me by showing me how much there is to know and learn in this field, which continuously expands the longer I've worked in the industry.”

Williams said the program exceeded his expectations: "Despite my initial nervousness due to a lack of industry understanding, I left feeling equipped with a solid foundation of cybersecurity knowledge."

Scott Wood, the associate director of IT and Business Programs at Northern Virginia Community College, who designs the course curriculum each year, adapts the course to the shifting needs of the tech sector by consulting industry partners. Next year, Wood will also incorporating guidelines set forth in “National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy,” a 2023 report from the White House.

“In addition to assessing technical skills, trainees are evaluated on participation, curiosity, creativity, communication, collaboration, and professionalism,” said Wood. “I’ve been amazed at the level of dedication and commitment from trainees in both iterations of the program. The program runs June through August, when most people are thinking about summer vacations and outdoor activities. The trainees in both programs really put in the work. They didn’t just show up for class. They took an active role in learning the skills and remained engaged throughout the seven-week program.”

Time for Internships

After completing the course, high performers in the program are placed in full-time internship roles with tech companies in Northern Virginia. Riley, Hornbuckle, and Williams each completed internships with Peraton before being offered full-time positions at the company. Riley and Hornbuckle are now cyber security systems engineers, and Williams is a UX/UI designer.

"It was an honor to gain on-the-job cybersecurity experience," Williams said. "My internship provided opportunities to shadow projects, contribute to use case development, and apply my UX/UI design skills in unexpected ways."

Riley noted that behind his success was a significant amount of work. For example, between his internship and starting his formal start date at Peraton, Riley became CompTIA Security+ certified.

“My industry landing did and still does surprise me, because cybersecurity is not for beginners,” Riley explained. “Most cybersecurity [workforce] members have five years or more in the IT field before landing a cyber role. I did not know that when I landed my role and thus had a hard time grasping the level of IT I entered into. Nevertheless, I hit the ground running and would not change it.”

Moving in New Directions

Riley will begin a master’s in information technology in the fall. “I have made the most of every opportunity since the traineeship, and it has led to my success today,” he said. “My future in tech is bright!”

Hornbuckle echoed Riley's sentiments, emphasizing the program's role in facilitating a smooth transition into his role. The program's emphasis on continuous learning resonated strongly with Hornbuckle, who noted the ever-evolving nature of the tech landscape and the importance of staying abreast of emerging trends.

A former fine arts teacher, Williams' transition into a UX/UI designer underscores the program's role as a pathway to career reinvention. "The program has undoubtedly led me to a rewarding career in tech/cybersecurity," he said, adding, "I was surprised by the opportunity to utilize my UX/UI design skills within cybersecurity. This fusion of disciplines reflects the dynamic nature of the field and the endless possibilities for professional growth."

With a curriculum designed in collaboration with industry experts and with a commitment to continuous improvement, CCI NoVa Node’s Cybersecurity Traineeship Program offers individuals seeking to break into the cybersecurity and IT sectors skills, confidence, and resources to embark on rewarding careers in technology.

“CCI created a great way to give new opportunities to those wanting a career change into cybersecurity,” said Riley. “I will always be grateful I was one of the first people to have successfully completed this program."

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Vijay Shah joins $2M NTIA-funded project on 5G cybersecurity

Teresa Donnellan — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 21:06:24 +0000

Vijay Shah joins $2M NTIA-funded project on 5G cybersecurity Teresa Donnellan Thu, 02/08/2024 - 16:06

��AV researcher Vijay Shah has joined a $2 million project to develop a system to secure 5G Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture.

Funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the project "A Holistic Cybersecurity Testing Framework for 5G Radio Access Networks" is a collaboration with Virginia Tech, Penn State University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Shah, who leads Mason’s NextG Wireless Lab, will be allocated nearly a quarter of the project’s budget and be working with Nishith Tripathi and Jeff Reed from Virginia Tech, Syed Rafiul Hussain from Penn State University, and Bo Tang from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Vijay Shah

Security vulnerabilities in O-RAN present a critical cybersecurity challenge in the era of 5G. The team aims to create “a holistic and automated cybersecurity testing framework for O-RAN,” per the project’s executive summary.

Shah will also receive funding from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) to investigate fingerprinting technology for 5G/NextG O-RAN supply chain risk management, additional funding that highlights the multifaceted approach taken by the NextG Wireless Lab to address 5G networks cybersecurity challenges.

As part of these initiatives, the NextG Wireless Lab is actively growing its research team, with opportunities for postdoctoral researchers and PhD students interested in O-RAN cybersecurity, testing, and supply chain management.

Those interested in contributing to cutting-edge research in this field should email Shah.

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Sweaty palms safeguarding security

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 19:26:40 +0000

Sweaty palms safeguarding security Nathan Kahl Mon, 10/16/2023 - 15:26

Identity protection and, relatedly, the ability to confidently verify your identity when required, are increasingly important in a digital, connected world. The next-generation security solution may be right at your fingertips…but not in the way you might think.

Emanuela Marasco, an assistant professor at the ��AV Information Sciences and Technology Department and Center for Secure Information Systems, is working on an innovative way to verify human identity by using sweat samples collected from fingertips. According to Marasco, your sweat makes you unique. “There is evidence that sweat on the skin of the finger can discriminate between people,” she said. The key is to properly detect sweat metabolites—small molecules such as lipids or amino acids that result from metabolic processes in your body.

Supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), her research uses hyperspectral imaging (HSI) to peer into sweat and look at three specific metabolites. HSI, which is widely used for agriculture, geosciences, and molecular biology, among other fields, can find and identify various materials invisible to the human eye and other technical viewing equipment.

Sweat from your fingers—not just your prints—can help verify your identity.

Marasco said, “Traditional approaches for spoofing are now in danger, because they cannot fool HSI.” According to a paper Marasco recently lead and co-authored, HSI creates a representation of an object by capturing the light bouncing off it, which can relate to its chemical make-up. Among the benefits of sweat analysis for identification is that it is rapid and noninvasive. In addition, according to the paper, it avoids the shortcomings of current systems, which are prone to spoofing (one thing disguised as another) and morphing (the alteration of travel-document photographs, for example), and which do not consistently work across different skin tones. The technology to get around traditional systems has come so far that “fake” fingerprints are so accurate they bypass authentication can be created with something as common as a 3D printer and something as simple as wood glue.

This grant was funded under the NSF EAGER program, which funds research in its early stages. According to NSF, EAGER projects fall under a category of “’high risk, high payoff’ in the sense that it involves radically transformative approaches, applies new expertise, or engages novel disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives.

Marasco said, “I see a wide range of applications. Regardless of this research into sweat, simply looking into the application of HSI to skin could yield numerous findings. There are transformative aspects to this; many studies can be enabled from this project.”

Practical applications are likely still many years away. But if you’re a nervous flier who gets anxious at the site of TSA checkpoints, just wait—those sweaty hands of yours perhaps won’t be a nuisance someday… in fact, they may end up helping you get quickly to your gate.

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Emanuela Marasco

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