Undergraduate Research in Information Assurance SOUNDARARAJAN EZEKIEL COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF PENNYLVANIA INDIANA, PA 15705

PURPOSE Our research offers outstanding undergraduates the chance to work closely with faculty in an intensive research Work on cutting-edge research, not just providing clerical task Apply the knowledge to real world problems Provides hands-on experiences to enhances their educational success Gives students first-hand exposure an environment similar to the graduate school Students work under faculty mentorship either on an individual basis or as part of a research team Enhance critical skills in communication, independent thinking, creativity and problem solving

Rationale US has more than 3500 institutions of higher education More than 2000 offer only associate and bachelor degrees Research I universities ( about 100) – 50 or more doctoral degree– more $40 million federal support Research II universities( about 40) – similar to Research I but they receive federal funds between $15.5 to $40 million Includes extensive libraries, well-equipped labs, sophisticated computer capabilities, and university presses housed in. Outstanding researcher are not limited to these institutions; nearly all colleges and universities can point to strong scholars within their department

Continue Differences between research institution and others –Research:- Provides other programs( sports, visual and performing arts) Size- funding sources 80%-90% freshmen graduate with in 5 years Setting and locations Produce 32% undergraduates( they are only 3% in total schools) –Publics schools– Produce 60% undergraduates Enroll huge number of working students– graduation delays beyond 5 years Developing curriculum freshman through senior level Most of the students come from the state and more likely commuters

Continue The % of population of selected nation that enters college and universities ( USA 52%, Canada 49%, UK 43%) Undergraduates major source for research institution– many students from research institution never saw their world famous professor– all they come across TAs – now they try to emphasize teaching– no interaction The Boyer commission concluded that research based learning must become “ …The ideal undergraduate education would turn the prevailing undergraduate culture of receivers into a culture of inquirers, a culture in which faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates share an adventure of discovery.”

Faculty benefits Integrate teaching and research Develop deeper relationship with students Ignite student thinking skills and discoveries Mentoring next generation of professionals Changing the learning culture Enhance their knowledge Keep their knowledge up to date “ learning is based on discovery guided by mentoring rather than on the transmission of information “– faculty can learn from students

IUP Computer Science -- Research We realized that undergraduates are our wealth We want to provide maximal opportunities for intellectual and creative development Many faculty take part in leading undergraduate research Example : Profs. Jim, Bill, Rose and Raj Many of our undergraduates take part in research, in which students work with faculty Students received hourly wages and academic credits( some projects)

Rose’s Work ACM grants since 2004 Four female students are currently working on the Computer Security Awareness ( ) –Enhance the public's understanding and acceptance of information security issues through awareness and education –The project involved investigating on the current computer security practices and techniques and hosting security awareness workshops at IUP.

Continue The Use of HCI techniques in evaluating Security Tools ( ) –this project is to initiate some groundwork on improving user interfaces for computer security software –outcome from this project will be a collection of available principles for good user interface design for security software and a set of case studies on the usability of the tools. Security and Biometric Devices ( ) –The goal of this project is to investigate the public’s understanding and acceptance of biometric devices as a method of user authentication

Covert Channel Research Profs. Jim, Bill, Raj with 4 students Received grant from NSA about $100k Goal: Prepared 110 page white paper on Unclassified Covert Channels –This document provides an overview of the current state of practice for covert channels. We focus on the main areas associated with the study of covert channels. The topics covered are: –History of Secret Communication, The Evolution of the definition of Covert Channel, Security Models, Examples of Covert Channels, Covert Channel Analysis, Performance Measures and Software Practice Students presented papers –PACISE 2005( Pennsylvania Association of Computer and Information Science Educators) –ABIT 2005( Academy of Business and Information Technology) –IUP research appreciation week – poster presentation

Raj and Bill’s Works Worked on many topics –Covert channels –Robotics– Prof Smith worked together –Iris recognition –Network Signal analysis –Steganography –Physical Security ( Bill with one student) Used techniques –Signal processing, Image processing, fractals, wavelets and other traditional methods About students involved in last 4 years

Continue Paper presented in local, national and international conferences Such as: –PACISE –ABIT –IUP poster presentations –Secure IT( Informational Technology Security Conference) –International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing Networks –International conference on Internet and Multimedia systems and Applications –World Multiconference on Systemic, Cybernetics and Informatics –GOVSEC

IUP Internship Our internship program can offer an invaluable adjunct to research based learning by allowing the students concrete contexts in which to apply research principles Intern experience can provide learning that cannot be replicated in the class room Prof. Shubra is our intern Coordinator The interns are competitively selected and take 23 week -long (including summer) training program Placed students in various Gov, Private and Non-profit organizations across the nation.

Future Make the research based learning the standard Mentor every student Construct an inquiry-based freshman year Seminar learning –Already established IA group- Meet every Tuesday 6:00- 7:00 pm –Topics Cisco router configuration, computer forensic, vulnerability analysis, wireless security feature, file encryption, cyber attacks, biometrics, window password, SQL Injection, ARP spoofing etc. Build freshman foundations– long term mentor, integrating transfer students Interdisciplinary education

Continue Link communication skills and course work– we are doing this in many courses– need to expand in every course –Example:- In our Seminar on Technical Topics course allow senior students to pick IA related topics for their presentations– –The goal of this course is “Reading, review, and discussion of the current literature of computer science and industry professional and technical journals; oral presentations” Use information technology creativity– learn state- of-the-art practices Work with community – planning to work with John. P. Murtha Homeland Security Center Graduate program– working on one—I am inviting Professor Jim to talk about our Masters Program