Computer security is the protection of computer software, systems and networks from threats that can lead to unauthorized information disclosure, theft or damage to hardware, software, or data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.
SCADA is a control system architecture comprising computers, networked data communications and graphical user interfaces for high-level supervision of machines and processes. It also covers sensors and other devices, such as programmable logic controllers, which interface with process plant or machinery.
In computer terminology, a honeypot is a computer security mechanism set to detect, deflect, or, in some manner, counteract attempts at unauthorized use of information systems. Generally, a honeypot consists of data that appears to be a legitimate part of the site which contains information or resources of value to attackers. It is actually isolated, monitored, and capable of blocking or analyzing the attackers. This is similar to police sting operations, colloquially known as "baiting" a suspect.
Eugene Howard Spafford, known as Spaf, is an American professor of computer science at Purdue University and a computer security expert.
The B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences is one of the largest colleges at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and is home to the institute's computing education and research facilities. Golisano College is home to RIT's computer science, cybersecurity, information sciences and technologies, and software engineering departments, as well as the Ph.D. program in computing and information sciences, and the School of Interactive Games & Media, home to the college's game design and development and interactive development programs. Golisano College is housed in a 125,000 square foot facility, opened in 2003 on RIT's campus in Rochester, New York.
An industrial control system (ICS) is an electronic control system and associated instrumentation used for industrial process control. Control systems can range in size from a few modular panel-mounted controllers to large interconnected and interactive distributed control systems (DCSs) with many thousands of field connections. Control systems receive data from remote sensors measuring process variables (PVs), compare the collected data with desired setpoints (SPs), and derive command functions that are used to control a process through the final control elements (FCEs), such as control valves.
Annie Antón is an academic and researcher in the fields of computer science, mathematical logic, and bioinformatics.
A Hardware Trojan (HT) is a malicious modification of the circuitry of an integrated circuit. A hardware Trojan is completely characterized by its physical representation and its behavior. The payload of an HT is the entire activity that the Trojan executes when it is triggered. In general, Trojans try to bypass or disable the security fence of a system: for example, leaking confidential information by radio emission. HTs also could disable, damage or destroy the entire chip or components of it.
Gary Stephen May is a scholar, engineer, and the seventh chancellor of the University of California, Davis. From May 2005 to June 2011, he was the Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. He served as the Dean of the Georgia Tech College of Engineering from July 2011 until June 2017.
A cyberattack occurs when there is an unauthorized action against computer infrastructure that compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of its content.
Carl E. Landwehr is an American computer scientist whose research focus is cybersecurity and trustworthy computing. His work has addressed the identification of software vulnerabilities toward high assurance software development, architectures for intrusion-tolerant and multilevel security systems, token-based authentication, and system evaluation and certification methods. In an invited essay for ACSAC 2013, he proposed the idea of developing building codes for building software that is used in critical infrastructures. He has organized an NSF funded workshop to develop a building code and research agenda for medical device software security. The final committee report is available through the Cyber Security and Policy Institute of the George Washington University, and the building code through the IEEE.
LogicLocker, is a cross-vendor ransomware worm that targets Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) used in Industrial Control Systems (ICS). First described in a research paper released by the Georgia Institute of Technology, the malware is capable of hijacking multiple PLCs from various popular vendors. The researchers, using a water treatment plant model, were able to demonstrate the ability to display false readings, shut valves and modify Chlorine release to poisonous levels using a Schneider Modicon M241, Schneider Modicon M221 and an Allen Bradley MicroLogix 1400 PLC. The ransomware is designed to bypass weak authentication mechanisms found in various PLCs and lock out legitimate users while planting a logicbomb into the PLC. As of 14 February 2017, it is noted that there are over 1,400 of the same PLCs used in the proof-of-concept attack that were accessible from the internet as found using Shodan.
In cybersecurity, cyber self-defense refers to self-defense against cyberattack. While it generally emphasizes active cybersecurity measures by computer users themselves, cyber self-defense is sometimes used to refer to the self-defense of organizations as a whole, such as corporate entities or entire nations. Surveillance self-defense is a variant of cyber self-defense and largely overlaps with it. Active and passive cybersecurity measures provide defenders with higher levels of cybersecurity, intrusion detection, incident handling and remediation capabilities. Various sectors and organizations are legally obligated to adhere to cyber security standards.
William "Chuck" Easttom II is an American computer scientist specializing in cyber security, cryptography, quantum computing, and systems engineering.
Mark M. Tehranipoor is an Iranian American academic researcher specializing in hardware security and trust, electronics supply chain security, IoT security, and reliable and testable VLSI design. He is the Intel Charles E. Young Preeminence Endowed Professor in Cybersecurity at the University of Florida and serves as the Director of the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research. Since June 2022, he has served as the chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. He is a fellow of IEEE, ACM, and NAI as well as a Golden Core member of the IEEE. He is a co-founder of the International Symposium on Hardware Oriented Security and Trust (HOST). He is the recipient of the 2023 SRC Aristotle award. Tehranipoor also serves as a co-director of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research CYAN and MEST Centers of Excellence.
Internet security awareness or Cyber security awareness refers to how much end-users know about the cyber security threats their networks face, the risks they introduce and mitigating security best practices to guide their behavior. End users are considered the weakest link and the primary vulnerability within a network. Since end-users are a major vulnerability, technical means to improve security are not enough. Organizations could also seek to reduce the risk of the human element. This could be accomplished by providing security best practice guidance for end users' awareness of cyber security. Employees could be taught about common threats and how to avoid or mitigate them.
Edward G. Amoroso is an American computer security professional, entrepreneur, author, and educator based in the New York City area. His research interests have centered on techniques and criteria for measuring trustworthy software development. the application of these methods to secure software development for critical projects in the defense and aerospace industries, and redefining trust parameters for improved security in the cloud.
Duminda Wijesekera is an American computer scientist of Sri Lankan descent. He is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at George Mason University and acting chair of Cyber Security Engineering Department. He is also a visiting research scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota (1997) and another PhD in Mathematical Logic from Cornell University (1990). He has a Bachelors in Mathematics from University of Colombo. He also holds a courtesy appointments at the Computer Science Department at the Naval Postgraduate School, NIST. He has published more than 100 research papers in the area of cybersecurity. He was also part of the team that investigated Metro Blue Line derailment in Washington DC.
Ali Dehghantanha is an academic-entrepreneur in cybersecurity and cyber threat intelligence. He is a Professor of Cybersecurity and a Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity and Threat Intelligence.
Houbing Herbert Song is the Director of the Security and Optimization for Networked Globe Laboratory at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in Baltimore, USA. He received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2012.
