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Bold Investment In
SECURING tomorrow 2022 | 2023 Annual Report
CONTENTS 1
Letter from the Chair
3 Who We Are 4 A Proven Track Record of Excellence in Cybersecurity 10 Media Mentions 12 Cyber Faculty Sets Out to Protect Nation’s Investment in AI Manufacturing
15 Welcoming New Faculty 16 Demonstrated Excellence 17 SCP Book Contributions 18 Georgia Tech Students Smash NSA Codebreaker Challenge Once Again 20 Securing the Future of Artificial Intelligence 22 Trailblazing Regents’ Professor Continues 60-Year Pursuit 25 J.Z. Liang Chair is Voice for Multidisciplinary Cybersecurity Work 26 Published Research 30 SCP Featured Grants 32 SCP Faculty
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of Improving the Human Condition
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Dear Friends, When I first heard about the new School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP), I remember being intrigued by the idea of a school, but the thought of applying for a role as its chair was the furthest thing from my mind. After all, I’m a Midwesterner. I genuinely enjoy the cold weather. I’ve always called a group of people “you guys” not “y’all.” I refer to cola as “pop” not “coke.” It’s been that way for as long as I can remember. As a child, I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and much of my family is still there. When it was time to pick a school for my bachelor’s degree, I only applied to the University of Illinois. My first job out of school was a move “into the city”, where my modest work cubicle atop the Chicago skyline afforded me some great views of Navy Pier and Lake Michigan. While I would eventually move out of Illinois for my Ph.D., being at the University of Michigan was not much of a departure from my roots, and when it eventually came time to move on from Michigan, my journey took me right back to the University of Illinois, this time as a faculty member. So how did someone from the “Windy City” wind up in Atlanta? To understand my arrival at this destination, you will need to understand my other journey; the one focused on finding my own “why.” My mother instilled in her children a sense of stewardship and as a result, my first steps along a path of self-discovery were guided by the laudable, if somewhat vague, notion of “making the world a (continued)
While Georgia Tech might not have been a stop on the road I traveled before, the more I heard about the vision for the new school, the more I opened to the idea that SCP might offer a new way to make the world a better place; one that was aligned with my personal journey.”
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better place.” While that idea has never left me, my own sense of purpose has been refined by the turns in the road. Coming out of school with a job programming HR logic in COBOL on IBM mainframes didn’t deliver the kind of change in the world I wanted to see, so I kept moving. A personal loss led me to self-reflection about who had made my world a better place, which in turn prompted me to go to graduate school to be a teacher. While a graduate student, I gravitated to topics that not only required a deep understanding of the world around me, but also could directly impact our everyday lives. This mindset led me to engage more deeply with tech transfer, and I had the opportunity to build real systems that helped people at a scale well beyond my earlier efforts. By the time I returned to school and finished my doctorate, it was clear that the interconnected nature of computers in our everyday lives was creating broad issues that not only spanned technology, but people, organization, and society. Over the next 15 years of my journey, I refined my sense of purpose. Today I seek to build computing systems that not only enhance our welfare and prosperity, but also responsibly consider the implications of what we build on the world around us. Touching down in ATL While Georgia Tech might not have been a stop on the road I traveled before, the more I heard about the vision for the new school, the more I opened to the idea that SCP might offer a new way to make the world a better place; one that was aligned with my personal journey. As with any choice to suddenly veer off a well-worn trail onto something new, the move to Georgia Tech was a mix of trepidation, excitement, and tenuous first steps. The faculty, students, and staff that make up SCP, however, were truly hospitable, and I immediately felt welcome in my new home. As we have walked together, I have been honored to get to know the SCP community and to hear about their own dual journeys, both where they have been and their own sense of purpose. The more we have shared, the more I feel we have found a sense of purpose together and created a compelling vision for our next destination. Now, on the other side of my first year, I think I have found my stride. I am looking forward to what the next year brings and to living up to our shared purpose. Heck, I even caught myself asking for a coke the other day. Best, Michael Bailey, Founding Chair School of Cybersecurity and Privacy
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SCHOOL OF CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY / COLLEGE OF COMPUTING
Who We Are better place.” While that idea has never left me, my own sense of purpose has been refined by the turns in the road. Coming out of school with a job programming HR logic in COBOL on IBM mainframes didn’t deliver the kind of change in the world I wanted to see, so I kept moving. A personal loss led me to self-reflection about who had made my world a better place, which in turn prompted me to go to graduate school to be a teacher. While a graduate student, I gravitated to topics that not only required a deep understanding of the world around me, but also could directly impact our everyday lives. This mindset led me to engage more deeply with tech transfer, and I had the opportunity to build real systems that helped people at a scale well beyond my earlier efforts. By the time I returned to school and finished my doctorate, it was clear that the interconnected nature of computers in our everyday lives was creating broad issues that not only spanned technology, but people, organization, and society. Over the next 15 years of my journey, I refined my sense of purpose. Today I seek to build computing systems that not only enhance our welfare and prosperity, but also responsibly consider the implications of what we build on the world around us.
The School of Cybersecurity and Privacy is one of the top five programs in the nation. Formed in September 2020, it is one of five schools in the top 10 ranked College of Computing at Georgia Tech.
OUR MISSION IS TO CREATE SECURITY FOR EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING, EVERYDAY We believe… societal problems require multidisciplinary solutions
Touching down in ATL While Georgia Tech might not have been a stop on the road I traveled before, the more I heard about the vision for the new school, the more I opened to the idea that SCP might offer a new way to make the world a better place; one that was aligned with my personal journey. As with any choice to suddenly veer off a well-worn trail onto something new, the move to Georgia Tech was a mix of trepidation, excitement, and tenuous first steps. The faculty, students, and staff that make up SCP, however, were truly hospitable, and I immediately felt welcome in my new home. As we have walked together, I have been honored to get to know the SCP community and to hear about their own dual journeys, both where they have been and their own sense of purpose. The more we have shared, the more I feel we have found a sense of purpose together and created a compelling vision for our next destination.
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rigorous research can be inspired by everyday problems
that together we can create a more secure future developing tomorrow’s leaders requires revolutionizing security education
Now, on the other side of my first year, I think I have found my stride. I am looking forward to what the next year brings and to living up to our shared purpose. Heck, I even caught myself asking for a coke the other day. Best, Michael Bailey, Founding Chair School of Cybersecurity and Privacy
150+
research publications in Academic Year ‘23
25 Faculty
50+
Ph.D. students
1st
transdisciplinary master’s degree in cybersecurity
1100+
enrolled in master’s program
Senator Sam Nunn
A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF EXCELLENCE IN
CYBERSECURITY Despite being one of the newest academic units on campus, the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP) has roots that stretch back over 20-years and highlight the longstanding commitment Georgia Tech has made to the field
Richard DeMillo
Mustaque Ahamad
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The School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP) at Georgia Tech became the first academic unit in the world dedicated to studying cybersecurity as a societal problem when it launched in November 2020. To achieve such a feat, the fledgling school drew on its deep roots that extend back two decades and highlight Georgia Tech’s enduring commitment to the field.
“Cyberattacks are a very real, existential threat,” said Steve McLaughlin, Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs at Georgia Tech. “It’s vital that we combat techno-criminals head on to prevent catastrophic impact on a global scale.” Many consider the 1998 Sam Nunn Bank of America Policy Forum (Nunn Forum) as the natural starting point for information security research at the Institute. During the forum, senator Sam Nunn of Georgia called for closer collaboration between government agencies, academic institutions, and business leaders to tackle cybersecurity challenges. According to an article published by CNN, Nunn and Peter Freeman, founding dean of the Georgia Tech College of Computing, petitioned attendees to prioritize establishing cybersecurity policies, develop new information security techniques, and keep pace with evolving infrastructure technology. The former Georgia representative warned that ignoring these pillars of cybersecurity could have disastrous consequences. “There are some who believe we are going to have an electronic Pearl Harbor, so to speak, before we really make (computer security) the kind of priority that many of us believe it deserves to be,” Nunn said, according to CNN’s coverage. However, from his perspective as Professor and former Dean of the College of Computing and GTISC Director, Richard DeMillo says Georgia Tech had laid the groundwork in the years leading up to the forum to become a hub for cybersecurity research. “ We launched the Master of Science in Information “When I was a faculty member in the 1980’s, there was already interest Security after talking to industry friends and in computer security, crime, and cryplistening to their anticipated workforce needs…” tography, and many of the most recog– Professor Mustaque Ahamad nizable personalities in the field were trained in those years.” he said. “Then in early 90’s- predating the Nunn Forum- there was gathering momentum in cybersecurity. It was just unorganized.” In the following years, Georgia Tech prioritized hiring cybersecurity faculty. According to Professor Mustaque Ahamad, the Institute recognized the need to continue investing in new technologies and in the early 2000’s began taking steps to explore the educational side of computer security.
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G. Wayne Clough
Senator Sam Nunn
Alexandra (Sasha) Boldyreva
“We launched the Master of Science in Information Security after talking to industry friends and listening to their anticipated workforce needs,” said Ahamad. “We had a critical mass of faculty at the time to develop and teach courses for this new degree because we laid the groundwork early on.” When the University System of Georgia Board of Regents’ met in February 2002, it approved Georgia Tech President Emeritus G. Wayne Clough’s request to establish the program in the College of Computing in cooperation with the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the Scheller College of Business. The Georgia State University’s Management Information Systems program was also an early partner of the program. According to minutes from the board meeting, Georgia Tech expected around 25 students in the inaugural cohort of the new master’s degree. The Master of Science in Information Security (MS InfoSec), later renamed Master of Science in Cybersecurity (MS Cybersecurity), was poised to focus on protecting information technology systems that enable numerous sectors of industry, government, and national defense. “We are still in touch with the graduates from that first cohort, including Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder of Crowdstrike,” said Ahamad. “Many of our graduates go on to become leaders in the field and stay involved with our program by giving us regular feedback. Because Georgia Tech has breadth and depth in many areas of cybersecurity, we are natural leaders in excellence.” As time went on Georgia Tech faculty continued to expand the field’s boundaries, recognizing that security problems could no longer be solved by computer scientists alone. For example, the annual Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit in 2008 included presentations on cyber warfare and its potential effects on international confrontations. This was yet another indication that cybersecurity was no longer a one-size-fits-all problem. In the 2010s, the first
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steps towards an interdisciplinary program at Georgia Tech began taking shape and continued with a chance encounter on the Tech campus. Professor Wenke Lee recalls bumping into Provost McLaughlin, who was the chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the time. The two struck up a conversation and set up an unofficial meeting at a coffee shop where they developed the blueprint for a cybersecurity research center open to Georgia Tech faculty of every discipline. “Multidisciplinary was always the goal,” said Lee. “But the question was how to do it.” Lee and McLaughlin began meeting with research scientists from the Georgia Tech Research Institute and academic faculty from schools and colleges to drum up support for an expanded cybersecurity research center. This new independent research institute brought faculty from across campus and offered support various ways. In August 2015, GTISC was elevated to a campuswide independent research institute and renamed the Institute for Information Security and Privacy (IISP). “ Cyberattacks are a very real, existential threat. “IISP provided a lot of infrastrucIt’s vital we combat techno-criminals head on to ture support and thought leadership prevent catastrophic impact on a global scale.” at Georgia Tech,” said Lee. “You can– Steve McLaughlin, Provost not do great things alone and the and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs at Georgia Tech whole point of IISP was, ‘let’s not do this alone anymore.” By 2017, nearly 500 researchers across nine academic units were affiliated with IISP. However, the research center came to a crossroads two years after its founding, and it was soon clear things needed to change again. “We were pushing the limit and there was only so much we could do,” said Lee. “Faculty hiring was through academic departments, so in order to grow the way we wanted, we needed to have our own academic unit where like-minded people could continue studying the multidisciplinary areas we wanted to invest in.”
Mustaque Ahamad
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n the academic side, the success of the 2002 MS InfoSec degree led to an expansion of the program in 2017, renaming it to MS Cybersecurity. The new master’s degree was amended to include specializations from three schools, the School of Computer Science, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the School of Public Policy. In 2019, a further modification of the program took the degree online with the support of Georgia Tech Professional Education. In just two years, the number of graduates with a cybersecurity master’s degree from Georgia Tech grew drastically. As cybersecurity research and education were expanded across the Institute, it became clear that Georgia Tech needed its own cybersecurity school. According to McLaughlin, who was dean of the College of Engineering at the time, establishing the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy had tremendous buy in from faculty, and was supported by the deans of the College of Computing and the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. “We wanted to be recognized as the first mover in this space and decided it was the perfect time to create the school,” McLaughlin said. For Charles Isbell, former dean of the College of Computing, studying cybersecurity should not only focus on information technology. By examining the law, business processes, and cultural considerations of the field, he believes SCP will create the workforce of the future. “Georgia Tech has been a leader in cybersecurity re“ Multidisciplinary was search for a very long time,” always the goal, but he said. “But creating a new the question was school elevates the importance of responsible interdishow to do it.” ciplinary computing and ex– Professor Wenke Lee pands our impact in teaching and research.” Kaye Husbands Fealing, dean and Ivan Allen Jr. Chair of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, added that by including both residential and online master’s degrees in cybersecurity, the schools of Public Policy, Cybersecurity and Privacy, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, had become equal partners in the school thanks to the foundation laid by expanding the master’s degree a few years prior. “Cassidy Sugimoto, the chair in Public Policy, and I believe it is clear that SCP is built on a strong tradition of interdisciplinary cybersecurity programming at Georgia Tech,” she said. “The continued partnerships among these schools and our Nunn School of International Affairs are essential to prepare students for the complex policy landscapes that cybersecurity professionals will navigate in their careers.” In November 2020, 22-years after the Nunn Forum, the school was launched amid the Covid-19 pandemic with DeMillo serving as interim chair. Although a nationwide search for a founding chair began immediately, the school seemed to exist in name only for a short amount of time.
Peter Swire
Seymour Goodman
“Founding a school virtually in the pandemic was surreal,” DeMillo said. “We went from PowerPoint slides to a functioning school while no one was watching.” For DeMillo, laying the foundation for SCP in a completely online environment relieved a lot of pressure. Georgia Tech and the rest of the world were trying to adjust to the new norm of telecommuting. In as little as six months, a school that existed only on paper began to take shape. Faculty governance was established thanks to work done by Ahamad, policies and procedures were created by Professor Peter Swire, and Regents Professor Seymour Goodman began tackling the daunting task of creating and improving the cybersecurity and privacy curriculum. Meanwhile, new faculty hired by DeMillo began making their way to Atlanta. In August 2021, graduate students enrolled in the 19-year-old MS Cybersecurity program had their own home unit for the first time. Today, the school now employs 25 faculty who, along with 57 Ph.D. students work tirelessly on its mission: to create security solutions for everyone and everything, every day. “Because cybersecurity became a strategic priority at Georgia Tech in 1998 and the Institute has a history of investing in new and emerging fields, we have been able to stay on the cutting edge,” said Ahamad. “We have the people who recognize that cybersecurity impacts all areas and that’s the reason for us to keep going. It is all about evolving and changing.” As the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy at Georgia Tech reflects on its remarkable journey, it stands at the forefront of a rapidly changing landscape, with a mission that is far from complete. The school and its faculty are resolute in their commitment to not only shape the future of computing, but to create a safer future for an interconnected world. By understanding the challenges of cybersecurity are ever evolving, continuously redefining the way cybersecurity is taught to the leaders of tomorrow is essential. Drawing inspiration from real-world applications, the school values multidisciplinary work, bridging technology with law, business, and cultural considerations. In this ever-connected world, where technology touches every facet of existence, SCP remains steadfast in its pursuit of excellence. n
Alex Orso Interim Dean
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MEDIA MENTIONS
Our faculty are often consulted for their expertise by media outlets and organizations from around the globe on a variety of subjects. SCP’s multidisciplinary approach to cybersecurity and privacy allows us to have a wider impact in these rapidly growing fields. In addition to media placements, SCP faculty have spoken at over 100 events in 15 U.S. states and six countries over the past year.
Featured in The Hill, Professor Richard DeMillo emphasizes the real-world consequences of cyberattacks and pushes back on the theory that they have not resulted in loss of life:
“ And so, it’s not exactly idle speculation that these things are happening,” he said. “Deaths have been attributed to those attacks because of delayed care.” - Americans now fear cyberattack more than nuclear attack “ Every decision has to be second-guessed and third-guessed, potentially by people with less subject matter knowledge.” — Professor of the Practice Jerry Perullo in Cybersecurity Leaders Suffer Burnout as Pressures of the Job Intensify by The Wall Street Journal
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ALSO SEEN IN:
“ A master’s degree is going to prepare you for the highest skill, top-level careers. A master’s degree is essentially going to make a specialist in cybersecurity.” — Professor Mustaque Ahamad in Graduates with a master’s degree in cybersecurity are reporting average salaries of $214,000 by Fortune Education.
“ Intelligence agencies are deep into the process of drafting and implementing changes.” — J.Z. Liang Chair Professor Peter Swire in U.S. Expected to Publish Privacy Shield Executive Order Next Week by Politico.
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Advancement in technology brings about plenty of benefits for everyday life, but it also provides cyber criminals and other potential adversaries with new opportunities to cause chaos for their own benefit.
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CYBER FACULTY SETS OUT TO PROTECT NATION’S INVESTMENT IN AI MANUFACTURING
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s researchers begin to shape the future of artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing, Georgia Tech recognizes the potential risks to this technology once it is implemented on an industrial scale. That’s why Associate Professor Saman Zonouz will begin researching ways to protect the nation’s newest investment in manufacturing. The project is part of the $65 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration to develop the Georgia AI Manufacturing (GA-AIM) Technology Corridor. While the main purpose of the grant is to develop ways of integrating AI into manufacturing, it will also help advance cybersecurity research, educational outreach, and workforce development in the field as well. “When introducing new capabilities, we don’t know about its cybersecurity weaknesses and landscape,” said Zonouz. “In the IT world, the potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities and corresponding mitigation are clear, but when it comes to artificial intelligence in manufacturing, the best practices are uncertain. We don’t know what all could go wrong.” Zonouz will work alongside other Georgia Tech researchers in the new Advanced
Associate Professor Saman Zonouz
Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF) to pinpoint where those inevitable attacks will come from and how they can be repelled. Along with a team of Ph.D. students, Zonouz will create a roadmap for future researchers, educators, and industry professionals to use when detecting and responding to cyberattacks. “As we increasingly rely on computing and artificial intelligence systems to drive innovation and competitiveness, there is a
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College of Engineering and ECE professor, on several research papers including two that were published at the 26th USENIX Security Symposium, and the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium. “As Georgia Tech continues to position itself as a leader in artificial intelligence manufacturing, interdisciplinarity collaboration is not only an added benefit, but also fundamental,” said Arijit Raychowdhury, Steve W. Chaddick School Chair and Professor of ECE. “Saman’s cybersecurity expertise will play a crucial role in the overall protection and success of GA-AIM and AMPF. ECE is proud to have him representing the school on this important project.”
growing recognition that the security of these systems is of paramount importance if we are to realize the anticipated gains,” said Michael Bailey, Inaugural Advancement in technology brings about plenty of Chair of the School of Cybersecubenefits for everyday life, but it also provides cyber rity and Privacy (SCP). “Professor Zonouz is an expert in the security criminals and other potential adversaries with new of industrial control systems and opportunities to cause chaos for their own benefit will be a vital member of the new coalition as it seeks to provide leadership in manufacturing automation.” The research is expected to take five years, Before coming to Georgia Tech, Zonouz which is typical for a project of this scale. worked with the School of Electrical and Apart from research, there will be a workforce Computer Engineering (ECE) and the College development and educational outreach portion of Engineering on protecting and studying of the GA-AIM program. The cyber testbed the cyber-physical systems of manufacturing. developed by Zonouz, and his team will live in He worked with Raheem Beyah, Dean of the the 24,000 square-foot AMPF facility.
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WELCOMING
NEW FACULTY
Cecilia Testart Assistant Professor
Saman Zonouz Associate Professor
In August 2022, Cecilia Testart joined Georgia Tech as an Assistant Professor in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech. Her research focuses on how internet protocols work and evolve, how the different actors in the ecosystem behave and interact, and how the outcome aligns with societal expectations such as security and privacy. Her doctoral research focused on securing the Internet’s core protocols, leveraging empirical data-driven approaches, and considering both technical and policy challenges to improve the current state-of-the-art. Her work on persistent misbehavior in internet routing received a Distinguished Paper Award at the ACM Internet Measurement Conference in 2019. Cecilia holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and master’s in technology and policy from MIT. She also holds Engineering Degrees from Universidad de Chile and Ecole Centrale Paris. Prior to joining MIT, she helped set up the Chilean office of Inria (the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology) and worked for the research lab of the .CL, the Chilean top-level domain. She has spent time at Akamai, MSR, and the OECD.
Saman Zonouz was hired as an Associate Professor at the Schools of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP), and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in Fall of 2022. Previously, he was a faculty at Rutgers University. His research focuses on security and privacy research problems in cyber-physical systems including the attack detection and response capabilities using techniques from systems security and control theory. Saman’s research has been awarded by Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), NSF CAREER Award in CyberPhysical Systems (CPS), Significant Research in Cyber Security by the National Security Agency (NSA), and Faculty Fellowship Award by Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). Saman obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011. NEW IN AY’ 23-24: Starting Fall 2023, Ryan Shandler and Michael Specter will join the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy as Assistant Professors!
In Academic Year 20222023 our school welcomed two incredibly hardworking and talented faculty to our growing school. Assistant Professor Cecilia Testart and Associate Professor Saman Zonouz hit the ground running when they walked into the Coda Building last Fall. Both have been busy investing in the next generation of cybersecurity and privacy professionals.
SCP
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DEMONSTRATED EXCELLENCE
Winner of NSA Codebreaker Challenge, Georgia Tech School of Cybersecurity and Privacy, awarded by the NSA 2022 Best Paper Award, Chair Michael Bailey, “Equivocal URLs: Understanding the Fragmented Space of URL Parser Implementations,” 27th European Symposium on Research in Computer Security 2022 Crypto Test of Time Award, Professor Alexandra Boldreya, “Deterministic and Efficiently Searchable Encryption,” awarded by the International Association for Cryptologic Research NSF CAREER Award, Assistant Professor Paul Pearce, awarded by the National Science Foundation Premium Best Paper Award, Associate Professor Saman Zonouz, “Strategy for distributed controller defence: Leveraging controller roles and control support groups to maintain or regain control in cyber-adversarial power systems”, awarded at IET Cyber-Physical Systems: Theory & Applications ACM IMC Community Contribution Award, Assistant Professor Paul Pearce, “ZDNS: A Fast DNS Toolkit for Internet Measurement,” awarded at the 2022 AMC Internet Measurement Conference Distinguished Paper Award, Associate Professor Daniel Genkin, “CryptOpt: Verified Compilation with Randomized Program Search for Crytographic Primitives,” awarded at the Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation
Best Community Artifact Award, Assistant Professor Cecilia Testart, “Improving the Inference of Sibling Autonomous Systems,” awarded at the Passive and Active Measurement Conference NSF CAREER Award, Assistant Professor Brendan Saltaformaggio, awarded by the National Science Foundation 2022 ACSAC Test of Time Award, Professor Wenke Lee, Georgia Tech graduate Paul Royal, “PolyUnpack: Automating the Hidden-Code Extraction of UnpackExecuting Malware,” awarded by the Applied Computer Security Associates ACM IMC Community Contribution Award, Assistant Professor Paul Pearce, “ZDNS: A Fast DNS Toolkit for Internet Measurement,” awarded at the 2022 AMC Internet Measurement Conference DARPA Riser 2022, Assistant Professor Paul Pearce, “Algorithmic and Systems Foundations for IPv6 Internet Scanning,” awarded by DARPA 2022 Best Paper Award, Professor Vladimir Kolesnikov, Georgia Tech graduate David Heath, “EpiGRAM: Practical Garbled RAM”, awarded at Eurocrypt 2022 Distinguished Service Award, Professor Wenke Lee, awarded by the 2022 IEEE Technical Committee on Security and Privacy.
SCP
SCHOOL OF CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY / COLLEGE OF COMPUTING
BOOK CONTRIBUTIONS Deter, Disrupt, or Deceive: Assessing Cyber Conflict as an Intelligence Contest, Chapter Three: “Hidden Dangers in the American Military Solution to a Large-Scale Intelligence Problem” by Jon Lindsay Cyber Security Politics Socio-Technological Transformations and Political Fragmentation, Chapter Six: “Quantum computing and classical politics: The ambiguity of advantage in signals intelligence” by Jon Lindsay Quantum International Relations: A Human Science for World Politics, Chapter 8: “These are Not the Droids You’re Looking for: Offense, Defense, and the Social Context of Quantum Cryptology” by Jon Lindsay Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications: Strategies for a Digital Age. “Cyber Operations and Nuclear Escalation: The Diversity of Danger” Contributions by Jon Lindsay Cyber Security PoliticsSocio-Technological Transformations and Political Fragmentation, Chapter 15: Understanding transnational cyber attribution: Moving from “whodunit” to who did it” Contributions by Brenden Kuerbis, Farzaneh Badiei, Karl Grindal, and Milton Mueller The Cambridge Handbook of Political Psychology, Chapter 25: “The Political Psychology of Cyberterrorism” Contributions by Ryan Shandler The Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, Third Edition Eds, “The Psychology of Terrorism and Political Violence” Contributions by Ryan Shandler “Cryptography and the Intelligence Community: The Future of Encryption”, Contributions by Peter Swire “The Heart of Innovation: A Field Guide for Navigating to Authentic Demand”, co-authored by Merrick Furst
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GEORGIA TECH STUDENTS SMASH NSA CODEBREAKER CHALLENGE ONCE AGAIN A crowd of students, faculty, and staff greeted officials from the National Security Agency (NSA) in the Coda Building earlier this year to celebrate Georgia Tech winning the NSA Codebreaker Challenge (CBC) for the second year in a row.
Middle of left page: SCP Founding Chair Michael Bailey stands with over a dozen students who completed the 2022 NSA Codebreaker Challenge. Top right of the left page: Georgia Tech students Vipul Ujawane, Vaibhav Nagar, Gayathri Rajakumar, and Daniel Chou share their advice for future CBC competitors. The four were a part of Georgia Tech’s 19 finishers.
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n top of the win, Georgia Tech had more students complete the challenge than any other college or university in 2022. Only 2% of the 4,734 participants completed the nationwide challenge that ran from August to December last year. “You should be very proud of your accomplishment,” said David Hyde, NSA director of industry and academic engagement. “About 20% of our solvers were from Georgia Tech.” Hyde presented two trophies to students and Michael Bailey, founding chair of the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP), along with a letter to Georgia Tech’s 12th president, Ángel Cabrera listing each of the Institute’s 19 finishers by name and praising their accomplishment.
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“I am thrilled to be here celebrating the success of the students who completed the challenge,” said Bailey. “Thank you to the NSA for creating this program and for coming all the way out here to celebrate.” While CBC is extremely difficult by design, NSA engineers take special care to make it a learning experience. For example, during a Tech Talk prior to the awards ceremony students heard from Akil Booker, lead developer for CBC 2023, who walked the audience through the tasks of last year’s challenge. “The codebreaker challenge is an annual outreach for the NSA,” said Booker. “We try to follow a realistic storyline. We look at current events and see what would make a good story.” For the 2022 competition, developers created a fictional scenario where students were assisting the FBI with a ransomware attack. Students needed to find the attacker’s idenOnly 2% of the 4,734 participants tity, determine what tools were used in the successfully completed the 2022 attack, investigate a NSA Codebreaker Challenge. website used by the hacker, and hack into Out of that handful of solvers, the website to recover 20% were from Georgia Tech. the victim’s stolen files. Booker told the audience about the cybersecurity tactics participants had to master to successfully complete each step. These techniques included students reverse engineering a website, collecting digital forensic evidence left behind by the attacker, and exploiting weaknesses in the hacker’s website. Sure, it seems daunting, but not impossible for Georgia Tech students in the cybersecurity master’s program. Three of these students, Vaibhav Nagar, Gayathri Rajakumar, and Vipul Ujawane sat down with Daniel Chou, an undergraduate in the College of Computing, for a student panel about the codebreaker challenge where they offered tips for next year’s participants. “Start early,” said Ujawane. “If you are new to this, that is okay. Take your time and enjoy it.” The trio of graduate students told the audience that the courses offered by SCP Professors Wenke Lee, Taesoo Kim, and Associate Professor Brendan Saltaformaggio were a tremendous help in solving the challenge. Chou credited Georgia Tech’s GreyHat cybersecurity club for sparking his interest in cybersecurity along with the security courses in his degree thread. Georgia Tech had 255 participants in the 2022 NSA Codebreaker Challenge and scored over 280,000 points, surpassing last year’s winning total by roughly 50,000. The NSA will add Georgia Tech’s name to the official CBC trophy and a first-place trophy was given to the Institute for display. n
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John P. Imlay Jr. chair and School of Cybersecurity and Privacy Professor Wenke Lee
Securing the Future of Artificial Intelligence
New $20 Million NSF Award Paves the Way for AI Innovation in Cybersecurity
portunity because it enables us to explore new ideas and develop novel technical approaches and educational content at the intersection of AI and Cybersecurity,” said Lee. “Our team of researchers in multiple disciplines from several leading universities will be collaborating very closely and I expect to learn a lot from them throughout the project.” Lee will collaborate with the second co-principal investigator from Georgia Tech, Xiaoming Huo, A. Russell Chandler III professor in the H. Milton
Over the next four years a national team of researchers will establish the AI Institute for Artificial Cyber Threat Intelligence and Operation (ACTION) through a $20 million award from the National Science Foundation with the intent of adapting artificial intelligence technologies to cybersecurity practices.
W
enke Lee, John P. Imlay Jr. chair and professor at the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy, will represent Georgia Tech as one of the co-principal investigators for the project, which aims to improve how essential business technologies are protected from evolving cyber threats. “This NSF AI Institute is a really exciting op-
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Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. The two will jointly supervise several Ph.D. students and co-develop new course materials and projects to broaden the impact of their research. “Cybersecurity research ascends as a groundbreaking sphere in data science, encompassing a myriad of captivating and rigorous topics,” said Huo. “Pioneering innovation remains crucial, and I am eagerly anticipating the opportunities that this grant will bring, ushering in a new epoch in the field.” Researchers will work across disciplines to develop new approaches to artificial intelligence that is informed by and works with security experts. The AI tools developed by ACTION will perform security tasks quickly and accurately while anticipating potential moves made by adversaries.
“This NSF AI Institute is a really exciting opportunity because it enables us to explore new ideas...” said Lee.
The AI will counteract the possible attacks in a way that protects computer network security and ensures people’s safety. The work done by ACTION will also include an outreach component. The results from the project are anticipated to innovate education from K-12 to postdoctoral students. Many of the new AI and cybersecurity tools developed will be applied to workforce development, collaboration opportunities among academic organizations, and industry partners. Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara will take the lead on this project. They will collaborate with Georgia Tech, Purdue University, the University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Washington, University of Virginia, Rutgers University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois Chicago, and Norfolk State University. Georgia Tech will receive $1.5 million from this grant. n
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TRAILBLAZING REGENTS’ PROFESSOR CONTINUES 60-YEAR PURSUIT OF IMPROVING THE HUMAN CONDITION There is no blueprint for a cybersecurity school like this, but this isn’t Goodman’s first time spearheading a one-of-a-kind project. In fact, he has built his entire career around it.
O
n the third floor of the Habersham Building, home of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, sits an office that could almost be mistaken for a museum. Inside, Regents’ Professor Seymour Goodman sits surrounded by the mementos and artifacts he collected while researching computing from around the world. Goodman visited all seven continents before coming to Georgia Tech in 2000, and despite an academic career of more than 60 years at eight R1 research institutions, he says he won’t retire until he has finished one final project. “Here I am, maybe not for much longer, but I am determined to see the curriculum for the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP) through,” said Goodman. “Everyone here is building a career and I am dismantling one.” The twice reappointed Regents’ Professor joined SCP when it was founded in 2020 with the goal of taking Georgia Tech’s existing Master of Science in Cybersecurity (MS Cybersecurity) and expanding it to fit the interdisciplinary scope of the new school. Additionally, Goodman is determined to create a cybersecurity undergraduate thread in the College of Computing.
SCHOOL OF CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY / COLLEGE OF COMPUTING
However, it is a long and difficult road to get any course or curriculum approved. Goodman must find the common ground between computing, engineering, and policy topics along with their students and faculty. Over the next two years, the school anticipates creating more than a dozen new courses and at least one additional undergraduate thread. “We must serve what we expect to be great demand among the large and growing undergraduate and master’s student populations in the College of Computing and elsewhere in Georgia Tech,” Goodman said. “This is particularly challenging since we see the school and cybersecurity in an interdisciplinary light.” There is no blueprint for a cybersecurity school like this, but this isn’t Goodman’s first time spearheading a one-of-a-kind project. In fact, he has built his entire career around it. In the early 1970’s, researchers in the United States had little to no knowledge of the work being done by computer scientists in communist countries and many assumed there was nothing worth studying. Goodman recalled one colleague claim that computing in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was completely stifled by its authoritarian government. Goodman decid-
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traveled from country to country, they observed the progress and problems of Soviet computing. The project came to a natural conclusion when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, which Goodman witnessed first-hand. “I was part of the last US National Academy of Sciences delegation hosted by the Soviet Academy of Sciences,” he said. “While we were “ Here I am, maybe not for much longer, but I am there, we became the determined to see the curriculum for the School of first to be hosted by the Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP) through,” said Goodman. new Russian Academy of Sciences.” ed to spend the next 17 years personally studyShortly after starting the multi-year research ing of the development, diffusion, and absorption effort into computing, Goodman decided to start of computing in communist countries. another one, but this time he and his students “This effort started in 1975 as an outgrowth would study the global diffusion of the internet. in my interest in Soviet science and scientists who Following the closure of the Advanced Research were important to my Ph.D. dissertation,” said Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) in 1990, Goodman. “Our research took us to every commucomputer scientists were at odds over how to nist country except Albania and North Korea.” expand and implement a similar network for the Technically, Goodman did set foot on North public. Korean soil, but he doesn’t count that as an The consensus at the time was that this actual visit. As Goodman and his Ph.D. students computer network, what would become the
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internet, would only be available to a handful of countries by 2000. Goodman’s estimate, however, was much higher. He believed the internet would be in 60 countries by the end of the century. He was off by a factor of three. Goodman, then a professor at Stanford University, grabbed his passport once again and traveled around the world to research a unique problem. He and his students were looking for resources that could support an internet infrastructure.
rapidly growing number of internet users, less wealthy countries and individuals were being left behind when it came to internet accessibility. Again, the project came to a natural end when the internet and cellular technology found its way into every country and territory on the planet by the end of the 2000’s. Their last concentrated effort focused on the continent of Africa and included efforts to bring cybersecurity to countries who were just getting extensively networked. Both projects took Goodman to over 100 countries and to all seven continents. “I saw an early need for internet security,” said Goodman. “I was brought to the College of Computing at Georgia Tech by our first dean, Peter Freeman, in 2000 because of my background with information security and critical infrastructure.” Today, Goodman serves jointly in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and Sam Nunn School of International Affairs where he studies international developments in information technologies During 1989 and 1990 Goodman visited over 50 countries, and their related public policy specifically developing countries believed to be a lost cause issues. Throughout his career for internet access by researchers at the time. he has published over 150 papers and has served on “We were looking to see if they had comalmost every kind of committee imaginable. puters and electricity,” said Goodman. “In 1993, But his work is far from over. Goodman computing was being invested in by the U.S. Dehas a vision for the cybersecurity curriculum partment of Defense and technology accessibility at Georgia Tech that not only includes a revitalwas a big deal at Stanford.” ized master’s program and new undergraduate During 1989 and 1990 Goodman visited over thread, but an interdisciplinary cybersecurity 50 countries, specifically developing countries curriculum that can be implemented across the believed to be a lost cause for internet access Institute as well. by researchers at the time. In his 1994 paper, “I believe it is our obligation as a school to get The Global Diffusion of the Internet: Patterns this done,” said Goodman. “This is my current and and Problems, Goodman argued that despite the final concern with computing at Georgia Tech.” n
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J.Z. Liang Chair is Voice for Multidisciplinary Cybersecurity Work In 2022 the College of Computing was pleased to announce that Peter Swire has been named the J.Z. Liang Chair in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP). Swire previously
share in the economic prosperity and social progress enabled by technology. Ensuring the Cybersecurity and Privacy of these systems in society is a held the Elizabeth and Tommy Holder Chair of Law and grand challenge that requires fundamentally new approaches. Peter’s Ethics in the Scheller College of Business. long history of innovative work at the intersection of law and technology is a great example of SCP faculty rising to meet this grand challenge.” Prior to joining Georgia Tech in 2013, Swire was a professor of law at the Ohio State University, George Washington University, and the University of Virginia. Under President Clinton, he served as Chief Counselor for Privacy in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the first person to have U.S. government-wide responsibility for privacy policy. After the Snowden revelations, he served as one of five members of President Obama’s Review “I am honored by this announcement,” Swire said. Group on Intelligence and Communications Technol“Throughout my career in privacy and cybersecurity, ogy, which recommended changes to U.S. surveillance I have worked at the intersection of computing, law, laws that have since been adopted into U.S. legislation. and public policy. With this Chair, I look forward to “As Computing expands into more and more fields, supporting the inter-disciplinary vision of the School of we need scholars like Peter who can cross the bridge Cybersecurity and Privacy.” between technical and legal problems,” said Charles As the J.Z. Liang Chair, Swire traveled to Belgium Isbell, former dean and John P. Imlay, Jr. chair of comand hosted a panel at the 16th International Computputing. “We are very pleased to have him as part of the ers, Privacy, and Data Protection Conference. AlongSchool of Security and Privacy, and for him to hold the side experts from the European Union (EU), UniverJ.Z. Liang Chair. He is helping us define the future of sity of London, and Grenoble Alpes University, Swire cybersecurity as a field.” weighed in on the legal complexities of an EU-U.S. “James” Jian Zhang Liang (ICS ’90, MS ICS ’91) transatlantic data agreement called Privacy Shield. was the co-founder and CEO of trip.com, a provider “We are incredibly proud of Peter and are very excited to see his work recognized in this way,” said Mi- of travel services. He currently teaches as an Applied Professor of Applied Economics at Peking University’s chael Bailey, inaugural chair of the School of CyberseGuanghua School of Management. n curity and Privacy. “At SCP we believe everyone should
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SCHOOL OF CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY / COLLEGE OF COMPUTING
SCP/ PUBLISHED
RESEARCH
Over the past year, SCP’s 25 faculty have published nearly 150 pieces of research at top journals and conferences around the world. Below is a sample of the groundbreaking cybersecurity and privacy work completed by the faculty and students at Georgia Tech listed in alphabetical order by conference. Each conference only publishes a small number of submitted papers, with acceptance rates ranging from 12-25%. The rigorous acceptance process gives these conferences prestige and makes them top tier venues for new research. Academic Conference
Title of Research Publication
Authors
ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security
HammerScope: Observing DRAM Power Consumption Using Rowhammer
Yaakov Cohen, Kevin Sam Tharayil, Arie Haenel, Daniel Genkin, Angelos D. Keromytis, Yossi Oren, Yuval Yarom
When Frodo Flips: End-to-End Key Recovery on FrodoKEM via Rowhammer
Michael Fahr Jr, Hunter Kippen, Andrew Kwong, Thinh Dang, Jacob Lichtinger, Dana Dachman-Soled, Daniel Genkin, Alexander Nelson, Arkady Yerukhimovich, Daniel Apon
Understanding and Mitigating Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities in Crossplatform Ecosystem
Feng Xiao, Zheng Yang, Joey Allen, Guangliang Yang, Grant Williams, Wenke Lee
Cart-ology: Intercepting Targeted Advertising via Ad Network Identity Entanglement
ChangSeok Oh, Chris Kanich, Damon McCoy, Paul Pearce
A View into YouTube View Fraud
Dhruv Kuchhal, Frank Li
Reinforcement learning-based countermisinformation response generation: a case study of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation
Bing He, Mustaque Ahamad, Srijan Kumar
British Journal of Political Science
Cyber Terrorism and Public Support for Retaliation – A MultiCountry Survey Experiment
Ryan Shandler,, Michael L. Gross, Sophia Backhaus, Daphna Canetti
EUROCRYPT: International Conference on the Theory and Applications of Cryptographic Techniques
Garbled Circuits with Sublinear Evaluator
Vladimir Kolesnikov, David Heath, Abida Haque, Steve Lu, Rafail Ostrovsky, Akash Shah
EpiGRAM: Practical Garbled RAM
David Heath, Vladimir Kolesnikov, Rafail Ostrovksy
Hiding in Plain Sight: Memory-Tight Proofs via Randomness Programming
Ashrujit Ghoshal, Riddhi Ghosal, Joseph Jaeger, and Stefano Tessaro
Let Attackers Program Ideal Models: Modularity and Composability for Adaptive Compromise
Joseph Jaeger
ACM Web Conference
SCHOOL OF CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY / COLLEGE OF COMPUTING
IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy
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SpecHammer: Combining Spectre and Rowhammer for New Speculative Attacks
Youssef Tobah, Andrew Kwong, Ingrab Kang, Daniel Genkin, Kang G. Shin
Spook.js: Attacking Chrome Strict Site Isolation via Speculative Execution
Ayush Agarwal, Sioli O’Connell, Jason Kim, Shaked Yehezkel, Daniel Genkin, Eyal Ronen, Yuval Yarom
Spectre Declassified: Reading from the Right Place at the Wrong Time
Basavesh Ammanaghatta Shivakumar, Jack Barnes, Gilles Barthe, Sunjay Cauligi, Chitchanok Chuengsatiansup, Daniel Genkin, Sioli O’Connell, Peter Schwabe, Rui Qi Sim, Yuval Yarom
UTOPIA: Automatic Generation of Fuzz Driver using Unit Tests
Bokdeuk Jeong, Joonun Jang, Hayoon Yi, Jiin Moon, Junsik Kim, Intae Jeon, Taesoo Kim, WooChul Shim, Yong Ho Hwang
PyFET: Forensically Equivalent Transformation for Python Binary Decompilation
Ali Ahad, Chijung Jung, Ammar Askar, Doowon Kim, Taesoo Kim, and Yonghwi Kwon
Investigating the Password Policy Practices of Website Administrators
Sena Sahin, Suood Al Roomi, Tara Poteat, Frank Li
SCAPHY: Detecting Modern ICS Attacks by Correlating Behaviors in SCADA and PHYsical
Moses Ike, Kandy Phan, Keaton Sadoski, Romuald Valme, Wenke Lee
International Security
Prediction and Judgement: Artificial Intelligence & War
Avi Goldfarb, Jon Lindsay
Journal of Conflict Resolution
The Shadow of Deterrence: Why Capable Actors engage in contests short of war
Jon Lindsay, Erik Gartzke, J Andres Gannon, Peter Schram
USENIX Security Symposium
Lend Me Your Ear: Passive Remote Physical Side Channels on PCs
Daniel Genkin, Noam Nissan, Roei Schuster, Eran Tromer
{In-Kernel}{Control-Flow} Integrity on Commodity {OSes} using {ARM} Pointer Authentication
Sungbae Yoo, Jinbum Park, Seolheui Kim, Yeji Kim, Taesoo Kim
Building an Open, Robust, and Stable {Voting-Based} Domain Top List
Qinge Xie, Shujun Tang, Xiaofeng Zheng, Qingran Lin, Baojun Liu, Haixin Duan, Frank Li
Many Roads Lead To Rome: How Packet Headers Influence DNS Censorship Measurement
Abhishek Bhaskar, Paul Pearce
Mistrust Plugins You Must: A {LargeScale} Study Of Malicious Plugins In {WordPress} Marketplaces
Ranjita Pai Kasturi, Jonathan Fuller, Yiting Sun, Omar Chabklo, Andres Rodriguez, Jeman Park, and Brendan Saltaformaggio
Hiding in Plain Sight? On the Efficacy of Power Side {Channel-Based} Control Flow Monitoring
Yi Han, Matthew Chan, Zahras Aref, Saman Zonouz
The Impostor Among US (B): Off-Path Injection Attacks on USB Communications
Robert Dumitru, Daniel Genkin, Andrew Wabnitz, Yuval Yarom
ACon^2: Adaptive Conformal Consensus for Provable Blockchain Oracles
Sangdon Park, Osbert Bastani, Taesoo Kim
autofz: Automated Fuzzer Composition at Runtime
Yu-Fu Fu, Jaehyuk Lee, Taesoo Kim
VulChecker: Graph Based Vulnerability Localization in Source Code
Yisroel Mirsky, George Macon, Michael Brown, Carter Yagemann, Matthew Pruett, Evan Downing, Sukarno Mertoguno, Wenke Lee
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USENIX Security Symposium (continued)
PUMM: Preventing Use-After-Free Using Execution Unit Partitioning
Carter Yagemann, Simon P. Chung, Brendan Saltaformaggio, Wenke Lee
Glowing in the Dark Uncovering Ipv6 Address Discovery and Scanning Strategies in the Wild
Hammas Bin Tanveer, Rachee Singh, Paul Pearce Rishab Nithyanand
Hiding in Plain Sight: An Empirical Study of Web Application Abuse in Malware
Mingxuan Yao, Jonathan Fuller, Ranjita Pai Kasturi, Saumya Agarwal, Amit Kumar, Sikder, and Brendan Saltaformaggio
Hot Pixels: Frequency, Power, and Temperature Attacks on GPUs and ARM SoCs
Hritvik Taneja, Jason Kim, Jie Jeff Xu, Stephan van Schaik, Daniel Genkin, Yuval Yarom
Checking Passwords on Leaky Computers: A Side Channel Analysis of Chrome’s Password Leak Detect Protocol
Andrew Kwong, Walter Wang, Jason Kim, Jonathan Berger, Daniel Genkin, Eyal Ronen, Hovav Shacham, Riad Wahby, Yuval Yarom
BunnyHop: Exploiting the Instruction Prefetcher
Zhiyuan Zhang, Mingtian Tao, Sioli O’Connell, Chitchanok Chuengsatiansup, Daniel Genkin, Yuval Yarom
Beyond the Gates: An Empirical Analysis of HTTP-managed password stealers and operators
Omar Alrawi, Athanasios Avgetidis, Kevin Valakuzhy, Charles Lever, Paul Burbage, Angelos Keromytis, Fabian Monrose, and Manos Antonakakis
Combating Robocalls with Phone Virtual Assistant Mediated Interaction
Sharbani Pandit, Krishanu Sarker, Roberto Perdisci, Mustaque Ahamad, Diyi Yang
AEX-Notify: Thwarting Precise SingleStepping Attacks through Interrupt Awareness for Intel SGX Enclaves
Scott Constable, Jo Van Bulck, Xiang Cheng, Yuan Xiao, Cedric Xing, Ilya Alexandrovich, Taesoo Kim, Frank Piessens, Mona Vij, Mark Silberstein
TRIDENT: Towards Detecting and Mitigating Web-based Social Engineering Attacks
Zheng Yang, Joey Allen, Matthew Landen, Roberto Perdisci, Wenke Lee
uFuzz: Redesign of Parallel Fuzzing using Microservice Architecture
Yongheng Chen, Rui Zhong, Yupeng Yang, Hong Hu, Dinghao Wu, Wenke Lee
Our Faculty Also Published Research in:
AAI A n AsiaCrypt n Crypto n IMC n MobiSys n NDSS n SIGMETRICS n SIGPLAN n
SCHOOL OF CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY / COLLEGE OF COMPUTING
WHAT KIND OF RESEARCH DO WE PUBLISH?
Designation: CAE in Cyber Research
Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity If AI is going to be in everything, then we need to know how to secure it. At the same time, we are exploring how to apply AI in cybersecurity. Cryptography A textbook element of computer security is using and understanding cryptographic algorithms. Our faculty and their students work to not only enhance the security of these algorithms, but to expose their weaknesses as well.
Misinformation and Manipulation Throughout the course of the past academic year, our researchers have uncovered possible way to manipulate the stock market, falsely boost YouTube viewership, and intercept personal advertisements containing potentially sensitive information. Securing Drone Hardware The sensors used on drones and other unmanned arial vehicles are commonly found in all types of vehicles. By learning how to protect these systems, our research can be applied to aeronautics, robotics, manufacturing, and more. Vulnerabilities in Software We examine botnets, vulnerable website plugins, new breeds of malware, and security threats in popular websites and applications. Finding and publishing threats helps keep everyday users safe. War and Terrorism Can a battle be fought and won online without deploying a single troop? What effect do looming cyberattacks have on the general public? Would the victims of a cyberterrorist attack support a military strike?
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FEATURED GRANTS
In Academic Year 2023, SCP Faculty secured 21 new grants for cybersecurity and privacy research. Our faculty and students are engaged in million-dollar projects with peer institutions across the country.
Name
Title
Funding Agency
Brendan Saltaformaggio and Sukarno Mertoguno
MonT: An IPT-Like Instruction and Data Streams Monitoring for General CPU
DARPA
Brendan Saltaformaggio
CAREER: GLEAN: Gearing Rapid Malware Forensics Toward Holistic Mobile Botnet Takedown
National Science Foundation
Brendan Saltaformaggio
BOTRAIDS: Botnet Remediation via Automated deception and payload Seizure
Office of Naval Research
Daniel Genkin
Real-Time Multi-Modal Measurements from Subcomponents for Late-Stage Attack Detection/Mitigation
DARPA
Daniel Genkin
Microarchitectural Side-Channel Analysis of ARM Devices
Qualcomm
Jon Lindsay
Deterrence in Space-Integrated or Entangled? A Wargaming Approach to Multidomain Strategy
U.S. Department of Defense
Mustaque Ahamad
Understanding and Combating Threats Against Emerging Voice-based Applications
Cisco
Mustaque Ahamad
SaTC: CORE: Medium: Fact(Check)Mate: Empowering Fact Checkers with a SecurityDriven Approach
National Science Foundation
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Nadiya Kostyuk
Red lines and Negotiables: How Exposure to Wartime Violence Influences Support for Peace Settlements
National Science Foundation
Paul Pearce
CAREER: Next-Generation Active Internet Measurement
National Science Foundation
Paul Pearce
Scanning-Adaptive Network Deception
Office of Naval Research
Peter Swire
Multi-Modla Infrastructure for Enabling Social AI Research
National Science Foundation
Saman Zonouz
Georgia Artificial Intelligence Manufacturing Technology Corridor (GA-AIM)
U.S. Department of Commerce
Saman Zonouz
Towards Deceptive and Domain-Specific Cyber-Physical Honeypots
National Science Foundation
Saman Zonouz
Physics-Aware and AI-Enabled Cyber-Physical Intrusion Response for the Power Grid
National Science Foundation
Taesoo Kim
EdgeShield: Defeating Next-generation Cyber Threats on the Edge Environment
Cisco
Taesoo Kim
Extending Use-After-Free Vulnerabilities Detection to Userspace Applications and Language Runtime
National Security Research Institute
Taesoo Kim
Pioneering the Software Development Paradigm with Rust
Office of Naval Research
Wenke Lee
AI Institute for Agent-based Cyber Threat Intelligence and Operation
National Science Foundation
SCP
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SCHOOL OF CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY / COLLEGE OF COMPUTING
FACULTY
Our school brings together faculty from across the Georgia Tech campus. Many faculty have joint appointments in the College of Computing, as well as with the School of Computational Science and Engineering within the College of Engineering, the Scheller College of Business, the School of Public Policy, and the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, both in the Ivan Allen College of the Liberal Arts.
Michael Bailey Founding Chair School of Cybersecurity and Privacy Mustaque Ahamad Professor Alexandra (Sasha) Boldyreva Professor and Associate Chair of Graduate Studies Courtney Crooks GTRI Principal Research Scientist Richard DeMillo Professor and Charlotte B. and Roger C. Warren Chair of Computing Merrick Furst Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Deliberate Innovation
Daniel Genkin Associate Professor Seymour Goodman Regents Professor Joseph Jaeger Assistant Professor Taesoo Kim Associate Professor Vladimir Kolesnikov Professor and Senior Associate Chair Wenke Lee Professor and John P. Imlay Jr. Faculty Chair
Frank Li Assistant Professor Jon Lindsay Associate Professor
Vijay Madisetti Professor
Michael Specter Assistant Professor
Sukarno Mertoguno Principal Research Engineer
Peter Swire Professor and J.Z. Liang Chair
Milton Mueller Professor
Cecilia Testart Assistant Professor
Paul Pearce Assistant Professor
Saman Zonouz Associate Professor
Jerry Perullo Professor of the Practice Brendan Saltaformaggio Assistant Professor Ryan Shandler Assistant Professor
This annual report was published by the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy, an academic unit within the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. The creation of this document could not have been completed without the work of the following individuals: Editorials: n A Proven Track Record of Excellence in Cybersecurity- John Popham, SCP Communications Officer n Cyber Faculty Sets Out to Protect Nation’s Investment in AI Manufacturing- John Popham, SCP Communications Officer n J.Z. Liang Chair is Voice for Multidisciplinary Cybersecurity Work- Ann Claycombe, Director of Communications for the College of Computing n Georgia Tech Students Smash NSA Codebreaker Challenge Once Again- John Popham, SCP Communications Officer n Securing the Future of Artificial IntelligenceJohn Popham, SCP Communications Officer n Trailblazing Regents’ Professor Continues 60-Year Pursuit of Improving the Human Condition- John Popham, SCP Communications Officer Design and Layout: LaDonna Cherry, Assistant Director of Creative Services for the College of Computing Photography: Terence Rushin, Digital Communications Specialist for the College of Computing Kevin Beasley, Video Producer/Director for the College of Computing Special thanks to the following individuals who read, reviewed, and provided information to this report: Andrew Kim, Ben Snedecker, Charles Isbell, Elijah Mastinu, Kaye Husbands Fealing, Michael Bailey, Michelle Azriel, Megan McRainey, Mustaque Ahamad, Patricia Hickman, Peter Swire, Rich DeMillo, Steve McLaughlin, and Wenke Lee.
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SCHOOL OF CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY / COLLEGE OF COMPUTING
School of Cybersecurity and Privacy 756 West Peachtree Street NW. Atlanta, GA 30308-4016 Phone: 404-894-5592 Email: scp@cc.gatech.edu
