SEEKING, FINDING AND REMOVING CYBERTHREATS

Professor Spotlights Cybercrime as PVAMU hosts Annual Conference of the International Information Management Association (IIMA)

Dr. Emmanuel Opara is dedicated to the fight against cybercrime.

As an associate professor in Prairie View A&M University’s

College of Business, Opara teaches courses on cybersecurity,

E-commerce technologies, strategic information technology, and other disciplines. But as a long-time cybersecurity expert and a member of the International Information Management Association (IIMA), he’s also working on a breakthrough in the fight against cybercrime.

In October of 2018, PVAMU hosted, for the first time, a joint conference of international researchers: the Annual Conference of the IIMA was held simultaneously with the 5th Annual Conference of the International Conference on Information Technology and Economic Development (ICITED), and Opara played a central role as an IIMA member as well as chair of this year’s conference. This joint conference is held annually in various parts of the world, and PVAMU welcomed researchers from Canada, China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Mexico, Taiwan, Scotland, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and various other nations.

The conference agenda focused on promoting the exchange of ideas among leading researchers, educators, developers and practitioners who share their research and disseminate innovative breakthroughs in education, business, and government. “We’re showing that we have very productive people here and that we have the ability to host a wonderful conference,” says Opara. Using the theme, “Securing the Internet and Cloud Technology: Where Cutting-Edge Science Meets Business,” conference panelists covered a broad range of topics, including, cybersecurity, medical informatics, E-learning, “smart” systems, social networking, cloud computing, mobile computing, big data and emerging trends, among other topics.

Opara himself addressed the latest developments in cybersecurity research at PVAMU and gave a presentation on the topic of “threat-hunting” to the conference attendees.

“We like to go where the enemy is,” says Opara. “The problem most organizations are having right now, is waiting until someone attacks their network before confronting the problem. That’s why we’ve seen this problem with cyberattacks everywhere.

THE SOFTWARE WE HAVE RIGHT NOW ALLOWS US TO GO INTO A NETWORK AND IDENTIFY BAD GUYS AND NOTE THEIR IP ADDRESSES, NETWORKS USED, AND FROM THERE, IDENTIFY THEIR PATTERNS AND COME UP WITH A SOLUTION

“The software we have right now allows us to go into a network and identify bad guys and note their IP addresses, networks used, and from there, identify their patterns and come up with a solution,” Opara adds.

About 66 universities were represented at the IIMA, and several key industries were also present. Opara says he and other IIMA researchers are increasingly recognized and sought out as authorities on the subject of cybersecurity and online forensics.

“We’re looking for partnerships with industry and key vendors,” he says. “The vaccine we are developing will ensure that if somebody invades your network, instead of having to find out how they got there, there will be something to alert you that you’ve been invaded and enable you to start looking at ways to quarantine the threat.” Opara also noted the growing problem of some companies sabotaging their business rivals. “Some companies are doing a lot of phishing,” Opara says. “They will go through someone’s email address, and someone clicks on something in a deceptive link.” Instantly, he says, a virus is installed, and by the time it is detected by the victimized business, significant damage is already done.

Opara is confident his anti-cybercrime “vaccine” software will prove successful for public and private entities. o