Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

The Department of Homeland Security recently established the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS) website. It includes information for government, industry, academia, and the general public to learn about cybersecurity awareness, education, careers, and workforce development opportunities. This is an especially useful site for students interested in focusing on cybersecurity as well as anyone who wants to explore possible career and training options involving cybersecurity. The vision of NICCS is to build a national resource to elevate cybersecurity awareness and affect a change in the American public to adopt a culture of cyberspace security and to build a competent cybersecurity workforce.

The week the PBS-distributed Nightly Business Report aired a story on international cyber espionage that featured UMBC's Richard Forno, Associate director of the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity. The piece, Washington Trade-Secret Theft Enforcement Weighs on Shareholders, discussed how cyber attacks are being used by foreign companies with the help of their governments to steal trade secrets from US businesses.

Dr. Forno was also interviewed on Tuesday on the PRI's The World radio news show about the Mandiant report that traces a wave of cyber attacks on American targets to a Chinese military unit in Shanghai. Forno's interview segment starts at minute 7:30, after the introduction.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is currently accepting applications for its Summer 2013 Student Volunteer Program. Serving as an OSTP Student Volunteer provides a unique opportunity to work closely with senior White House officials and science and technology policy analysts in OSTP's topic-based divisions (Division internship), or on OSTP's legal team (Legal internship).

The application deadline is 11:59pm Friday, February 22nd. Students who are U.S. citizens and who will be actively enrolled as a graduate or undergraduate student during the Fall 2013 semester are welcome to apply.

The mission of the Office of Science and Technology Policy is threefold: first, to provide the President and his senior staff with accurate, relevant, and timely scientific and technical advice on all matters of consequence; second, to ensure that the policies of the Executive Branch are informed by sound science; and third, to ensure that the scientific and technical work of the Executive Branch is properly coordinated so as to provide the greatest benefit to society.

The UMBC Linux Users Group (LUG) will meet during the spring semester on Mondays starting on February 4 from Noon to 1:00pm in ITE 234. If you are interested in becoming a member, please come to a few meetings and check it out.

The UMBC LUG was established in 1997 as an organization of and for people interested in the Linux operating system.  This includes people who want to learn how to install and use it on their personal computers as well as those who use it regularly and want to expand and deepen their knowledge about it.

The LUG also helps members and non-members install, update and use Linux Operating System and software during its periodic Installfests.

UMBC-LUG members come from all walks of life and courses of study. You'll find among its ranks faculty, staff and students from Information Systems, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Math, Visual Arts, Sociology, Music, Social Work, and yes, even Computer Science, all bound together by a common love of Linux. Membership is not limited to UMBC students and attendance by non-members and prospective members is always welcome.

Scholarships for for rising juniors and seniors and graduate students interested in cybersecurity-related studies are availabe, with a deadline of February 8 for two programs: the Information Assurance Scholarship Program and the Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service. US citizens capable of receiving security clearances are eligible for these programs. These scholarships require the recipient to work for the government following graduation. The awards include full tuition, stipend ($30k/year for PhD students, $25k/year for MS/MPS students, and $20k/year for BS students), and more. See this announcement for more information.

Both the Washington Post and New York Times report that the Pentagon has approved a five-fold expansion of the US DoD Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) over the next several years to enhance its ability to defend critical computer systems and conduct offensive computer operations against foreign adversaries.

The expansion is in response to concerns about threats of potential attacks by "malicious actors" on US computer infrastructure, networks, computer systems. The Post article says that

"The gravity of that threat … has been highlighted by a string of sabotage attacks, including one in which a virus was used to wipe data a from more than 30,000 computers at a Saudi Arabian state oil company last summer."

The Cyber Command will have three different forces: national mission forces to protect computer systems that support the nation’s critical infrastructures, such as the electrical power grid, combat mission forces to plan and execute attacks on adversaries and cyber protection forces to secure DoD networks and computer systems.

The current Cyber command comprises about 900 personnel and is expected to grow to include 4,900 troops and civilians.

Maryland and Baltimore are top places for cybersecurity jobs according to the Cyber Jobs Report released earlier in January. The report includes a snapshot of the industry, its job openings and educational opportunities, and a proposed standardized cyber security nomenclature for this emerging industry.

The study searched approximately 340,000 cybersecurity jobs offered by more than 18,000 companies across the country and found that Maryland had 19,413 job openings in the industry. With more than 13,000 of these job openings located in Baltimore City, the city placed third among major cyber hot beds, behind only Palo Alto and San Francisco in the number of available cybersecurity positions.

The United States Intelligence Community (IC) invites you to attend the fourth annual IC Virtual Career Fair – a free online event – on Tuesday, 26 February 2013, from 2:00pm to 8:00pm (Eastern).

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about IC careers and get tips on how to apply for positions. From the comfort of your computer or mobile device, you will be able to:

• Visit IC agencies’ virtual booths
• Chat with recruiters and subject matter experts in real-time
• Attend live presentations
• Explore currently available jobs
• Link to IC agency Web sites to apply to positions online
• Network with other job seekers
• Learn about internships and other student opportunities

Space is limited. To guarantee entrance, pre-registration is highly encouraged. For more information and to register, go to http://icvirtualfair.com/

U.S. citizenship is required. The United States Intelligence Community is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Applications are now being accepted for the Information Assurance Scholarship Program (IASP) and the Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS). US citizens capable of receiving security clearances are eligible.  The deadline for both programs in February 8, 2013.

These scholarships require the recipient to work for the government following graduation. The awards include full tuition, stipend ($30k/year for PhD students, $25k/year for MS/MPS students, and $20k/year for BS students), and more.

(1) Information Assurance Scholarship Program (IASP)

The Information Assurance Scholarship Program is a yearly awarded Department of Defense sponsored scholarship/fellowship program to promote the education, recruitment, and retention of rising junior and senior undergraduate, MS, MPS, or PhD student status in CMSC, CYBR, or related field at UMBC (including IS, Math, EE, CE, physics, public policy).

(2) Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS)

The Scholarship for Service is a yearly awarded National Science Foundation sponsored scholarship program to promote the education, recruitment, and retention of rising junior and senior undergraduates and graduate students in cybersecurity-related studies. See https://www.sfs.opm.gov/ for more SFS details. (We have 2 CYBR MPS, 1 BS in CS, and 1 PhD in CS, students presently in this program.)

Completed applications for both programs are due by 12:00 (noon) on February 8, 2013.  The same application form is used for each program.  This deadline is strict.

More information, points of contact, and application instructions for both programs can be found at http://www.cisa.umbc.edu/scholarships.php.

The UMBC Center for Information and Assurance (CISA) was created in 2001 as the central point of contact at UMBC for Information Assurance (IA) including  research, teaching, and best practices.  It is because of CISA that UMBC has been recognized as a national center of academic excellence in IA education and research (CAE/CAEr).

The Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) welcomes Cindy Greenwood as their new Assistant Director. Ms. Greenwood will spearhead the new Cyber Scholars Program which kicks off this fall.

Cindy Greenwood loved college so much that she never wanted to leave.

So she didn’t.  

When an Advertising and Public Relations internship during her senior year of college showed Ms. Greenwood that it wasn’t the career for her, she switched gears. She let her heart decide.

“I felt like I could make more of a difference by going into higher education,” she says.

Greenwood knows first-hand the difference that the college experience can make. Raised in Ishpeming, Michigan–a small town of no more than 7,000 people that is “half the size of UMBC,” she says—Ms. Greenwood thought it would always be her home. That is, until she left for Grand Valley State University.  

“A college campus is like no place else. You can do anything,” says Ms. Greenwood. “You can go from a cultural event where you’re trying food from Cambodia, to a dance party with glowsticks.” The atmosphere of possibility urged her to try new things, like studying abroad in Australia.

Afterwards, a master’s program in Higher Education Administration at the Leadership Center of Washington State University beckoned to her. After graduating, Ms. Greenwood spent eight years working for and with college students, first at Ferris State University in Michigan, and then at the University of South Florida.

In 2011, she joined UMBC as the Alumni Programming Coordinator in the Office of Institutional Advancement. Here, she started the Student Alumni Association to help connect current students with alumni. Hungry for more one-on-one time with undergraduates, Ms. Greenwood volunteered to be the advisor for the UMBC Vegetarian Student Group.

It’s the chance to work with students on a daily basis that drew her to the Assistant Director position in the Center for Women in Technology, she says. Ms. Greenwood will coordinate the new Cyber Scholars Program, which is run in partnership by CWIT and the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity. Her duties include overseeing the Cyber Scholars Living Learning Community, planning events, advising scholars, and teaching a seminar and bridge program for Cyber Scholars.

“The scholars programs are really interesting [at UMBC] because they really touch on every part of students’ lives,” says Greenwood.

An advocate of social justice and equality, Ms. Greenwood says she identifies with CWIT’s mission to bolster support for women in the male-centered fields of Engineering and Information Technology. She is a co-chair of UMBC’s Presidents Commission of Women. In the end it all comes back to her experience in college.

“I’ve had some good female mentors throughout my career,” says Ms. Greenwood, “and I definitely hope to be that to other females as well.”

*Ms. Greenwood joins CWIT as Assistant Director on January 28, 2013.