CyLab Researchers Awarded Department of Defense Grant
Lujo Bauer, Matt Fredrikson and Cleotilde Gonzalez are part of a team of researchers that was named a winner of a prestigious U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) Award. The team’s project aims to address the challenge of human-bot cybersecurity teams (HBCTs), which are commonly deployed to combat cybersecurity threats and attacks but are not yet well understood.
“While we know a lot about how humans use tools to work in teams, little is known about how to manage, observe, and improve hybrid teams that compose of humans and bots,” reads the project proposal. “The area of team science that involves human-machine teams is still in its infancy.”
Cybersecurity is one of the most challenging tasks that the DoD faces today. A typical human cybersecurity analyst has to deal with a plethora of information, such as intrusion logs, network flows, executables and provenance information for files. Machine learning (ML) bots have become part of these cybersecurity teams to reduce the burden on human analysts by filtering information, thus freeing up cognitive resources for tasks related to the high-level mission.
Bauer is a professor in the departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Institute for Software Research (ISR). Fredrikson is an assistant professor in the Computer Science Department and ISR. Gonzalez is a research professor in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences.
Heinz Students are Hacking for Homeland Security
Heinz College is partnering with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the CERT Division of the Software Engineering Institute on a new entrepreneurship program that is leveraging the work of students on national security challenges.
The entrepreneurship education program, “Hacking for Homeland Security (H4HS),” is delivered in partnership with the innovation company BMNT Inc., and the Common Mission Project (CMP).
“We are proud to be a part of this collaboration and look forward to many years of working together,” said Randy Trzeciak, director of the Master of Science in Information Security Policy & Management Program at Heinz College. “This partnership will provide valuable experience to our students while directly helping to secure critical infrastructure in the United States.”
"The class engages students on a range of CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) mission challenges in cybersecurity and policy — the two problems are countering disinformation on COVID and a small-medium business information sharing challenge," said Conor McClintock, deputy chief of CISA’s Innovation Hub.
Learn more about the new program.
Recognize Your Student Workers at the Appreciation Lunch
The Student Employee Appreciation Lunch will once again be virtual this year following pandemic protocols. The event will be held from 12 - 1 p.m. Monday, April 19.
Acknowledging the many challenges and complications that working students have faced (and will continue to face), the student employee nomination process has changed for this year. This year ALL student employee submissions will be recognized and 10 randomly selected students will receive a $50 gift from the Career & Professional Development Center.
To submit a student for recognition, you are only required to complete the Student Employee Recognition Submission Form. All current undergraduate student employees, remote or on-site, are eligible to be recognized. The submission deadline is March 31. More information can be found on the CPDC Student Employment website.
Staff Council Seeks Nominations for At-Large Reps
Are you or a fellow staff member interested in contributing more to the Carnegie Mellon campus community? Is there an issue that you are passionate about and want to make a change? If so, Staff Council encourages you to participate in the 2021 Staff Council At-Large Elections. You can nominate yourself or other staff members to serve as a representative for the 2021-2023 term. The nomination period closes March 12.
Staff Council Representatives:
- Attend the general body meeting on the third Thursday of every month;
- Serve on at least one standing committee;
- Communicate information to their colleagues; and
- Serve a two-year term.
A link to the nomination form was mailed to each staff member this week. Visit the Staff Council website for more information
Presenters Needed for Take Our Children to Work Day, April 22
Take Our Children to Work Day, presented by Staff Council, is virtual this year and the organizing committee is looking for presenters who can put together a brief video for the event. This year's theme for kids 8-15 is "Boldly moving forward with what I want to be when I grow up."
Pre-recorded videos could be as short as 3-5 minutes or up to 20 minutes. You can talk about your job, your background, your goals, what it’s like working at CMU and the challenges you face. If you have a pre-recorded session that you think would be appropriate for children, then presentations could be up to 45 minutes.
If you're interested in being a presenter, please complete the registration form. The submission deadline is April 1.
Questions? Reach out to the Take Our Children to Work Day Committee at toctwd@andrew.cmu.edu.
Alumni Awards Nomination Deadline is March 14
There's still time to nominate a Tartan for the 2021 CMU Alumni Awards! The nomination deadline has been extended to March 14.
We hope you will consider nominating individuals who have reached extraordinary achievements in their careers, devoted their time and energy to Carnegie Mellon and created a legacy for this university. Alumni are honored in six categories:
- Founders Medal for Outstanding Service and Exceptional Achievement;
- Alumni Achievement Award;
- Alumni Service Award;
- Outstanding Recent Alumni Award;
- Faculty and Staff Impact Award; and
- Student Engagement Award.
For more information on the awards and how to nominate a Tartan, please visit alumni.cmu.edu/awards or contact us at alumni-awards@andrew.cmu.edu. The nomination deadline has been extended to March 14.
Who's New at CMU?
Carnegie Mellon welcomes the following new staff members this week.
- Aaron Aupperlee, Senior Director of Media Relations, SCS Dean's Office; and
- Ashley Polka, Police Officer, University Police.