Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI)

information sciences and technology

�鶹��Ƶ Competitive Cyber

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative NoVa Node promotes a research culture

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:23:51 +0000

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative NoVa Node promotes a research culture Nathan Kahl Mon, 01/12/2026 - 13:23

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Tanvir Arafin

Duminda Wijesekera

This is the third of a three-part series about the NoVa Node’s three foci: workforce development, innovation and entrepreneurship, and research.

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative NoVa Node supports a portfolio of research projects across nine Northern Virginia institutions, as well as new faculty hires and undergraduate researchers. In FY25, CCI NoVa Node researchers received 68 external grants totaling $36.7 million.

Program Manager Jordan �鶹��Ƶ said the NoVA Node funding often straddles research and workforce development. “CCI funds undergraduate research assistantships, where the students conduct research 15 to 20 hours a week alongside faculty on cyber challenges they would otherwise only read about in the classroom.”

“CCI NoVa Node often provides seed funding for faculty to generate results that are then leveraged to support larger proposals for federal funding,” said Liza Wilson Durant, CCI NoVa Node director and associate provost for strategic initiatives at George �鶹��Ƶ. “Our impact on research is then amplified when our funded faculty bring back a 10-fold increase in funding over our initial investment.”

Whether a new professor or a veteran researcher, CCI NoVa Node helps many faculty explore new and existing avenues. “As a new faculty member, CCI and NoVa Node immensely helped bootstrap my research portfolio,” said Tanvir Arafin, an assistant professor in cyber security engineering. “The seed grants provided an opportunity for learning competitive grant preparation, as well as successful research execution with high-risk, high-reward projects. CCI events also helped me connect with fellow researchers across nodes, collaborate in active research, and pursue major research grants.”

Arafin said that those efforts directly translated into success for students, ranging from building their own 5G testbed for hardware security research to a Best Demo Award at ACM WiSec 2025, a major conference.

Samy El-Tawab, information technology professor and program director in the department of computer science at James Madison University, said, “Since becoming an R2 university in 2020, our engagement with CCI significantly contributed to enhancing research at James Madison. This partnership is vital for supporting faculty development, providing essential equipment, and fostering opportunities for undergraduate researchers. The CCI collaboration has truly been one of the key avenues for advancing our research capabilities and educational mission, and we're excited to be a part of this impactful effort.”

Duminda Wijesekera, a tenured professor in the Cyber Security Engineering and Computer Science Departments at George �鶹��Ƶ and former recipient of a CCI Impact Award, said, "CCI brings together universities, businesses, and government in developing and enhancing Virginia's cyber capabilities. I have met participants across the commonwealth working with them on impactful projects. CCI's financial assistance played a major role in establishing the Living Innovation Laboratory at �鶹��Ƶ Square and providing me a CCI fellowship.”

President and CEO of Fairfax County Economic Development Victor Hoskins stressed the geographic importance of having NoVA Node at George �鶹��Ƶ. “This region is the sixth largest economy in the country at $600 billion annually, and $320 billion of that is in Northern Virginia. And George �鶹��Ƶ is smack dab in the middle of that.”

�鶹��Ƶ CCI
CCI was established in 2018 by the General Assembly, according to its website, to “serve as an engine for research, innovation, and commercialization of cybersecurity technologies, and address the commonwealth’s need for growth of advanced and professional degrees within the cyber workforce.”

Other institutions in the CCI NoVA Node include James Madison University, the University of Mary Washington, Marymount University, Shenandoah University, Blue Ridge Community College, Germanna Community College, Laurel Ridge Community College, and Northern Virginia Community College.

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Commonwealth Cyber Initiative helps launch new start-ups

Katarina Benson — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:06:56 +0000

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative helps launch new start-ups Katarina Benson Tue, 11/04/2025 - 11:06

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Accelerator (CCI+A) program is a jam-packed, five-month innovation program that’s fueling cybersecurity entrepreneurship across Virginia. It’s teaching professors and start-ups what it takes to bring technology to market, including how to pitch to a panel of investors and industry leaders.

“Supporting cybersecurity start-ups and bringing ideas out of universities and into the marketplace are an essential part of the CCI’s mission,” said Luiz DaSilva, executive director of CCI. “We’re excited to help these start-ups reach their milestones and create new opportunities and jobs in the commonwealth.”

The program began at �鶹��Ƶ and has expanded statewide. It’s co-funded by the CCI Northern Virginia Node and the CCI Hub.

Rui Ning of DeepScan presenting their pitch. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

"Since its launch at �鶹��Ƶ in 2022, CCI+A has accelerated 34 technologies from across Virginia," said Liza Wilson Durant, CCI Northern Virginia Node director, associate dean of strategic initiatives and community engagement at George �鶹��Ƶ, and College of Engineering and Computer professor. "Each year we've seen the teams increase their customer engagement and elevate their competitive pitch performance. It's exciting to see several entities undergo acquisition and see the impact of the program on Virginia economic development."

The CCI+A program works on two tracks—the CATAPULT Fund supports teams emerging from Virginia public research universities and the ASCEND Fund focuses on start-up teams collaborating with faculty subject matter experts. The teams receive up to $75,000 to help them commercialize their technology.

CCI funded 10 projects this year. On October 16, teams from both tracks competed to pitch their start-ups to a panel of investors and industry leaders. The winning team from each category received an additional $5,000 in funding.

The CATAPULT winning team is DeepScan, led by Rui Ning, an assistant professor in computer science at Old Dominion University (ODU). The team also includes Maia Lin and Yao Wang from ODU.
The ASCEND winning team is Glacier21, a start-up led by CEO Ren McEachern, a former FBI agent. Team members include Robert Appleton, Mike Borowski, Neil Alexander, along with George �鶹��Ƶ professor Foteini Baldimsti.

The CCI+A program is coordinated by Gisele Stolz, senior director of entrepreneurship and innovation at George �鶹��Ƶ.

Meet the Winners

DeepScan

While artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a requirement on our smartphones and other devices, security is lagging, said Ning, DeepScan team lead. Hidden triggers can hijack behavior, and many apps ship models that are easy to tamper with. DeepScan promises to protect on-device AI without slowing down performance. First-time winner Ning is a veteran of CCI+A and put what he learned from a past program to good use.

“The program taught me how to communicate technical ideas in a way that connects with broader audiences,” Ning said. “I’ve always been curious about entrepreneurship because it feels like a natural way to translate research into something that can make a difference. It’s another path to extend our impact beyond papers and grants.”

Glacier21

Glacier21 is focusing on combating illicit cryptocurrency activities. The platform integrates data from such sources as social media, data leaks, and the deep/dark web to uncover complex connections between crypto wallets, businesses, and individuals.

Glacier21 presented their platform focused on combating illicit cryptocurrency activities. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

CCI+A helped the team with the execution, McEachern said. “When we were lucky enough to be selected into the CCI+A program, it didn't just open up some resources; it opened up access to people and vast networks that totally changed our strategy and our thinking.”

Foteini Baldimsti, an associate professor of computer science at �鶹��Ƶ, worked with Glacier21 to provide technical expertise. “It's very nice to see how your academic work can help a start-up and give technical knowledge,” Baldimsti said. “But I think it's also very interesting as an academic to learn from this project and from the CCI+A program about how you can bring your own ideas and how you can participate in one of the next cohorts and be on the other side as the founder of the company. I think this experience has been very, very valuable.”

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Foteini Baldimtsi

Learn more about Fuse at �鶹��Ƶ Square

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Data Mining in Health Care

Anonymity’s ARX nemesis

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 15:12:08 +0000

Anonymity’s ARX nemesis Nathan Kahl Mon, 10/20/2025 - 11:12

A team of faculty and students from �鶹��Ƶ recently discovered a vulnerability in a widely used anonymization tool. They presented their findings last week in Taiwan at the Association for Computing Machinery Conference on Computer and Communications Security (ACM CCS), one of the world’s most prestigious computer security conferences, with a very low paper acceptance rate.

The problem they discovered was with ARX, an open-source data anonymization tool, which provides what is referred to as k-anonymity. It is a commonly used tool in clinical settings to maintain data privacy. The discovery is particularly important at a time when more and more private data is being used in a variety settings and systems.

Evgenios Kornaropoulos, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, said, “Sometimes this type of microdata is very valuable. Tools like ARX anonymize the data so it’s compliant with HIPAA, and then that data can be shared with policymakers, engineers, scientists, and others who will make policy decisions and scientific studies based on this information.”

While many people receiving medical care are comfortable with their information being included in larger data sets for purposes of medical discovery, they likely do not want personal, identifiable information released.

“For patients, and especially those from more vulnerable or marginalized communities, data privacy is not an abstract concern, it’s deeply tied to trust in the health care system," said paper co-author Rebecca Sutter, a professor in the School of Nursing, and director of the MAP Clinics. "The integrity of tools like ARX matters because they underpin how we protect patient information while advancing public health research. When anonymization fails, it’s not only a technical vulnerability, it’s a human one."

Computer science PhD student Somiya Chhillar, lead author on the paper, said that the ubiquity of ARX was a reason they chose to study it. “We wanted to see how ARX really operates and how the algorithm works. While we were doing that, we realized that a few of the steps that it takes are very opportunistic, and because of that, it leaks information that we shouldn't be finding out by just looking at the anonymized data.”

Chhillar said that ARX follows a “greedy strategy,” explaining that there is a tension between privacy and utility. When data is shared, it should be useful without leaking information. The best metric for deciding the data usefulness is measured by information loss while the data is being made private. “The algorithm tries to minimize information loss while anonymizing the data, and ideally, we want the least possible information loss. And that's the greedy aspect of it; it's not always going for the most private, it’s just going for the most utility.”

This is what backfires, said Kornaropoulos, because experts (or attackers) can reverse engineer the anonymization steps the algorithm took throughout its execution to maximize utility and figure out properties of the data that were there before and after this anonymization step.

Kornaropoulos praised his student’s dedication to the discovery, noting that Chhillar “worked on this project for a while, and this code base of ARX is an elaborate tool, with thousands of lines of code. She had to go through it to truly internalize understand everything that's going on there,” he said.

The project was supported by a Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) grant from the program, “Securing Interactions between Humans and Machines,” and as a requirement of the grant, the project crossed different parts of the university. The College of Engineering and Computing collaborated with �鶹��Ƶ and Partners (MAP) Clinics, which provided the data.

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computer science

Cyber Security

Rebecca Sutter, DNP, APRN, BC-FNP

In This Story

Learn more about Cybersecurity at George �鶹��Ƶ

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative NoVa Node nurtures next-gen cyber sleuths

Nathan Kahl — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 18:38:00 +0000

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative NoVa Node nurtures next-gen cyber sleuths Nathan Kahl Wed, 10/08/2025 - 14:38

In This Story

This is the first of a three-part series about the NoVa Node’s three foci: workforce development, innovation and entrepreneurship, and research.

A cyber-physical systems testbed, cutting-edge research projects across AI and next-gen networks, a cybersecurity apprenticeship program, and a cybersecurity accelerator are just a sampling of the outcomes from �鶹��Ƶ’s role as the NoVa Node headquarters of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI), Virginia’s main access point for workforce development cybersecurity innovation, and research.
According to Jordan �鶹��Ƶ, NoVa Node program manager, all programs in the node check at least two of those boxes, but he emphasized that NoVa Node is particularly strong in workforce development. From traineeships to internships for different ages, the NoVa Node has opportunities for people interested in learning more.

“There are more than 50,000 cybersecurity job openings in Virginia and the existing pipeline of cybersecurity-related degree-seeking candidates is not enough to fill the demand,” said Liza Wilson Durant, CCI NoVa Node director and associate provost for strategic initiatives at George �鶹��Ƶ. “CCI NoVa Node programs widen the pipeline and present new sources of talent, including those with degrees outside of the typical cybersecurity pathway, but with hands-on skills developed in the field. Our programs have touched thousands, and we know we are having an impact.”

The node features a cybersecurity traineeship targeting people who, at the end of the program, will be ready for full-time, entry-level cybersecurity positions. The traineeship builds a bridge for people with non-technical or non-cybersecurity backgrounds, typically either recent grads or career transitioners looking to enter the field.

�鶹��Ƶ said, “We pay them to go through a seven-week, full-time cyber fundamentals boot camp. And then we work to place them in 12-week apprenticeships. CCI trainees have been placed with Peraton, one of the first adopters of the program, as well as other government contractors and some small businesses. One graduate from our program landed a position with TikTok and another with Amazon Web Services.”

"The node also runs a subsidized internship program," said �鶹��Ƶ, with a sliding scale determining level of support based on company size. “Small and start-up companies have limited resources to support interns and yet they are excellent training ground, providing roles with significant responsibility and opportunities for technical training,” said Durant. NoVa Node’s support of startups and early-stage companies provides secondary reinforcement of the innovation and entrepreneurship foci.

NoVa Node interns participate in "Tech Duels." Photo courtesy CCI.

Fairfax County Economic Development Authority President and CEO Victor Hoskins stressed the need for a skilled technical workforce in the region. “We have five times the data center capacity of Silicon Valley. We have three times the data center capacity of Singapore. So, when you look at what our global competitors would be, we are way ahead of them in terms of their infrastructure capacity. And when you get ahead in the infrastructure, you also must have the talent to run it.”

Recognizing the importance of filling the pipeline when the talent is still deciding on a career path, NoVa Node runs a summer high school internship program partnering with the Children's Science Center, part of the Northern Virginia Science Foundation. The competitive application process yielded 45 students in a recent cohort. �鶹��Ƶ said, “The candidate interns go through a two-week professional skills boot camp and are then placed in a five-week paid internship.”

Xin-Wen Wu, an associate professor at the University of Mary Washington, said CCI was instrumental in the university’s growth in cybersecurity education and research. "We have hosted summer camps for high school students, funded faculty-led research involving undergraduate CCI Scholars, and provided students with access to paid internships and experiential learning opportunities. These initiatives have significantly advanced UMW’s research capabilities and contributed to the development of a skilled cybersecurity workforce.”

Coming up next: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

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Workforce Development

internships

College of Engineering and Computing

Cybersecurity student hopes to use his powers for good

Shayla Brown — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 15:49:25 +0000

Cybersecurity student hopes to use his powers for good Shayla Brown Fri, 08/29/2025 - 11:49

When �鶹��Ƶ cyber security engineering major Connor Wadlin learned about ransomware attacks on organizations, such as the one on the Health Service Executive in Ireland, in his CYSE 445 System Security and Resilience class, it confirmed his commitment to dedicating his educational and professional career to protecting and preserving human lives.

“There’s nothing more important than protecting and defending others. As an engineer, I’m driven to get important work done by thinking about complex problems and finding suitable solutions,” said Wadlin, who is from Leesburg, Virginia.

Since winter 2024, the Honors College student has been interning at the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) Northern Virginia Node, George �鶹��Ƶ’s branch of the statewide network dedicated of excellence in cybersecurity research. CCI’s mission includes workforce development through training the next generation of cybersecurity experts.

CEC student and Commonwealth Cyber Initiative intern Connor Wadlin. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding.

“It’s a super exciting job because I get to work with AprilTags, which are on objects that the drone's camera then sees and scans. Instead of sharing data, the tags utilize location information for navigation, tracking objects, or pathing purposes,” he said.

Wadlin is also simulating drone flight with the Microsoft tool Air Sim, a project he presented at the CCI Symposium in April. “I created a model with a 98% accuracy, really high F1 score—higher than what we could find on the market—detecting collisions so the drones would be able to respond to anomalous factors such as objects that get too close, environmental variables, cyber-attacks, and more,” he explained.

Wadlin learned about many of the tools he’s currently using for CCI in his classes with College of Engineering and Computing professors, such as his mentor Mohamed Gebril, an associate professor in the Department of Cyber Security Engineering.

“George �鶹��Ƶ supports people where they are to get them where they want to be,” Wadlin said.

The skills Wadlin has acquired during his time at George �鶹��Ƶ and in his work with CCI have enable him to help other students in their studies.

“Connor is a very skilled student and has been able to develop different programs, as well as 12 labs for sophomore- and freshman-level students at George �鶹��Ƶ. He even assists the students during our workshops,” said Gebril.

Wadlin is participating in George �鶹��Ƶ’s Bachelor’s to Accelerated Master’s Program and will to pursuing a master’s degree also in cyber security. Gebril said he’s looking forward to having Wadlin in his classes again as a graduate student.

“It will be a smooth transition from the undergraduate to the graduate level because the curriculum aligns well with the CCI mission, which is to equip our students with the tools to conduct research activity and develop cutting-edge technology,” said Gebril.

Wadlin’s team is also working to develop a first-of-its-kind cyber drone race that incorporates cybersecurity challenges and artificial intelligence for undergraduate students.

Wadlin was diagnosed with autism at 19 and sees this diagnosis as working to his advantage by allowing him to see things from different perspectives and approach problems with his own unique ideas.

“As an engineer, you have to ask yourself ‘how is this making the world a better place?’ That's always got to be the end goal,” said Wadlin.

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Mohamed Gebril

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internships

Honors College

CEC students

George �鶹��Ƶ and CodeLock work on securing the software supply chain

Nathan Kahl — Thu, 15 May 2025 11:27:25 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ and CodeLock work on securing the software supply chain Nathan Kahl Thu, 05/15/2025 - 07:27

�鶹��Ƶ Department of Information Sciences and Technology Professor Kun Sun received a grant from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) of Northern Virginia to collaborate with CodeLock, Inc., a Virginia-based technology company specializing in software security. The grant totals $75,000 for one year and is part of CCI’s Academic Support for Cybersecurity Entrepreneurship and Next-Gen Development (ASCEND) Fund. 

“The idea for this funding is to partner a startup company with university subject matter experts,” said Sun. “The focus of this grant is to build a platform that connects startups with academic experts to solve technical industry challenges.”  

The project will integrate Sun’s previous research on automated security patching with CodeLock’s technology for secure software supply chain using dynamically generated digital signatures to develop solutions that address vulnerabilities in source code. 

The CCI is Virginia’s main access point for cybersecurity research, innovation, workforce development. Image courtesy CCI.

CodeLock offers a cybersecurity platform designed to secure software development processes by providing real-time monitoring, compliance automation, and protection against insider threats and supply chain attacks. It creates a forensic chain of custody by linking every code change to its developer, ensuring transparency and integrity throughout the software development lifecycle.  
 
“So for software supply chain security we install outside software applications on our smartphones and computers, for example,” said Sun. “That software may rely on  other software and we have this term, SBOM, which means software bill of material. It says that we need to know what other dependent software is used and can we trust that software? If you install software, you need to verify it has not been manipulated or modified by an attacker.” Sun will apply his 10+ years of research on automatic software vulnerability detection and automated program repair. 

“The vast majority of software supply chain attacks begin with compromised credentials—something traditional security tools are ill-equipped to prevent,” said CodeLock CEO Brian Gallagher. “By enforcing zero-trust authentication at the developer level and linking that identity to a tamper-proof chain of custody, CodeLock is fundamentally reshaping the threat landscape. Partnering with George �鶹��Ƶ allows us to build on that foundation by automating vulnerability patching, which not only strengthens security but also delivers measurable cost savings for our customers. This collaboration accelerates our mission to bring transparency, accountability, and efficiency to software development across both government and commercial sectors.”

The project team will get feedback from CodeLock’s existing customers and collaborate with CCI and the Northern Virginia Technology Council to refine the solution for broader commercial adoption. Additional funding will be provided by CodeLock and supplemented through grant opportunities. 

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Kun Sun

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software

Nearly 500 high schoolers get expert advice at Virginia CyberSlam 2025

tdonnel — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:20:56 +0000

Nearly 500 high schoolers get expert advice at Virginia CyberSlam 2025 tdonnel Mon, 03/17/2025 - 12:20

Nearly 500 high school students from across the commonwealth gathered at �鶹��Ƶ for Virginia CyberSlam 2025, where cybersecurity experts from both the public and private sectors shared industry insights during a day of activities aimed at inspiring the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

Dolores Garza addresses CyberSlam 2025 attendees. Photo by Teresa Donnellan/CEC

“What an event it was March 10, with 475 students representing 22 schools and six school districts from around the commonwealth enjoying hands-on workshops and activities led by cyber experts from industry, government, and higher education,” said CyberSlam founder Chris Starke, a teacher for Loudoun County Public Schools who co-directed the event with the University of Alabama in Huntsville’s Jennifer Marden. “In all, 28 presenters combined to run 12 workshops—6 for each of our novice and advanced students. It was truly rewarding to see students enjoy learning about cybersecurity.”

Students heard from keynote speaker Dolores Garza, Branch Chief of the Technical Operations Group at the United States Marshals Service, among others. Garza oversaw the creation of a cyber investigation unit at the U.S. Marshals and described the evolution of cybersecurity as a professional field. She encouraged attendees to stay open to new technological developments and emphasized the need for a hybrid set of skills that combines criminal investigatory techniques with technical expertise.

“Diversity in technology is not just an asset; it is a necessity,” said Garza. “The more perspectives we bring to problem-solving, the stronger and more effective our solutions become.”

Student navigates drone during CyberSlam 2025. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding.

Throughout the day, professionals led hands-on workshops in various aspects of cybersecurity.

David Raymond from Virginia Cyber Range led a session on advanced Capture the Flag challenges, focusing on Wireshark.

Greg Crabb from 10-8, LLC, conducted a tabletop exercise on incident response and deep fake technology, and Randy Benn from Claroty introduced students to the Internet of Things.

Other experts leading workshops represented Vertex11, OpusType Advisors, the Idaho National Laboratory, the Drug Enforcement Administration, CYBER.ORG, George �鶹��Ƶ, and Shenandoah University, leading workshops on drones, deep fakes, digital forensics, and more.

Students participate in a CyberSlam workshop. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

“I would like to thank our co-hosts, George �鶹��Ƶ’s Department of Cyber Security Engineering and Loudoun County Public Schools, as well as the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Northern Virginia Node (CCI NoVA Node), Virginia Cyber Range, Vertex11, CACI International Inc., Claroty, CodeHS, Widelity, Inc., and GT Edge AI for sponsoring this wonderful event that in four years has impacted more than 1,600 students,” said Starke. “And, thank you to our exhibitors the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, �鶹��Ƶ Competitive Cyber (MCC), George �鶹��Ƶ’s College of Engineering and Computing, GT Edge AI, and the Virginia National Guard 91^st Cyber Brigade.”

CyberSlam attendees navigate drones in a workshop. Photo by Jennifer Marden

One event highlight was a panel featuring George �鶹��Ƶ students from the MCC club—Dylan Charnick, Dylan Knoff, and Danyaal Shaozab. MCC is known for its inclusivity, welcoming George �鶹��Ƶ students from all majors and levels of experience. The club meets twice weekly, hosting impressive speakers, running workshops on cybersecurity skills, and forming teams to participate successfully in various CTF events throughout the year.

During the panel, the MCC students fielded questions from the audience about degree programs at George �鶹��Ƶ, the benefits of technical certifications, and how to best prepare for a career in cybersecurity. “Most cyber jobs are here in the D.C. area,” noted Knoff, pointing out one benefit of pursuing cybersecurity at George �鶹��Ƶ.

CyberSlam fosters the cultivation of cybersecurity talent in Northern Virginia, where the industry is booming. This year’s event particularly underscored the opportunities in both public and private sectors that are preparing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, ensuring they are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in this rapidly growing field.

“I would like to thank CCI NoVA Node, specifically Liza Durant and Jordan �鶹��Ƶ for sponsoring the amazing raffle prizes and their support for the Virginia CyberSlam, and also George �鶹��Ƶ’s Elizabeth Dean for making this event possible,” said Marden. “We could not have done this with the support of George �鶹��Ƶ, CCI, our presenters, sponsors, and of course our wonderful Virginia cybersecurity educators and students.”

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Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Keeping data safe by keeping it separate

tdonnel — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 15:35:36 +0000

Keeping data safe by keeping it separate tdonnel Tue, 02/25/2025 - 10:35

Developing a robust cybersecurity system demands a lot of data, but keeping all that data in a single location introduces the risk of a data breach. Luckily, �鶹��Ƶ researcher Zhuangdi Zhu in the Department of Cyber Security Engineering specializes in federated learning, a method of decentralized machine learning that allows multiple entities to collaboratively train a machine learning model without sharing their raw data.

Zhu is using this expertise to assist Wajih Ul Hassan of the University of Virginia develop scalable host-based intrusion detection systems (HIDS). Together, Zhu and Hassan are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance a given host’s cybersecurity while ensuring data privacy.

HIDS monitor and analyze the activities within a single host or device. These systems use data, such as system logs, web browsing logs, and process logs, to detect irregularities that may indicate a security threat. For example, Zhu noted, a HIDS might detect malicious software that prompts a browser to download a harmful PDF file. By identifying such irregularities, the HIDS can prevent potential security breaches. Central management of these logs through managed security service providers (MSSPs) on cloud servers, however, could potentially breach user privacy. Enter: federated learning.

Zhuangdi Zhu, photo provided

In a federated learning system, each entity trains a local model on its own data and only shares the model updates with a central server. Local models are trained on individual datasets, and their findings are sent to a central server, Zhu explained. The server then aggregates these parameters to create a global model, which is subsequently sent back to the local models. This iterative process continues until a robust and accurate model is developed. Federated learning thus ensures sensitive data remains within the local models, addressing privacy concerns and complying with data regulations.

The project, funded by the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, is set to span one year, starting in the summer of 2025. In addition to developing a federated learning framework for HIDS, the team plans to create an open-source dataset for intrusion detection, which will serve as a valuable resource for future research and development in this field.

Zhu's work on decentralized machine learning not only addresses critical privacy concerns but also paves the way for more secure and efficient threat detection systems. Her work on this project represents a significant step forward in the ongoing effort to protect digital environments from evolving cyber threats.

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Zhuangdi Zhu

Learn more about George �鶹��Ƶ's Department of Cyber Security Engineering

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Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence

Cybersecurity faculty teams pitch startup ideas at Commonwealth Cyber Initiative competition

tdonnel — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 17:11:08 +0000

Cybersecurity faculty teams pitch startup ideas at Commonwealth Cyber Initiative competition tdonnel Fri, 10/11/2024 - 13:11

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Andre Marshall, PhD

On October 9, 2024, the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s Northern Virginia Node accelerator program (CCI+A) culminated in a final pitch competition in front of a panel of cybersecurity industry experts and entrepreneurs at �鶹��Ƶ Square. Program participants, cybersecurity engineering academics from throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, spent the past few months bringing their ideas for businesses to life.

The program helped participants connect with mentors, identify funding and how to obtain it, investigate their target customer, further develop their minimum viable product and hone their elevator pitch. CCI Northern Virginia Node Director Liza Wilson Durant, who welcomed event attendees, encouraged participants to change their perspective from faculty member explaining the technical basis for their idea, to end user who is trying to understand the problem it will solve.

CCI+A 2024 participants and advisors. Photo by Teresa Donnellan.

Each of the eight 2024 faculty teams presented a pitch and received insights on the industry and investment landscapes from the esteemed judging panel. The panel included Jennifer Addie, chief operating officer of Mach37 Cyber Accelerator and VentureScope; Maria Swainson, a managing vice president at Gartner and a member of Citrine Angels, an investment group; Maurice Boissiere, chief customer officer at DataTribe; and, Alicia Lynch, chief information security officer at TD Synnex. Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George �鶹��Ƶ and venture partner with Paladin Capital Group moderated the panel.

Faculty team products included everything from hardware to protect a person’s identity to encryption software. CyberGuard AI, led by Old Dominion University’s Peter Foytick; PrivacyGuard, led by Old Dominion’s Rui Ning; CyberSeQurity, led by �鶹��Ƶ's Weiwen Jiang; EngineeRD Solutions, led by George �鶹��Ƶ’s Brian Ngac; MedChai, led by William & Mary’s Ran Yang; Continuous and Lightweight Authentication for Wearable and Portable Systems (CLAWS), led by George �鶹��Ƶ’s Sai Manoj Pudukotai Dinakarrao; RADAR - Real-time Anomaly Detection with Edge AI Hardware, led by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Jayasimha Atulasimhal; and, Machine Learning Operations Executed in an Encrypted Environment (MOXIE), led by Old Dominion scientists all presented pitches.

Robert Podswadt pitches MOXIE to a panel of cybersecurity industry expert. Photo by Teresa Donnellan.

Robert Podswadt, the development lead for MOXIE, made the winning pitch. His teammates include John Matter and Daniel Takabi. The panel praised Podswadt’s clarity, particularly his use of simple graphics to explain MOXIE, a proposed homomorphic computing encryption service.

“We’re leveraging our vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, and we’re leveraging our deep pool of cybersecurity talent here in Northern Virginia,” said Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact at �鶹��Ƶ Andre Marshall, who spoke at the event. He added that CCI was “a visionary initiative by the state of Virginia” whereby more than 40 academic units are working together to foster cybersecurity research and workforce development in Virginia.

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