CERIAS Weekly Security Seminar - Purdue University

CERIAS

CERIAS -- the Nation's top-ranked interdisciplinary academic education and research institute -- hosts a weekly cyber security, privacy, resiliency or autonomy speaker, highlighting technical discovery, a case studies or exploring cyber operational approaches; they are not product demonstrations, service sales pitches, or company recruitment presentations. Join us weekly...or explore 25 years of archives for the who's-who in cybersecurity.

  1. OCT 29 · VIDEO

    Marcus Botacin, Malware Detection under Concept Drift: Science and Engineering

    The current largest challenge in ML-based malware detection is maintaining high detection rates while samples evolve, causing classifiers to drift. What is the best way to solve this problem? In this talk, Dr. Botacin presents two views on the problem: the scientific and the engineering. In the first part of the talk, Dr. Botacin discusses how to make ML-based drift detectors explainable. The talk discusses how one can split the classifier knowledge into two: (1) the knowledge about the frontier between Malware (M) and Goodware (G); and (2) the knowledge about the concept of the (M and G) classes, to understand whether the concept or the classification frontier changed. The second part of the talk discusses how the experimental conditions in which the drift handling approaches are developed often mismatch the real deployment settings, causing the solutions to fail to achieve the desired results. Dr Botacin points out ideal assumptions that do not hold in reality, such as: (1) the amount of drifted data a system can handle, and (2) the immediate availability of oracle data for drift detection, when in practice, a scenario of label delays is much more frequent. The talk demonstrates a solution for these problems via a 5K+ experiment, which illustrates (1) how to explain every drift point in a malware detection pipeline and (2) how an explainable drift detector also makes online retraining to achieve higher detection rates and requires fewer retraining points than traditional approaches. About the speaker: Dr. Botacin is a Computer Science Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University (TAMU, USA) since 2022. Ph.D. in Computer Science (UFPR, Brazil), Master's in Computer Science and Computer Engineering (UNICAMP, Brazil). Malware Analyst since 2012. Specialist in AV engines and Sandbox Development. Dr. Botacin published research papers at major academic conferences and journals. Dr. Botacin also presented his work at major industry and hacking conferences, such as HackInTheBox and Hou.Sec.Con.Page: https://marcusbotacin.github.io/

    52 min

  2. OCT 22 · VIDEO

    Rajiv Khanna, The Shape of Trust: Structure, Stability, and the Science of Unlearning

    Trust in modern AI systems hinges on understanding how they learn—and, increasingly, how they can forget. This talk develops a geometric view of trustworthiness that unifies structure-aware optimization, stability analysis, and the emerging science of unlearning. I will begin by revisiting the role of sharpness and flatness in shaping both generalization and sample sensitivity, showing how the geometry of the loss landscape governs what models remember. Building on these insights, I will present recent results on Sharpness-Aware Machine Unlearning, a framework that characterizes when and how learning algorithms can provably erase the influence of specific data points while preserving accuracy on the rest. The discussion connects theoretical guarantees with empirical findings on the role of data distribution and loss geometry in machine unlearning—ultimately suggesting that the shape of the optimization landscape is the shape of trust itself. About the speaker: Rajiv Khanna is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science. His research interests span various subfields of machine learning including optimization, theory and interpretability.Previously, he held positions of Visiting Faculty Researcher at Google, postdoctoral scholar at Foundations of Data Analystics Institute at University of California, Berkeley and a Research Fellow in the Foundations of Data Science program at the Simons Institute also at UC Berkeley. He graduated with his PhD from UT Austin.

    56 min

  3. OCT 15 · VIDEO

    Matthew Sharp, Securing Linux in a Heterogenous Enterprise Environment

    This seminar examines the challenges of securing Linux (and legacy UNIX) systems in heterogenous enterprise environments, where cohabitant Windows infrastructure often dictates corporate security focus, resources, and tooling. Drawing on experiences across academia, large industry, and more modestly-sized startups, Sharp will highlight practical strategies, open source approaches, and mindset shifts needed to effectively protect Linux in a Windows-centric security landscape. About the speaker: Matthew Sharp has dedicated over two decades to securing UNIX and Linux servers across diverse environments of widely varying scale and complexity, in roles encompassing systems and network administration, red team contract work, and system and security engineering. Presently, he serves as a Principal Engineer at Toyota Motor North America with their Cyber Defensive Services group. His extensive experience has provided firsthand insights into the challenges associated with securing Linux systems in environments where Windows typically dominates both infrastructure and security investments. Sharp is particularly interested in advancing practical, open-source-driven approaches to Linux security and fostering a mindset that empowers practitioners to take proactive steps in addressing problems that mainstream security tools often overlook.

    52 min

  4. OCT 8 · VIDEO

    Stephen Kines, Four Deadly Sins of Cyber: Sloth, Gluttony, Greed & Pride

    In the UK one of the great global car brands is on the verge of bankruptcy this month due to a single cyber-attack with the consequence of a potential loss of 130,000 jobs. Jaguar Land Rover is seeking a government bail-out to survive. In this first of a series of seminars delivered from the founder of a cybersecurity company in the same city where Jaguar Land Rover is reeling from this attack, we will cover Four Deadly Sins of Cyber with the other 3 sins in a follow-up seminar:1. Sloth: Bloated legacy architectures and slow patch cycles, run very real risks of seeing their progress as "good enough" up until the very moment some major event proves it wasn't. We will look at how to focus on compartmentalization, and containment.2. Gluttony: Exponential expansion of networks and devices to serve the AI-masters leading to the Skynet moment. Cyber threats leverage connectivity to spread; contagion control comes from knowing how to control that connectivity.3. Greed: Insatiable desire to acquire the latest and greatest security software, in the belief that newer is better, irrespective of how it fits and is to be used. Not so in OT networks where few of those are fit for purpose. The aim for simplicity benefits the most important questions "what is where?", "what exactly is the threat?" and "where can we exert control of threats accessing critical resources?".4. Pride: Overconfidence and self-assuredness in the status quo, doing more of the same will be fine. How's that working out so far? Humans-in-the-loop: some method of controlling contagion is essential. Minimizing the loss remains mandatory. The second half of the seminar will cover three perspectives of a founder of a hardware cybersecurity innovator : 1. The need to look at RoI when deploying solutions, 2. How to frame CNI cyber solutions within SDG/sustainability/impact, and 3. Moving beyond code-jockeys – cyber career perspectives requiring skills in humanities (psychology, philosophy, etc.) to think differently. About the speaker: Stephen is an international corporate lawyer with expertise in complex M&A and tax efficient commercial transactions in the US, UK and emerging markets. He has been a general counsel for ultra-high net worth individuals and families as well as international law firms. He is focused on emerging technologies, including blockchain and cybersecurity. A natural manager, Stephen also isn't afraid to do the work that needs to be done in an efficient bootstrapped startup. He is also know for his avid community engagement and commitment to sustainability at all levels. Also a former military officer, Stephen is the 2IC of Goldilock - keeping 'selection and maintenance of the aim' front of mind.

    46 min

  5. OCT 1 · VIDEO

    Sanket Naik, AI Agents for DevSecOps

    AI is enabling developers and non-developers (product managers, solutions engineers) to write more lines of code than even before. Businesses are under pressure to ship these AI built products to stay competitive while still meeting regulatory requirements. Can AI solve this problem? In this talk, we will explore the opportunities and pitfalls to use AI agents for DevSecOps. About the speaker: Sanket Naik is the founder and CEO at Palosade, building a purpose-built AI platform enabling enterprises to automate their security program and unleash their business potential. He enjoys giving back to startups through investing and advisory roles. Before Palosade, he was the SVP of engineering for Coupa. In this role, he built the cloud and cybersecurity organization, over 12 years, from the ground up through an initial public offering followed by significant global growth. He has also held engineering roles at HP and Qualys.Sanket holds a BS in electronics engineering from the University of Mumbai and an MS in CS from Purdue University with research at the multi-disciplinary CERIAS cybersecurity center.

    48 min

  6. SEP 24 · VIDEO

    Richard Thieme, Thinking Like a Hacker in the Age of AI

    We need to understand AI, what's here and what's coming, at a deep and ever-deepening level. This is a genuine inflection point for our society. It's like the internet squared except the rate of adoption is much higher. We don't have decades to figure this out. ... This is not a technical talk. The focus is on the approaches we need to adopt to work in tandem with AIs. It's about thinking differently. It's about thinking like hackers. About the speaker: Richard Thieme is an author and speaker who addresses the challenges posed by new technologies. He has published numerous articles, thirteen books, and delivered hundreds of speeches. His Mobius Trilogy illuminates the realities of intelligence work and was lauded by a CIA veteran as one of the best works of serious spy fiction ever. He spoke at Def Con this year for the 27th time and was named the first "uber contributor" of the conference. He has keynoted security conferences in 15 countries. Clients range from GE, Microsoft, Medtronic, and Bank of America, to NSA, FBI, Dept of the Treasury. Los Alamos, Pentagon Security Forum, and the Secret Service.

    1h 9m

  7. SEP 17 · VIDEO

    Rolf Oppliger, E2EE Messaging: State of the Art and Future Challenges

    End-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging on the Internet allows encrypted messages to be sent from one sender to one or multiple recipients in a way that cannot be decrypted by anybody else - arguably not even the messaging service provider itself. The protocol of choice is Signal that invokes and puts in place several cryptographic primitives in new and ingenious ways. Besides the messenger of the same name, the Signal protocol is also used by WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Wire, and many more. As such, it marks the gold standard and state of the art when it comes to E2EE messaging on the Internet.To make it scalable and useful for large groups, the IETF has also standardized a complementary protocol named messaging layer security (MLS). In this talk, we outline the history of development and mode of operation of both the Signal and MLS protocols, and we elaborate on the next challenges for the future. About the speaker: Rolf Oppliger studied computer science, mathematics, and economics at the University of Bern, Switzerland, where he received M.Sc. (1991) and Ph.D. (1993) degrees in computer science. In 1994-95, he was a post-doctoral researcher at the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI) of UC Berkeley, USA. In 1999, he received the venia legendi for computer science from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, where he was appointed adjunct professor in 2007. The focus of his professional activities is on technical information security and privacy. In these areas, he has published 18 books and many scientific articles and papers, regularly participates at conferences and workshops, served on the editorial boards of some leading magazines and journals, and has been the editor of the Artech House information security and privacy book series since its beginning (in the year 2000). He's the founder and owner of eSECURITY Technologies Rolf Oppliger, works for the Swiss National Cyber Security Centre NCSC, and teaches at the University of Zurich. He was a senior member of the ACM and the IEEE, as well as a member of the IEEE Computer Society and the IACR. He also served as vice-chair of the IFIP TC 11 working group on network security.

    1h 5m

  8. SEP 10 · VIDEO

    Kris Lovejoy, The Converged Threat Landscape: What's Next in Cybersecurity

    Cybersecurity stands at a historic inflection point, where converged forces are reshaping how we think about digital defense. In this discussion, Kyndryl's Global Security & Resiliency Leader Kris Lovejoy will share five key predictions for how AI-driven threats, workforce disruption, geopolitical fragmentation, quantum computing, and infrastructure vulnerabilities will redefine how we secure our digital future. These forces are not just trends, but urgent signals of what's to come. Kris will also provide a strategic framework for navigating this converged threat landscape, with insights into the emerging roles, governance models and resilience strategies that will shape cybersecurity in the years ahead. About the speaker: Kris Lovejoy is an internationally recognized leader in cybersecurity and cyber resilience. As Kyndryl's Global Practice Leader for Security and Resiliency, Kris leads more than 7,500 cyber resilience professionals across more than 60 countries. Before joining Kyndryl, Kris led EY's Global Consulting Cybersecurity practice. She also founded and led BluVector Inc., one of the first AI-powered Advanced Threat Detection products, which Comcast acquired in 2019. Kris was previously general manager of IBM Security Services. Kris serves on the boards of Dominion Energy (NYSE: D) and the International Security Alliance (ISA) and is also a member of the World Economic Forum's Cybersecurity Committee and Cybersecurity Coalition. She holds U.S. and EU patents in risk management and champions inclusion in cybersecurity as executive co-sponsor of Kyndryl's Women's Inclusion Network. Her cybersecurity industry contributions have earned multiple recognitions, including The Cyber Guild's Change-Maker Award (2022), "Top 50 Cybersecurity Leaders" by The Consulting Report (2021), and "Top Woman Technology Leader" by Consulting Magazine (2020).

    54 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.1
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

CERIAS -- the Nation's top-ranked interdisciplinary academic education and research institute -- hosts a weekly cyber security, privacy, resiliency or autonomy speaker, highlighting technical discovery, a case studies or exploring cyber operational approaches; they are not product demonstrations, service sales pitches, or company recruitment presentations. Join us weekly...or explore 25 years of archives for the who's-who in cybersecurity.

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