National Cyber Security Month Highlights UNO Programs, Research

by Charley Reed

October is National Cyber Security Month and it starts at the Scott Conference Center, located on the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Pacific Street Campus. On Oct. 1, UNO's Information Security Office welcomes representatives from federal agencies and major companies from around the country to campus for a day-long conference and small business summit.

However, UNO's commitment to cyber security goes well beyond the summit. In fact, UNO has multiple programs, research projects and organizations dedicated to cyber security.

- In May, UNO's College of Information Science and Technology announced the approval of a Masters in Science degree in Information Assurance, which began with the Fall 2012 semester. The degree added to the offerings already provided by the College of IS&T, including a Bachelor's of Science degree in Information Assurance and graduate-level information assurance concentrations for the Masters in Computer Science and Masters in Management of Information Systems degrees as well as a Graduate Certificate in Information Assurance.

- Assistant Professor Robin Gandhi has engaged in research over the last five years that is designed to stop cyberterrorism. Through the CyCast program, Gandhi and his fellow resesearchers - many of whom are students - hope to forecast cyberattacks before they hapen. In April 2011, UNO did a profile on Dr. Gandhi and his research.

- In addition to a new Masters program in information assurance, the College of IS&T houses the Nebraska University Center for Information Assurance. As such, the center has three Security Technology Education and Analysis Labratories (STEAL) that provide high-powered computers in a flexible learning envrionment.

- In July 2012, the University of Nebraska's Peter Kiewit Institute, which is housed on UNO's Pacific Street Campus was named part of a national cybersecurity task force known as the National Association of Counties (NACo). The NACo Cyberecurity Task Force is comprised of 41 members: 21 elected county commissioners, two county sheriffs, one treasurer/auditor, two State county association executives, three IT staff leaders (CIO or CISO), six private partners, five federal partners, and one university partner, the Peter Kiewit Institute.

- In June, Michael McGinnis, executive director of the Peter Kiewit Institute, was given the Vance R. Wanner Memorial Award from the Military Operations Research Society (MORS). McGinnis has been engaged with the MORS in enhancing the national security analytic community for over 40 years. His significant research projects include directing the Unit Manning Task Force and participation in the Officer Personnel Management System Task Force, both of which have greatly impacted the direction and the management of the Army.

- In December 2011, nine students from the Peter Kiewit Insitute were invited to learn modeling and simulation by immersing themselves in a leading-edge virtual world platform from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). Throughout 2011, students had been developing virtual world scenarios and three-dimensional (3-D) objects that can be used to help prepare first responders and governmental organizations for the real thing thanks to a software called OLIVE (On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment).

UNO Faculty in the News About Technology in 2012:

UNO Partners with Strategic Air and Space Museum for Robotic Exhibit
WOWT mentioned a partnership between UNO, UNL, UNMC and the NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium to present a complimentary exhibit, Innovations: Inside Nebraska Robotics, which highlights the cutting edge robotics research and development that is being done on the campuses of the University of Nebraska.

Raj Dasgutpa Talks Robots, Curiosity Landing with World-Herald
The robotics work of Raj Rasgupta, computer science, was featured in the Omaha World-Herald in advance of the landing of Curiosity, NASA's latest Mars rover.

Stacie Petter featured in Omaha World-Herald
Stacie Petter, an assistance professor of Information Systems and Qualitative Analysis, was quoted by the Omaha World-Herald about the hiring of Marissa Mayer by Yahoo!. Mayer made headlines not only as a female CEO of a technology company, but for announcing her pregnancy after the hire.

Robin Gandhi Discusses Computer Virus
Robin Gandhi, interdisciplinary informatics, was quoted in the Omaha World-Herald about a stealthy computer virus called “Flame,” which has been infiltrating Iranian computers for the last two years.

Lipschultz Talks Mobile Devices and Newspapers
Jeremy Lipschultz, director of the School of Communication, was featured on the Huffington Post about the future of newspapers and the potential for streaming information over mobile devices.