2020 Spring Workshop Series: Registration Is Now Open!
Published:
The DeapSECURE workshop series is a training on high-performance computational techniques emphasizing applications to cybersecurity research. In Spring 2020 we will have a 3-workshop series on the topics of Big Data and Machine Learning in Cybersecurity. Come and join us, get your hands dirty while learning to use a supercomputer to address chalenging cybersecurity research! We will learn how to handle and analyze large amounts of data, use cool machine learning techniques to build better cybersecurity defenses. Techniques taught in DeapSECURE workshops are rather general and transferable to other areas including science, engineering, finance, linguistics, etc.
This page contain additional details that you may want to know before joining this training:
- Who can join these workshops?
- When are the workshops?
- What is the format of the workshop?
- What will you learn in these workshops?
- What can you expect to gain out of the workshops?
- What are the prerequisites to succeed in this training program?
(The registration link is at the bottom. Please read on…)
Workshop Audience
This training program is aimed at (1) students with an interest in cutting-edge cybersecurity research, (2) those who want to learn how to handle and analyze large amounts of data and/or use machine learning techniques for their research projects. This workshop series is open to any undergraduate/graduate student, faculty and staff at ODU (from any area of study). However, we recommend that you be at least a junior and have a working knowledge in computer programming to apply for this training, due to the high level of technical and computing contents of the workshop. Please read the prerequisites of the training below.
Schedule
The following table shows the planned events and the topics:
Spring 2020
| Date | Session | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-01-24 | Workshop 4 | Leveraging Big Data for Cybersecurity |
| 2020-01-31 | Hackshop 4 | (Big Data) |
| 2020-02-07 | Workshop 5 | Machine Learning for Radio Frequency Signal Intelligence |
| 2020-02-14 | Hackshop 5 | (Machine Learning) |
| 2020-02-21 | Workshop 6 | Deep Learning for Security – Wireless Attacks in the Making! |
| 2020-02-28 | Hackshop 6 | (Deep Learning) |
| 2020-03-06 (deadline) | Competition | A “challenge” competition to really exercise the skills you learned through the preceding three workshops |
Each workshop and hackshop will take place on Friday afternoon, from 1pm–4pm. We will be meeting at Monarch 2113 classroom/lab this semester.
Format
The DeapSECURE training program consists of three types of activities: workshops, hackshops, and competitions.
Workshop
Each workshop contains 30-minute research presentation by a cybersecurity researcher (from ODU), followed by 2.5 hours of mixed lectures / hands-on activities to introduce you to one or more computational method(s). We will introduce you to the basic concepts and examples (real computer codes) employing those methods—no background required on these methods. However, please also see below for prerequisites.
Hackshop
To enhance your learning experience, we prepared additional sessions called “hackshops”. A hackshop is a follow-on to the preceding workshop to work out your knowledge on computational techniques on a challenging cybersecurity problem. During the hackshop, you will be actively working with instructors and TAs to build your own solution to this problem!
Competition
At the end of the workshop/hackshop series, we will open a competition for all the DeapSECURE training participants. The winner will receive a prize!
In total, there are six workshops in the DeapSECURE training program, covering six modules on various computing techniques. (There were three earlier workshops held in Fall 2019; these ones will be offered again in the Summer and Fall of 2020.)
What Can I Expect out of This Training?
Expect to get your hands dirty learning supercomputer and how to do cool stuff with supercomputers! You are going to be exposed to computational techniques through lots of hands-on examples and activities. True, you do not immediately become an expert on HPC and machine learning after taking this workshop series, but you will have started your journey to use these techniques for your own goals—whether a cybersecurity project, or science research that require computation. You will be able to pursue more learning on your own after attending the workshops. In the near future we will set up an online learning community for all the present and past participants of the training program, so you can continue learning together.
What this training is NOT about: DeapSECURE is not a training on fundamentals of cybersecurity, cybersecurity operations (penetration test, intrusion detection, security scanning, etc.), cybersecurity analysis, cyber forensics, etc.
Prerequisites on Computing Skills
Basic skill of writing computer programs is required to participate in this training. You need to have some experience of building simple computer programs—about 100 lines of code or less—preferably from scratch. The specific language matters less; it is the programming skill that matters. Popular languages such as C, C++, Fortran, Python, Matlab, Ruby, would be fine.
Experience with command-line interface would be highly beneficial, although not required to apply. Skills on UNIX shell (e.g. bash) can be very helpful.
The hands-on activities in the workshop primarily use the Python programming language. Please see our pointers to several crash courses on Python.
In this workshop, we do not assume or require knowledge in cybersecurity other than basic general knowledge that most Internet and computer users typically know.
Rules & Requirements
This is a hands-on training. You are expected to use your laptop to connect to and perform exercises on ODU’s Turing supercomputer. Please bring your own laptop to every workshop and hackshop.
Your participation in the workshops is mandatory. Your participation is strongly encouraged, because we will be challenged to build our own solution to “real-world” problems!
A certificate of completion will be given to every participant who attend five or more workshops. (If you started in the Spring of 2020, please consider attending the additional three topics in the Fall, or in the Summer Institute to satisfy this requirement.)
Ok, I’m In! How Can I Sign Up for the Workshops?
To register for DeapSECURE Workshop Series, please jump to the sign-up section.
Why Cybersecurity?
DeapSECURE is targeted to teach computational skills to people with interest in cybersecurity, but it is also useful for those who want to learn about HPC, big data and machine learning in a general way. Why the emphasis on cybersecurity, you may ask? Two reasons:
There is a great need to infuse knowledge about and experience in advanced computational techniques into the new educational field of “cybersecurity”. Introducing these techniques in the context familiar to cybersecurity students is a very effective way to let them connect them to their very subject of concern.
As the world is now connected by means of computer technologies, cybersecurity has become everyone’s business. Even though you may not major in cybersecurity (or anything close to it), you still own technology devices which must be kept secure. Hacking, phishing, spam, malware is an unfortunate fact in the Internet. While DeapSECURE is not an education program on cybersecurity per se, it will expose you to general awareness of current issues in cybersecurity research. DeapSECURE workshops feature research presentations by ODU’s world-leading cybersecurity researchers.
How Do I Sign Up for the Workshops?
To register for DeapSECURE Workshop Series, please visit:
https://bit.ly/dsecure2020Spring
Registration deadline: January 21, 2020
ODU MIDAS credentials (email and password) are required to fill in the form.
(Full link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScABDzwqMyoumCrKIUUkN1xkM3RsVrFFOMP6cWJtIXC2Pe72g/viewform. )
IMPORTANT: Due to limited space, we perform selection on the workshop participants. You will be notified about ten days prior to the workshop start whether you are accepted into the training program. By participating, you commit to attend the three workshops.
Acknowledgements
This training project is funded by the National Science Foundation through OAC grant #1829771.