2020 Fall Workshop Series: Registration Is Now Open!
Published:
The DeapSECURE workshop series is a training on high-performance computational techniques emphasizing applications to cybersecurity research. We are excited to announce the DeapSECURE Fall 2020 online workshop series! In the Fall, we are going to hold two online workshops covering the topics of introduction to HPC and HPC for Advanced Cryptography, followed by a final competition to crack secret messages on HPC. We will learn how to use HPC to address challenging cybersecurity research, including detecting spam emails and preserving the privacy of sensitive data. Come and join us, get your hands dirty while learning to use a supercomputer to address challenging cybersecurity research! This year, DeapSECURE features a final competition to decipher secret messages on HPC, which offer a unique opportunity to work out your computational skills to tackle a challenging cybersecurity problem. 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:
Fall 2020
| Date | Session | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-10-16 | Workshop 1 | Introduction to HPC |
| 2020-11-06 | Workshop 2 | HPC for Advanced Cryptography |
| TBD | Competition | A “challenge” competition to really exercise the skills you learned through the preceding TWO workshops |
Each workshop and hackshop will take place on Friday afternoon, from 1pm–4:30pm. We will be meeting online (via Zoom) this semester.
Format
The DeapSECURE training program consists of two types of activities: workshops and competitions. We conducted the DeapSECURE workshops in-person in the past semesters, but because of the current pandemic situation, we are converting this workshop to a 100% online format. This will be our first workshop series conducted online, where you can access the workshop safely via Zoom and TAs will provide real-time technical support.
Workshop
Each workshop contains 30-minute research presentation by a cybersecurity researcher (from ODU), followed by 3 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.
Competition
At the end of the workshop 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. (Two workshops will hold in Fall 2020, the other four workshops will be offered Spring of 2021.)
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 constructing 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.
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.
Some of the hands-on activities in the workshop primarily use the Python programming language. Please see our pointers to several crash courses on Python.
Rules & Requirements
This is a hands-on training. You are expected to use your laptop/computer to connect to and perform exercises on ODU’s Wahab supercomputer.
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 Fall of 2020, please consider attending the additional four topics in the Spring, 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
Register Here !!
Registration deadline: October 11, 2020
ODU MIDAS credentials (email and password) are required to fill in the form.
IMPORTANT: Seating is limited to TWENTY.
Due to limited space, we will perform selection on the workshop participants. You will be notified prior to the workshop start whether you are accepted into the training program. By participating, you commit to attend the two online workshops.
Acknowledgements
This training project is funded by the National Science Foundation through OAC grant #1829771.