cybersecurity bachelor's program

Cybersecurity engineering design team protects critical infrastructure

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 20:14:10 +0000

Cybersecurity engineering design team protects critical infrastructure Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/05/2021 - 16:14

Industrial control systems (ICS) manage our everyday water, electricity, and gas resources. The same interconnectedness and automation that makes these systems effective and efficient also increases their vulnerability to dangerous attacks that could leave cities and states without essential resources.

A cybersecurity engineering senior design team is testing a scaled-down ICS system provided by Dragos, Inc. to help the company shore up its cybersecurity infrastructure.

Seniors Marissa Costa, Natalie Sebastian, Kyle Simmons, Andrew Smith, Santiago Taboada Patino, and Zaine Wilson are working together to address the problem “Our whole job is to poke around and complete a security assessment on the ICS that Dragos, Inc. provided. We are attacking it and pinpointing vulnerabilities that need to be addressed,” says Patino.

The team is penetration testing numerous components of the system Dragos, Inc. provided them to use. Penetration testing simulates a cyber-attack and pinpoints vulnerabilities. “The penetration testing we are doing is the best way possible to gain an understanding of how a cyber-attack could be carried out. Pen testing is like rating a bridge for how much weight it can support versus actually building a test bridge and driving progressively heavier trucks over it until it collapses,” says Wilson.

Ensuring ICS security like the one the students are working on safeguards our world’s critical infrastructure. Power plants, water distributors, and gas companies all use ICS to protect the delivery of their customers’ essential resources. “Power, water, gas—they all start at one point and end at another, typically people’s homes or businesses. ICS provides the security to safeguard those processes, and without security measures, entire power plants could be shut down by malicious cyber attackers,” says Simmons.

Dragos, Inc. delivered the system to the Fairfax Campus last fall. The team is spending their senior year penetration testing and using the vulnerabilities they find to create detection rules that can be included in future updates. Working with their faculty advisor, Assistant Professor Thomas G. Winston, and a subject matter expert from Dragos, Inc. makes the process as efficient as possible.

The Department of Cyber Security Engineering forges partnerships with companies like Dragos, Inc. to provide real-world projects for students. But this project has a specific impact that made the team excited to start. “Industrial control systems have cyber-physical effects. People can understand it easier as opposed to more obscure cyber-attacks. In this case, a system could be breached, and lives could be lost,” says Wilson.

Attacks like these have occurred across the globe and even close to home. Costa points to a recent attack in the United States that illustrated the vulnerabilities in the system. In February, a cyber attacker hacked a water treatment plant in Florida and remotely adjusted sodium hydroxide levels to more than 100 times the normal level, news outlets reported. Luckily, the system operator noticed the intrusion and immediately reduced the level back, but left unchanged, the water would have been toxic.

Dangerous attacks like those in Florida are why the team’s work is valuable to society.

The team jumped on the chance to work on this project because of its importance. They are excited they are contributing to protecting everyday life. “Industrial control systems like this one involve real people in their homes, people in a community who can be harmed by attacks on these systems," says Costa.

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cyber infrastructure

Cybersecurity

cybersecurity bachelor's program

Senior Capstone Project

Senior Design Project

George Mason University establishes first-of-its kind Cyber Security Engineering Department

John Hollis — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 10:00:00 +0000

George Mason University establishes first-of-its kind Cyber Security Engineering Department John Hollis Tue, 02/18/2020 - 05:00

George Mason University’s Volgenau School of Engineering has received approval to create the Department of Cyber Security Engineering, the first of its kind in the country.

George Mason University’s Volgenau School of Engineering has received the approval of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to create the Department of Cyber Security Engineering, the first of its kind in the country.

“The creation of the Cyber Security Engineering Department is timely as it not only meets Mason’s overall goal to contribute to and expand tech talent in the Northern Virginia region, but is a direct response for a specific type of worker to meet the growing cybersecurity demands nationwide,” Provost and Executive Vice President S. David Wu said.

The new department, which will be officially established March 1, will be home to the 500 undergraduate students currently working toward bachelor of science degrees in cyber security engineering and led by Duminda Wijesekera, the interim director and a professor of computer science within the Volgenau School of Engineering.

“This is an exciting time in Mason’s history as we are training and preparing a 21st-century workforce that will impact the world’s population,” said Ken Ball, dean of the Volgenau School of Engineering. “There is a national shortfall of personnel who are trained to handle the increasing numbers of cybersecurity issues and intrusions.

The Cybersecurity Workforce Gap, published by the Center of Strategic and International Studies, reports that by 2022, “the global cybersecurity workforce shortage has been projected to reach upwards of 1.8 million unfilled positions.” Further, “workforce shortages exist for almost every position within cybersecurity, but the most acute needs are for highly skilled technical staff.” Many other reports put that number above 3 million. 

The curriculum will advance hardware and software security in such areas as health, finance, 5G cellular networks, supply chain, logistics, infrastructure, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and the internet of things. Both Cybercrime Magazine and the Center for Cyber Safety and Education noted that there is a global shortfall of 3 million skilled personnel in cybersecurity.

“Graduates from the department will have broad expertise across all areas of cybersecurity in engineered systems, and will be able to design systems proactively that are resilient to cyber attacks,” Ball said. “They will be in demand to fill jobs in all industries, not just in the U.S., but across the globe. The new department will allow us to enroll and support more students and will become one of the top recruitment destinations for employers seeking cybersecurity professionals.”

Mason’s proposed MS degree in Cyber Security Engineering is currently under review by SCHEV.

Mason Competitive Cyber club places second in state competition

Nanci Hellmich — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 17:43:21 +0000

Mason Competitive Cyber club places second in state competition Nanci Hellmich Tue, 02/26/2019 - 12:43

Mason Competitive Cyber club won second place in the Commonwealth Cyber Fusion Competition 2019 last weekend at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia.

“We did a great job in an extremely tight competition. A lot of the challenges we did this year are similar to things we would do in the real world in our respective fields.”

— Michael Bailey, Mason Competitive Cyber president

The Mason Competitive Cyber club captured second place in the Commonwealth Cyber Fusion Competition 2019 over the weekend. The University of Virginia came in first.

George Mason University was one of 17 schools that competed in the invitation-only competition for Virginia community colleges and universities that are National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Security. The event was held at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia.

“We did a great job in an extremely tight competition,” says Mason Competitive Cyber president Michael Bailey, a senior majoring in IT. “A lot of the challenges we did this year are similar to things we would do in the real world in our respective fields.”

The intense four-hour competition involved solving a variety of complex cyber challenges designed to model real-world computer security challenges, including hacking into websites, performing reverse engineering on programs, wireless hacking, analyzing network traffic, and deciphering encrypted messages.

Other members of Mason’s team included Chris Issing, Zaine Wilson, Ammar Al-Kahfa, Paul Benoit, and Niki Carroll.

Mason’s observing student team members Andrew Oliveau and Connor Perkins placed first in their bracket in a parallel challenge.

“I am very proud of our Mason competitors,” says head coach Peggy Brouse, director of Mason’s bachelor of science in cyber security engineering program.

“It is especially rewarding that we had students from several programs within the Volgenau School of Engineering, including computer science, cybersecurity, and information technology. Thanks to the Mason Competitive Cyber club for being instrumental in preparing students for various cyber competitions. I look forward to next year.”

Assistant coach Jim Jones, an associate professor in the digital forensics and cyber analysis program in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, says of Mason's team: "These students combine deep technical knowledge, tool expertise, creative thinking, and teamwork to solve problems, precisely the skills employers are looking for."

The goal of the event, sponsored by the Virginia Cyber Range and Senator Mark R. Warner, is to develop the next generation of cybersecurity professionals in Virginia. Students participated in cyber challenges, learned from industry professionals, networked, and attended a cyber job fair.

Mason Engineering has 17 cyber-degree programs, including a first-of-its-kind bachelor of science in cyber security engineering, multiple master’s degrees in cybersecurity-related fields, graduate certificates in cybersecurity, and an interdisciplinary PhD in information technology with concentrations in information security and assurance as well as digital forensics.

“I am very proud of our Mason competitors. It is especially rewarding that we had students from several programs within the Volgenau School of Engineering, including computer science, cybersecurity, and information technology.

— Coach Peggy Brouse, director of Mason’s bachelor of science in cyber security engineering program.

"These students combine deep technical knowledge, tool expertise, creative thinking, and teamwork to solve problems, precisely the skills employers are looking for."

— Jim Jones, assistant coach and faculty advisor for Mason Competitive Cyber