2017 News

2017

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Dec 21

Perfect is the enemy of good: Improving anti-virus software with approximations

Anti-virus software, that tiny icon on most computer screens that provides a huge service as the protective policeman of computer systems, is on its way to receiving a significant improvement.

Dec 12

Celebrating “SSL,” the unsung hero of online shopping

In the time it takes you to read this sentence, Americans are spending somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 on retail online. In those mere seconds of time, few thought twice about sharing their credit card numbers with Amazon, or banking routing numbers with PayPal or social security numbers with their banks. We have the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to thank for that.

Nov 28

Should we be concerned about our privacy in a world of self-driving cars?

As fleets of self-driving vehicles are undergoing tests in several cities around the US, many drivers who encounter these vehicles on the road are starting to wonder: what information, if any, is this sensor-covered vehicle collecting about me?

Nov 10

CyLab’s Norman Sadeh on Privacy Engineering and the GDPR

Professor Norman Sadeh answers questions on CMU's Privacy Engineering program and the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

Oct 23

INI and EWF award tenth full-tuition fellowship

In the wake of major security breaches at Yahoo and Equifax, Nishchala Tangirala is committed to protecting global citizens from these ever-evolving cyber threats.

Oct 18

To improve smartphone privacy, control access to third-party libraries

Smartphone apps that share users’ locations, contacts and other sensitive information with third parties often do so through a relative handful of services called third-party libraries, suggesting a new strategy for protecting privacy, Carnegie Mellon University researchers say.

Oct 06

iPhone X’s facial recognition is cool, but it’s not the future of technology

Earlier this month, Apple unveiled its new iPhone X and the world watched in awe as senior vice president Craig Federighi accessed the device using facial recognition by simply looking at it.

Sep 25

Improving security without sacrificing performance Opens in new window

A team of researchers has demonstrated a new programming tool that enables high-performance cryptographic code to be verifiably correct and secure.

Sep 22

CyLab names 2017 Presidential Fellowships

This year’s CyLab Presidential Fellowship recipients are Tiffany Bao, Rashad Eletreby, Hana Habib, Alex Lin, Steve Matsumoto, Billy Melicher, and Ryan Wagner.

Sep 14

Making the Internet of Things smarter than its attackers

A team of CyLab researchers analyzed nearly 20,000 IFTTT applets and found that half of them were potentially unsafe.

Sep 12

Announcing Prof. Doug Sicker as Interim Director of CyLab

Doug Sicker, Head of the Department of Engineering and Public Policy and Thomas Lord Chair of Engineering, will be serving as the Interim Director of CyLab while David Brumley is taking a one-year leave of absence.

Sep 07

CyLab's Bryan Parno shares Distinguished Paper Award win with demonstration of verifiable security

In a paper presented at the USENIX Security Symposium, Bryan Parno and a team of researchers demonstrated a new programming tool that enables high-performance cryptographic code to be verifiably correct and secure.

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Aug 24

SCS students captain winning teams at C2C competition

School of Computer Science students captained teams that finished first and second in the Cambridge2Cambridge (C2C) three-day cybersecurity competition that ended July 27 at the University of Cambridge.

Aug 10

CyLab researchers ask: What privacy concerns do you have in an IoT world?

Recently, CyLab researchers surveyed over 1,000 participants about how they felt about various data collection scenarios. The study was presented at last month’s USENIX Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security in Santa Clara, California.

Aug 04

Decision systems that respect privacy, fairness Opens in new window

CyLab and ECE’s Anupam Datta will lead a $3 million National Science Foundation project on accountable decision systems that respect privacy and fairness expectations.

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Aug 03

Making sense of Internet censorship using automation

Currently, the life of an Internet censorship researcher is a hard one; the process of finding out which websites are censored and which ones are not can be an incredibly cumbersome process.

Jul 31

PPP emerges as strongest team in DEF CON history Opens in new window

At a time when the need for cybersecurity expertise is at its highest, CMU’s hacking team won its fourth “World Series of Hacking.”

Jul 24

Hacking team looks to take unprecedented fourth win at DefCon “World Series of Hacking”

At a time when cybersecurity pervades news headlines on a daily basis, a team of cybersecurity experts from Carnegie Mellon University may grab an unprecedented win this weekend in Las Vegas.

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Jul 20

Dept. of Homeland Security awards CyLab $206K to develop new tool to study online crime

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate just awarded CyLab’s Nicolas Christin $206K to develop a tool that will enhance the ability to study online crime.

Jul 03

Behaving safely online? It depends where you’re from Opens in new window

New CyLab research reveals that where you’re from is a strong indicator for how safely you behave online.

Jun 26

Skip the password

Thanks to new CyLab research, “secret knocks” may be on their way to your shared online accounts, but now, systems can detect if someone is trying to use the secret knock that shouldn’t be, using machine learning.

Jun 08

INI students place third in MITRE Embedded CTF

A team of Information Networking Institute (INI) students placed third overall in the MITRE Embedded Capture the Flag (CTF) held January 18-April 14.

Jun 02

Enhancing network security with agility and awareness Opens in new window

A team of CMU researchers developed a new architecture that addresses problems that exist in enterprise network security.

May 15

Top high school hackers from picoCTF 2017 receive awards at CMU

Last week, the winning team from this year’s picoCTF hacking competition visited Carnegie Mellon to receive their prize.

May 11

Researchers unveil new password meter Opens in new window

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago have just unveiled a new, state-of-the-art password meter that offers real-time feedback and advice to help people create better passwords.

May 04

$6.2M MURI grant to fund cybersecurity project

A Carnegie Mellon research team has received a $6.2 million Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) grant from the Department of Defense to prevent cyber attacks.

May 01

INI director receives Barbara Lazarus Professorship in Information Networking

Dena Haritos Tsamitis, director of the Information Networking Institute, is the first recipient of the newly established Barbara Lazarus Professorship in Information Networking.

Apr 25

A grand challenge Opens in new window

On April 13, members of the National Academy of Engineering gathered at CMU to discuss cybersecurity.

Apr 18

Over 18,000 high school students learned to hack in this year's picoCTF hacking competition

Over the past two weeks, upwards of 18,000 students learned and honed computer security skills in this year’s picoCTF online hacking contest.

Apr 06

Many apps fail to disclose the collection and sharing of sensitive data

Sebastian Zimmeck presented a study at the Network & Distributed System Security Symposium in San Diego, California on privacy policies of apps.

Mar 27

CyLab challenges students to give hacking a try Opens in new window

picoCTF, a free, online hacking contest, introduces computer security skills to middle and high school students.

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Mar 07

CyLab Distinguished Fellow Howard Schmidt dies at 67

Dr. Howard Schmidt, a former White House cybersecurity coordinator, executive director of SAFECode and a CyLab Distinguished Fellow, passed away on March 2, 2017.

Mar 02

Cranor stresses the need to test privacy policies Opens in new window

Ten years ago, CyLab graduate student Aleecia McDonald walked into Lorrie Cranor’s office and asked, “What would happen if everybody read all of the privacy policies on all of the websites they visit?”

Feb 23

CMU hackers give a glimpse into the hacker psyche

In this podcast episode, members of PPP share their thoughts on hacking, giving us all a glimpse into the hacker psyche.

Listen to the Podcast Opens in new window

Feb 01

CyLab’s Manuel Blum advises: “Never memorize passwords. Compute them.”

Manuel Blum presented his ideas on password-computing algorithms at the USENIX Enigma Conference in Oakland, California.

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Jan 23

Carnegie Mellon celebrates International Data Privacy Day

Coming on the heels of a year of unprecedented data breaches, targeted ads and new ethical questions about data privacy, Carnegie Mellon University will host its fourth celebration of International Data Privacy Day on Friday, January 27th.

Jan 19

Students create app to help visually impaired identify email phishing attacks

Thanks to screen readers, 285 million visually impaired people worldwide are able to browse the Internet by responding to audio readings of image descriptions and text on websites.

Jan 14

Privacy: Bridging the gap between policy and tech Opens in new window

Janice Tsai (EPP ’09) has used her expertise in policy and privacy to translate tech needs into effective policy, and vice versa to create legislation that addresses privacy concerns but does not restrict innovation.

Jan 12

Jahanian, Acquisti deliver calls to action at NSF meeting on cybersecurity, privacy

The biennial forum of the SaTC research community, held Jan. 9-11 in Arlington, Va., included top experts in academia, government and industry.

Jan 12

Hacking mobile games to improve security Opens in new window

Protecting mobile games against hackers has been challenging, and a recent study by a group of Carnegie Mellon researchers shows how much work needs to be done.

Media Mentions

The Wall Street Journal

Cranor quoted on Signal group chat

CyLab Director Lorrie Cranor was quoted in The Wall Street Journal about how employees often prioritize convenience over security at work.

CNN

Scheffler quoted on data protection and access

CyLab/EPP’s Sarah Scheffler was quoted by CNN about data protection, in response to Apple users losing access to Advanced Data Protection. “One of the very few ways to make sure that your data can’t be leaked if a company is breached is to make sure that the company (itself) doesn’t have it,” Scheffler explains.

Associated Press

Carley discusses how misinformation can spread

CyLab’s Kathleen Carley was quoted by the Associated Press about the dangers of misinformation, particularly pertaining to false claims of election fraud and how that may impact overseas voters. “Laying the groundwork for a conspiracy theory means that you need to weave many claims together,” Carley explained.

Time

Brumley discusses social security number breach and cybersecurity

ECE’s David Brumley spoke with Time about the hack in April that resulted in SSN data from the NPD being leaked. “We are not talking about a startup here,” Brumley said. “Looking forward, we have to have higher standards for the custodians of our data.”

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