12-Days of Technology Before Christmas

In December of 1995, Bill Hancock, Ph.D. from Grand Prairie, TX wrote Request for Comment: 1882. This technology rendition of the 12-Days of Christmas always makes me smile during the hectic and bussel of the holiday season.

RFC 1882: is considered an informational Memo for the Internet community which does not specify security issues or an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

This is my memento of a Geek Christmas wish to all of my friends and students. Please enjoy the 12-Days of Technology Before Christmas Request for Comment.

Njoy!

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1882.txt

Geek Xmas

Geek Moment Dec 12, 2011:

As I shop for my geek friends for the holidays, I run across several versions of Department of Desktop Warfare (DDW) USB Nerf Rocket Launchers. I am so excited as the Xmas visions in my head turns to see my friends expecting a red Swingline stapler only to open a USB controlled Nerf Missile Launcher. I smile as I see the Nerf darts arch through the air over Cubeville. Oh which one to choose...

ThinkGeek USB Laser Guided Missile Launcher
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/8bc4/

Brookstone USB Desktop Missile Launcher
http://www.brookstone.com/usb-desktop-missile-launcher

I start mentally counting and then adding how many of my friends will absolutely need this - especially at UAT during Nerf Wars! Then I snap out of my office daydream to realize ... I really do not have a budget with that many zeros. So this now goes up as a poll.

Vote:

Think Geek

or

Brookstone

Current Student Project

Hello, my name is Noah Corradin and I am currently in my 6th semester here at UAT studying Information Security. The following is one of my favorite projects i have been workin on since attending the university.

The ARC, or Archiving Real-time Content, is a project I have been working on for nearly 7 months. The purpose of this system is to provide a high level of a analysis on society through the use of modern technology. Using existing news sources with a custom built system has given me the ability to analyze and interpret what is happening around the world in an extremely efficient manner. Personally studying this data on a daily basis has revealed some very enlightening and unique trends that often times go unnoticed. This insight provides a very unique perspective and in turn, understanding of the world.


Below is an infographic that portrays the concept behind this project. The system is built to cross-reference the lists of known verbs and nouns with the headlines of major news sources. The result is a quick look at what the most popular actions are and the people, places, and things associated with them.




There are many features and applications in store for this system. The analysis and graphing of long term data can reveal trends in the different types of activity that take place around the world. A user web front will give anyone the ability to analyze and interpret happenings around the world in their own fashion. I am currently the only one working on this project so if any students with skills in PHP, Python, MySQL, Data Mining, and/or Database Theory are interested in taking part send me an email at noacorra@uat.edu.


For more information regarding the ARC as well as frequently updated daily summaries, visit: http://www.parasamgate.info

UAT is re-designating our CAE status

As December kicks off, so does the activity to gather the supporting documentation for the Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance. UAT is re-designating our CAE status with the NSA and DHS. The four main criterion for the re-designation are Outreach and Collaboration Efforts, IA Academic Program Efforts, Faculty-Centered Efforts, and Student-Centered Scholarship Efforts. My lesson learned while gathering this information is WOW – UAT does lots and lots and lots of amazing things. There is an overwhelming amount of fantastic stuff to highlight as our proud accomplishments. It will be a difficult job to narrow the accomplishments to a focused list within each category.

For more information on CAE:
http://www.nsa.gov/ia/academic_outreach/nat_cae/index.shtml

For more information on UAT’s CAE:
http://www.uat.edu/academics/Information_Assurance.aspx

UAT: Social Engineering

International Cyber Defense Workshop – Nov. 6-11

Everyone is invited to attend the International Cyber Defense Workshop, Nov. 6-11. This DoD-sponsored conference is entirely online, letting you sit in on lectures from the comfort of your computer – $0 airfare and lodging! Topics range from social media threats and targeted attacks to social engineering.

Five UAT students – John Faulkner, Chase Neitzel, Drew Porter, Chase Schultz and John Wiltberger – are presenting security topics, Nov. 10-11. Their presentations include penetration testing, intrusion detection and GSM cellular network security.

Interested attendees can register at https://icdw.iaportal.navy.mil/registration.  You can then download the DoD Intermediate Certificate (DoD CA-21) on your computer (http://dodpki.c3pki.den.disa.mil/rootca.html) to check out the workshops. You need to sign up for each lecture to view.

Next war could be a click away

DARPA, the agency that really did invent the Internet, is now looking at ways the Web might be used to fight the next war.

DARPA stands for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a Pentagon office that researches everything from cutting-edge cybersecurity to hypersonic airplanes.

The agency's director, Regina Dugan, told a gathering of cybersecurity experts Monday that "DARPA will focus an increasing portion of our cyber research on the investigation of offensive capabilities to address military specific needs."

In the past, the main focus of DARPA and other DoD cybersecurity offices has been defensive, protecting the Pentagon's worldwide network of computers from hackers and "malware" - invasive software designed with malicious intent.

Now DARPA is looking at how to reach out and attack, through cyberspace, the entities trying to break into and disrupt DoD computers.

http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/07/next-war-could-be-a-click-away/?hpt=hp_bn3

U.S. Security Clearances

U.S. Report: China World’s Biggest Cyber Thief

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. intelligence officials called China the world’s biggest perpetrator of economic espionage in a report that says the theft of sensitive data in cyberspace is accelerating.

Hackers and illicit programmers in China and Russia are pursuing American technology and industrial secrets, jeopardizing an estimated $398 billion in U.S. research spending, according to the report released today by the National Counterintelligence Executive, the agency responsible for countering foreign spying on the U.S. government.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-03/u-s-intelligence-report-calls-china-world-s-biggest-cyber-thief.html

Information Assurance in the US

UAT- Information Assurance in the US from UAT_Cyber_Security on Vimeo.

Tech Forum Bio: Jeremy Leung

Name: Jeremy Leung

Title/Company: Information Security Engineer/Wells Fargo  

Tech Forum Presentation: The Making of a Mustache Maker

Bio: UAT alum Jeremy Leung is the champion, co-founder and current co-director of hackerspace HeatSync Labs, a non-profit community lab and workshop in Arizona. He ensures that the completely community-funded company sticks with their mission statement of providing tools, space, and expertise for the local community. He manages and leads a team of passionate industry professionals to provide an environment that fosters creativity and direction for the next generation of inventors.

Originally from Germany, Jeremy fell in love with the American hacker community and is driven to promote the positive connotations of the word "hacker." After graduating from UAT and joining the work force, he still wanted to make a mad scientists lab with his friends. During the day he works as a security engineer at Wells Fargo; at night, he dons the appropriate safety gear to create and push HeatSync Labs forward.

Check out his discussion and more at this year's UAT's Tech Forum, Nov. 1-3 at the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona!

Speaker info can be found at http://uat.edu/techforum/Tech_Forum_Speakers.aspx.

Get Tech Forum speaker news, UAT info and fun facts on our UAT Tumblr page.