ABSTRACT: After a brief survey of some recent cyberattacks, we discuss how current software development norms have created a system that rewards utility at the cost of stable and secure systems. System attackers and defenders operate on a constantly changing battlefield, and some of the more serious conflicts involving nation-states could be considered acts of war, though we are still in the early stages of defining war in cyberspace. Various policies for security and privacy can vary wildly, and have important consequences for privacy, free speech, and censorship. “Fake news” is a recent addition to this catalog of issues. Things get even more complicated with the advent of the Internet of Things, where (mostly unsophisticated) users may (think they) have more control. Various ethical issues related to the development of these systems such as bias in artificial intelligence and what harm to choose when harm is unavoidable have only started to be examined. In addition to research opportunities, there are implications for computer science curricula and for college curricula in general that will be discussed. BIO: Professor Lance J. Hoffman is co-Director of the Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute at The George Washington University (GW) in Washington, D. C., and the author or editor of numerous articles and five books on computer security and privacy. He has pioneered a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to teaching and research in this area. Professor Hoffman developed the first regularly offered course on computer security at the University of California, Berkeley in 1970, after working with the legendary Professor Alan Westin on a National Academy of Sciences project that produced the book Databanks in a Free Society. A Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and a member of the Cyber Security Hall of Fame, Dr. Hoffman institutionalized the ACM Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy. He has served on a number of Advisory Committees including those of Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Center for Democracy and Technology. His research has spanned multiple aspects of cybersecurity, including metrics for secure computer systems, cryptography policy, risk analysis, computer viruses, societal vulnerability, portable security labs, statistical inference for data mining, and privacy/data protection. He is the principal investigator for GW’s CyberCorps scholarship program that has produced dozens of cybersecurity experts with degrees in at least ten majors. All have had cross-disciplinary instruction with technology, policy, and management components, including the privacy issues. These graduates have gone on to work for dozens of different organizations. He has testified before Congress on security and privacy-related issues and has listened to testimony on everything from building ordinances to transportation to playgrounds when he was a local elected official.

Hosted by Professor Todd Millstein

REFRESHMENTS at 3:45 pm, SPEAKER at 4:15 pm