Capitol Technology University (Since 1927 Located Near Washington D.C.) - Cybersecurity Education Expert Diana L. Burley to Deliver Keynote Address at Capitol

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With cybersecurity concerns gaining prominence as never before, the need to educate professionals in the field – as well as boost awareness among the general public – is becoming more acute. This month, Capitol Technology University is hosting a prominent advocate of cybersecurity education, Dr. Diana L. Burley. Dr. Burley will deliver the keynote address at the university’s doctoral residency on Saturday, October 21, 2017, at 12 noon. The event is free and open to the general public.
Dr. Diana Burley is a nationally known cybersecurity educator and speaker. Dr. William Butler, Chair of the Cybersecurity Program at Capitol Technology University and head of the university’s Critical Infrastructures and Cyber Protection Center (CICPC), said, “She is the chairperson of a major national-level committee that is focused on developing cybersecurity curriculum both domestically and globally. Dr. Burley is very well-known in cybersecurity circles.”
As co-Chair of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and IEEE Computer Society’s (IEEE CS) Joint Task Force on Cybersecurity Education, Dr. Burley spearheaded development of the first-ever set of global cybersecurity curricular guidelines. In 2013, she served as co-Chair of the U.S. National Research Council Committee on Professionalizing the Nation’s Cybersecurity Workforce. She has testified before the U.S. Congress, conducted international cybersecurity awareness training on behalf of the U.S. State Department and served two appointments on the Cyber Security Advisory Committee of the US Commonwealth of Virginia General Assembly Joint Commission on Technology & Science (2012, 2013).
A professor of human and organizational learning at George Washington University, she also serves as Executive Director and Chair of the university’s Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P). She holds a BA in Economics from Catholic University, as well as two masters’ degrees – in Organization Science and in Public Management and Policy – from the same institution. She completed her PhD in Organization Science and Information Technology at Carnegie-Mellon University, where she was a Woodward Wilson Foundation Fellow.
“We are very excited that Dr. Burley will be delivering the keynote address at our residency,” Butler said. “She is a highly sought-after speaker and having her visit our campus is quite an event for the university.” Dr. Burley’s address will begin at 9:00 AM on Saturday, October 21, 2017 in the William G. McGowan Academic Center on Capitol Technology University’s campus located at 11301 Springfield Road in Laurel, MD. For more information about the event or about the doctoral programs at Capitol, contact Dr. Michael R. Fain, Director of Doctoral Programs, via
telephone at (240) 965-2457 or email at mrfain@captechu.edu.

About Capitol Technology University
Founded in 1927 as the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute, Capitol Technology University is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) focused institution of higher education, providing undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, information sciences and technology leadership, that has flexibility and opportunities to grow, and that adapts offerings to emerging workforce needs. Capitol Technology University is the only independent university in Maryland that specializes in providing a relevant education in engineering, business and related fields, taking great pride in its proven record of placing graduates in competitive careers with salaries that are higher than the industry average.

Date: 

Friday, October 13, 2017

Capitol Technology University (Since 1927 Located Near Washington D.C.) - The future is here: learn about brain-machine interfaces at Capitol workshop

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Imagine being able to operate your computer without needing a mouse or a keyboard, by controlling it directly with your brain.

Imagine using your thoughts to adjust the temperature settings in your home, change channels on your smart TV, play the new Taylor Swift single, or turn on the lights.
Sound like sci-fi fantasy? Once, it would have been. Now it is becoming reality, as a result of brain machine interfaces (BMI) – an emerging field of technological research that is generating intense interest. Capitol Technology University, home to one of the nation’s most highly regarded cybersecurity programs, will be providing an opportunity for young people to learn about brain machine interfaces and even to try them out for themselves.
The university’s popular Cyber Saturday program – aimed at community college students – will focus on BMIs during sessions in February, March, and April.
“We’re going to introduce brain machine interfaces to students and have them engage in a variety of activities – controlling computers, playing games, and operating various devices,” explained cybersecurity professor Dr. Jason M. Pittman who is spearheading the initiative together with Dr. Garima Bajwa of the engineering department. “We’ll also be teaching them about the cybersecurity aspects that come with this new technology.”
The program is part of a federal grant Capitol has received to conduct research into brain machine interfaces – and into the host of potential security issues that they raise.
Linking brains to computers can bring about enormous benefits and conveniences, but also opens up new avenues for criminal or malevolent behavior, he said. Malware could potentially be employed that gives adversaries direct access to their victims’ thoughts.
“Imagine the Equifax breach, but in the context of your thoughts,” he said. “Someone’s not breaching a company to steal data that’s on the hard drive. Rather, someone’s seeking to backchannel an EEG device so they can read your thoughts while you are thinking them.
Dr. Bajwa and Dr. Pittman hope to help mitigate these risks through their research, which is focused on authentication -- that is, on ensuring that BMI-controlled devices can only be controlled by the intended user, and that the user’s thoughts are controlling only the intended devices.
“A new paradigm is emerging for how we interact with machines, and along with it comes a new paradigm for criminal action,” Pittman said. “With this capacity-building grant, Capitol is helping to map out this new and largely uncharted territory.”
Interested in exploring BMIs? Contact the cybersecurity program at cybersat@captechu.edu to learn more about the upcoming Cyber Saturday workshops, or register here.