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CINA Distinguished Speaker Series with Dr. Robert Simon
June 20, 2024 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Join us on Thursday, June 20 for the upcoming virtual CINA Distinguished Speaker Series event featuring Dr. Robert Simon, Professor of Computer Science and a member of the C5I Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA as he discusses his topic “You Cannot Always Hide: How to De-anonymize Bad Actors on the Internet.”
This event will take place virtually via MS Teams. The information to attend virtually will be sent to participants upon registration.
Abstract
Criminal and malicious internet users employ a broad spectrum of privacy-preserving technologies (PPTs) to anonymize their identities. This talk presents a novel methodology and software toolkit that can be used to de-anonymize the identities of bad actors without needing to break PPT protective mechanisms such as encryption. Using synthetic data for the purposes of developing and testing the technique, we provide an overview of Internet-based PPT processes and then show how de-anonymization can be achieved by analyzing Internet-based “Pattern-of-Life” behaviors. Patterns-of-Life are observable out of necessary interactions with portions of the underlying Internet infrastructure. Our methods and toolkit can be used by a wide range of law enforcement and homeland security organizations operating in the cyber realm.
Speaker Biography
Dr. Robert Simon is a Professor of Computer Science and a member of the C5I Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh and joined George Mason in 1996. His research interests include networking, distributed systems, and Information Assurance. His recent work has focused on topics in machine learning for cyber security, wireless networks, and embedded systems as well as tactical and delay tolerant networking. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and has received 8 best paper awards, including ACM MSWIM and IEEE MILCOM. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Intelligence Community, and private industry.