VICEROY Scholars recently showcased their research at the 2024 VICEROY Annual Symposium, which was held in San Antonio during March 19-21, 2024. At the symposium, there were various invited talks. Students funded by the VICEROY program from the nation showcased their research. The UCCS-led virtual center had five students present their research posters to all the symposium attendees.
Funded by the VICEROY program, the UCCS-led CU-wide virtual center was established in the summer of 2023. The virtual center has funded two cohorts of VICEROY Scholars, undergraduate students at UCCS and University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) who pursue cybersecurity degree or certificates.
Logan Zeien, a senior in UCCS computer science, presented a poster entitled “State of the Art Cryptographic Libraries for Privacy-Preserving Computing,” which characterizes open-source cryptographic libraries for privacy-preserving computing, including fully homomorphic encryption schemes and secure multiparty computation scheme, with the aim to help practitioners in selecting open-sourced cryptographic libraries for their privacy-preserving computing needs. The poster summarizes the research which would lead to two publications under preparation.
“VICEROY has allowed me to work with academia’s best cybersecurity researchers to understand and present cutting-edge cryptographic libraries,” Logan said. “The symposium offered me a wonderful opportunity to gather multiple different perspectives and unique insights into a variety of cybersecurity-oriented topics.”
Caleb Chang, a junior in UCCS computer science, presented a poster entitled “Characterizing Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) Through the Lens of Cyber Attack Flows,” which characterizes how APTs work in the real world. The poster summarizes a paper which has been published in the Military Cyber Affairs journal of the Military Cyber Professionals Association (Volume 7, Issue 1, 2024) and presented at the Association’s HammerCon 2024 conference.
“The best part of VICEROY is the ability to connect with professional cybersecurity researchers,” Caleb said. “The VICEROY Symposium was a great opportunity to receive feedback and inspiration for future research.”
Bryan Hancock, a sophomore and Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Cadet in UCCS computer science, presented a poster entitled “Understanding Russia’s Cyber Policies, Strategies, and Doctrines.”
“VICEROY opened several opportunities for growth, both academically and personally,” Bryan said. “Surrounding myself with motivated, intelligent individuals strengthened my eagerness and motivation for learning. With the intent of branching cyber in the Army, this program put me one step closer to achieving that goal.”
Aaron Wegert, a senior in UCCS computer science, presented a poster entitled “Towards a GPT-Driven Automated Cyber Adversary Emulation Platform.”
“Getting direct feedback on our research from attendees and program managers was invaluable,” Aaron said. “VICEROY is an extremely unique program, I would highly recommend applying if you have an interest in research; the opportunities available to VICEROY Scholars can not be found anywhere else.”
These research projects were mentored by Ekzhin Ear, a Ph.D. student in computer science.
“It is a privilege to witness young minds thinking deeply and critically about research problems that are vital for the Department of Defense, the defense industrial base and also for our entire society; even more so, it is exciting to witness these bright minds meaningfully contributing with their viable solutions,” Ekzhin said.
James Reynolds, a senior in CU Denver’s computer science, presented a poster entitled “Threat Prediction & Forecasting with Neural Networks.”
“As a Scholar in the VICEROY program this year, I have been inculcated with the discipline of academic research,” said James. “I’ve learned how to learn. Attending the VICEROY National Symposium was truly an eye-opening experience for me. It showed me firsthand that VICEROY is an integral part of our country’s initiative to ready college students for future cybersecurity employment. And it showed me just how much impact a VICEROY Scholar’s work can have.”
“These research projects show that our VICEROY Scholars, undergraduate students at UCCS and CU Denver, have been doing high-quality research, which prepare them well for their cybersecurity careers, as evidenced by our very first VICEROY Scholar who joined the Air Force as a civilian computer scientist,” said Shouhuai Xu, Gallogly Chair Professor in Cybersecurity at UCCS and the lead of the project and virtual center.