The Institute for Security, Technology, and Society is dedicated to pursuing research and education to advance information security and privacy throughout society.

Power Grid Expert Visits Dartmouth

Jeff Dagle

Jeff Dagle of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory visited Dartmouth on January 23rd, co-sponsored by ISTS and the Computer Science Colloquium.  After a day of meetings with graduate students and faculty, Mr. Dagle presented "Maintaining Grid Resilience with the Adoption of Smart Grid Technologies" in which he discussed the future of smart grid technology and the importance of infrastructure resilience.  Read more about Mr. Dagle's lecture in The Dartmouth.

 

ISTS Director's Op-Ed on Privacy on CNN.com

Denise Anthony

ISTS Director Denise Anthony's op-ed on privacy in the electronic realm appeared on CNN.com on December 21st. Her conclusion: "New Facebook policies and the proposed strengthening of the electronic privacy act are important steps, but until we follow privacy-by-design technology, strengthen fair information practices, and encourage policies that recognize the social nature of privacy, our online world will continue to lack the mechanisms we need to promote and protect personal privacy." Read the full op-ed on CNN.com.

 

ISTS - Neukom Internship Grants Awarded for Winter 2013

ISTS and the Neukom Institute offer leave-term funding each term to support an undergraduate, or graduate student, in pursuing an unpaid internship with a non-profit.

Tausif Noor

Grant winner Tausif Noor is currently in Dhaka, Bangladesh volunteering for the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). Tausif reports that he is doing research on the education system to assess the content of the Computer Aided Learning (CAL) materials that BRAC has created. The goal, he states, is not to copy textbooks onto a digital format, but to make new interactive materials for use in rural settings, such as math and science problems using real life agricultural processes and procedures that are relevant to kids. When schools reopen in January, he will visit various classrooms across the country to see the CAL program in action. Tausif is chronicling his experiences through his blog, Bytes from Bangladesh.

Mary Scott Cain

Grant winner Mary Scott Cain will be spending winter term interning with the Georgia-based Chalmers Center for Economic Development, researching the impact of mobile banking on developing economies. The Chalmers Center equips West African businesses with the know how to facilitate informal savings and credit associations. Mary Scott will be looking at ways to most effectively implement the Chalmers Center's strategy using mobile banking.

High School Students Spread the Word About Cybersecurity

2012 High School Summer Program

This past July, ISTS offered a summer workshop for high school students on current interdisciplinary research in cyber security and privacy. At the end of the program, the participating students were asked to complete an outreach project of their own design to spread the word about cybersecurity.  You can read more about the high school summer program and resulting outreach projects here.

 

ISTS @ HealthSec '12

ISTS researchers gave two presentations on results from the Trustworthy Information Systems in Healthcare (TISH) project at the 3rd USENIX Workshop on Health Security and Privacy (HealthSec '12) in Bellevue, Washington this August. 

Bench-top Bioimpedance Measurement System

Professor Sean Smith presented "Access Control Hygiene and the Empathy Gap in Medical IT", collaborative work with undergraduate student Yifei Wang '12 and Dr. Andrew Gettinger. The research considers "how real-world EMR users think about access control when they are making policy decisions in the abstract–and when they are actually using the system in treatment scenarios." Download the report here and see where the authors think new policy tools may be needed. 

Graduate student Cory Cornelius also presented at the workshop. His presentation focused on collaborative research conducted in Professor David Kotz's mHealth lab that asks the question, "how do you confirm who is wearing a specific health monitoring device?"  The answer, as proposed in Cory's paper, "Who Wears Me? Bioimpedance as a passive biometric," may be through use of a sensor that measures bioimpedance, a measure of how the body's tissues oppose a tiny applied alternating current. Cory's talk has generated a good deal of media attention. Read about it in Ars Technica, Technology Review, Nextgov, and The Dartmouth and download it here.

Highlighted Research Initiatives

Trustworthy Information Systems for Healthcare (TISH). This project's multidisciplinary research will drive innovation in information-sharing technology that ensures security and privacy while addressing the pragmatic needs of patients, clinical staff, and healthcare organizations to deliver efficient, high-quality care. The National Science Foundation is funding this multi-year effort.

Trustworthy Cyber Infrastructure for the Power Grid (TCIPG). As noted on the TCIPG website, "Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, the University of California at Davis, and Washington State University are together addressing the challenge of how to protect the nation's power grid by significantly improving the way the power grid infrastructure is built, making it more secure, reliable, and safe." This project is funded by the Department of Energy.

Highlighted Education Initiatives

Professor Locasto works with SISMAT students Photo by Mark Washburn

Secure Information Systems Mentoring and Training (SISMAT). ISTS ran the SISMAT program for the fifth time this summer. The program aims to meet regional and national needs through a program of mentoring and training in cybersecurity.

ISTS - Neukom Internship Grants. ISTS and the Neukom Institute collaborate to offer leave-term funding each term to support an undergraduate, or graduate student, in pursuing an unpaid internship with a non-profit. Applications for winter term funding are due on October 10th!

Images of Past Events

 

View the slideshow at Flickr

Videos of Past Events