UMD Hosts NSF-Funded Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Program

This summer, the University of Maryland (UMD) hosted six undergraduate students for a nine-week research program in cybersecurity. The students, called Cybersecurity Scholars, were funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program and came from UMD, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), The Johns Hopkins University, Washington and Lee University, West Chester University and Bryn Mawr College.  

The purpose of the Cybersecurity Scholars Program is to advance discovery, understanding, and promote learning in the field of cybersecurity. In the program, students are divided into teams, which focus on specific projects. The students explored research in: Securing PHP Web Applications via Settings, Analyzing Intruders’ Actions: A Command-Driven State Machine Approach, Building a Platform for Analyzing Intruders’ Actions, and Forensic Analysis Using Electric Network Frequency (ENF). 

Throughout the experience, the participants were mentored by Maryland Cybersecurity Center faculty members and graduate fellows to gain a better understanding of the computer science and engineering discipline, enhanced self-confidence and an increased interest in pursuing graduate school or future research opportunities.

The Cybersecurity Scholars took part in technical seminars and workshops, team building activities, a field trip to the NSA National Cryptologic Museum, student presentations, and presentations by leaders in the field, including director of the program associate professor Michel Cukier (Mechanical Engineering), assistant professor Elaine Shi (Computer Science), assistant professor Sarah Bergbreiter (Mechanical Engineering/Institute for Systems Research), associate professor Pamela Abshire (Electrical and Computer Engineering/Institute for Systems Research) and associate research scientist Jonathan Fritz (Institute for Systems Research).

The Cybersecurity Scholars concluded their REU with a Scholar's Research Symposium where each team presented the results of their research efforts to an audience of their research teams, faculty, and staff.

Learn more about the Cybersecurity Scholars Program.