top of page
Image by Clarisse Meyer

Cryptocurrency & Cybersecurity 

Internet Security

​

【Prerequisites】

​

【Description】

​

Internet attacks are increasingly sophisticated and complex. As we see on the news,  Internet attacks can have a massive impact on our everyday lives, such as disconnecting entire countries, disconnecting critical infrastructure (e.g., food and gas supply chains), leaking sensitive financial and personal information (e.g., credit card and social security numbers). For example, on July 2, 2021, a US-based vendor (Kaseya) in 10 countries providing software solutions was under a Ransomware attack. As a result, 800 supermarket chain stores in Sweden had to close as they could not open their cash registers temporarily. As a result, there is an increasing need for experts in all aspects of the Cybersecurity field. 

 

In Module 1 of this research workshop, the Instructor will guide the students on existing research to build their background: How does the Internet work in terms of infrastructure and protocols? What can bring the Internet down? Examples of attacks that can cause significant disruptions include massive Distributed Denial of Service Attacks or Hijacking Attacks? What are the mechanisms of these attacks, and what are our current defenses? Given the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), what are the indications that a device (e.g., a laptop, a handheld device, a camera, or car equipment) is compromised? What are the digital payment systems (Cryptocurrencies, e.g., Bitcoin) and how do they work?  How can attacks affect the Blockchain technology that Cryptocurrencies rely on? How do cyber attackers take advantage of the public social media platforms (e.g., Twitter, Reddit) to distribute fake news, and how can we detect that?

 

In Module 2 of this research workshop, the students will work with the Instructor to develop a research topic through hands-on projects on real-world datasets. The research projects are interdisciplinary and involve network security, applied data science, and machine learning techniques.  

 

【Sample research topics】

 

  • Cryptocurrency and blockchain vulnerabilities 

  • Cryptojacking attacks (unauthorized use of a device to mine cryptocurrency)  

  • Cryptocurrency prices forecasting 

  • Machine learning approaches to detect Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS)  

  • Detecting and defending against Internet Hijacking attacks (e.g., Youtube based Hijacking)

  • How do global physical events.g.(e.g., earthquakes) impact the Internet and cause disruptions? We will work withreal datasets of networks affected during major international events. 

  • Internet of Things Security: How to detect compromised devices through network traffic analysis? 

  • Fake news detection over Twitter using Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing techniques

  • Non-Coding Track: Public Policies and the Internet Security.  

bottom of page