Security management in computer networks is an undertaking of paramount importance in the world today. Corporations, universities, schools and government depend on the availability and functionality of these networks for communication, data storage and retrieval, and many other day-to-day activities and responsibilities. Enterprise networks continue to grow in both size and complexity, as increasingly more tasks are automated and more information is stored and made available through the network. With this increase, concerns for network security continue to grow. Network security management has generally become an ever-changing, never completed chore.
My dissertational research focused on methods for assessing and discretely quantifying information risk in a computer network and for automating risk mitigation efforts. I have continued my work in this field while at ACU, producing one top-tier journal article, one paper at a large international conference and several publications at smaller journals or conferences.
Students working under my supervision have contributed to the ongoing work and, when this work reaches completion, will be credited in scholarly publications built partly on their handiwork. In spring 2017, Nevan Simone began working on a refinement of algorithms I’d published previously; Joseph Cisneros took over this effort in fall 2017 and spring 2018.
In summer 2010, HP Labs presented an Innovation Research Award to my former advisor, Dr. Xinming Ou, for security metrics work to which I had contributed as a graduate student. I have continued my work with Dr. Ou and others in my field; my co-authors work at prominent universities and labs, including Kansas State University, Idaho National Lab, Honeywell ACS Labs, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the US Army Research Laboratory.
This research line has also produced opportunities to work as a consultant with people interested in extending the applications of my research. For some months in 2013-2014, I worked as a consultant with Raytheon BBN Technologies on a DARPA grant to study security risks in commodity hardware, a new application of the principles I had developed for evaluating risk in enterprise network security.