Blockchain expert joins CCI

We’re pleased to announce that Shin’ichiro Matsuo has joined CCI as a Research Professor, coming from Georgetown University. His strong industry ties, expertise, and international reputation in blockchain technology and governance are important additions to CCI. He is a research scientist in cryptography, an expert in international standardization and is building a new architecture for security evaluation of information systems. 
Shin’ichiro is the principal investigator on multiple blockchain research projects and is the co-director of the CyberSMART research center, which is a National Science Foundation Industry University Research Partnerships (IUCRC), leading blockchain research for the IUCRC. 

He became interested in cryptography in the 1990s while working at the Bank of Japan, his first professional job. He worked on implementing smart card wallets for the bank’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project and still carries the smart card in his wallet as a reminder.

New CCI Fellows

 We’ve funded six Virginia research leaders from four universities to pursue multimillion-dollar cybersecurity-related centers, addressing pressing challenges ranging from space communications to intelligent ambient computing. CCI’s ability to bring together top researchers from different disciplines and universities makes the state competitive for large centers. The Fellows Program is still accepting applications. 

New Fellows include:

• Mohamed Azab, assistant professor of computer and information sciences at Virginia Military Institute, is leading a Cybersecurity-Aware Workforce Development Platform for Mission Critical Applications proposal.
• Jonathan Black, Professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech, is leading a Center for Secure Space Communications proposal.
• Returning Fellow Jack Davidson, professor of computer science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and director of the Cyber Defense program of study at the University of Virginia, is leading a Building a Commonwealth Community Scientific Instrument to Support Data-driven Cybersecurity Research project.
• Jonathan Goodall, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Virginia (UVA) and Director of the UVA Engineering LINK LAB, is leading a Smart Cities Technologies for Coastal Resilience proposal.
• Parth Pathak, associate professor in the Computer Science Department at George Mason University, is leading an Open-Milli-IoT: An Open Programmable Platform for mmWave Wireless Internet-of-Things project.
• Aidong Zhang, Thomas M. Linville Professor of Computer Science at the University of Virginia, is leading an Intelligent Ambient Computing in Dynamic Environments proposal.

Supply Chain Cybersecurity
Call for Proposals

Each year, we launch a call for research proposals. These provide seed grants to build capacity on a key topic in cybersecurity and make our researchers more competitive to go after larger-scale funding.  In the past, we’ve funded such calls as 2022’s securing human/machine interactions and 2021’s securing the next generation of networks. 

This year, we are looking for proposals that advance Supply Chain Cybersecurity, specifically focused on building capacity and increasing competitiveness. These seed research grants typically lead to larger projects. We look forward to reading the proposals, which are due Sept. 25, 2023.

CCI Internship and Job Fair

Our successful Internship and Job Fair will be held virtually Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration is free. This is a great way for students to connect with employers, possibly kicking off a successful career. Participating employers include:

• CACI
• CGI
• Civilian Cyber
• Comcast
• Deloitte
• U.S. Department of Labor
• U.S. Department of State
• Expedition Technology
• Fusion Cyber

• G2OPS
• Microsoft
• NAVSEA
• Peregrine Technical Solutions
• PBS
• Virginia IT Agency
• Virginia Space Grant Consortium
• WR Systems

New  Cyber as a Service Program connecting students with small businesses

Students can help small businesses or non-profit organizations become more cyber secure through our new Cyber as a Service Program. In this call for proposals, we’re looking for projects primarily performed by students that provide a cyber service, such as penetration/pen testing or cyber risk analysis, to help small businesses located in the county of your college or university. Proposals are due Sept. 22, 2023.

Meet Up to Startup

Clearance Preparedness Program

Join us for the next Clearance Preparedness Program virtual module on Sept. 26, from noon to 1 p.m. via Zoom, to hear from Matthew Posid, Chief Security Officer at KPMG, a “Big Four” accounting firm. Don't miss the rare opportunity to gain insights on government offensive cyber operations from an expert in leading security and risk organizations.

First srsRAN Project Fall Workshop

CCI partner Software Radio Systems (SRS) is hosting its first global workshop to bring together the 5G radio access network (RAN) community. The workshop will be held Oct. 23-24 at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington. This two-day event will feature keynote presentations, panel sessions, demonstrations and a hands-on workshop.

CCI researchers welcomed to 2023 VASEM Summit in October

We were honored to host the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (VASEM) 2022 annual summit, which was focused on cybersecurity. Smart communities are the topic this year for the summit, to be held Oct. 10 in Richmond, Va., a topic that certainly touches on the work of many CCI researchers.