On 4 September 2024, UMBC formally transitioned the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity (UCYBR) into the UMBC Cybersecurity Institute (UCI), a moment made possible due to the State’s recognition of and increased funding for UMBC’s leadership in cybersecurity education, research, entrepreneurship, global partnerships, and public outreach.
As part of this week’s launch activities, UMBC was honored to host Dr. Eugene H. Spafford of Purdue University (affectionately known as ‘Spaf’ in the security community) to deliver a Distinguished Lecture to mark the occasion. His engaging talk explored the evolution of technology, some of the perennial cybersecurity challenges we face today, and what the future may hold in a world filled with pervasive technology like artificial intelligence and ‘smart’ systems.
Professor Spafford is one of the most senior academics in the field of cybersecurity. During his 46 years in computing—including 37 years as a faculty member at Purdue University — Spaf has worked on issues in privacy, public policy, law enforcement, software engineering, education, social networks, operating systems, and cyber security. He has been involved in the development of fundamental technologies in intrusion detection, incident response, firewalls, integrity management, and forensic investigation. His interests range over these and many other areas, and this has been one of the factors behind his leadership of CERIAS, the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, of which he is now the Executive Director Emeritus. In that role, he continues to be a polymathic futurist, although occasionally, some view him as simply an iconoclastic crank.
Dr. Spafford has been recognized with significant honors from various organizations. These include being elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S), and the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); a Life Fellow of the ACM, the IEEE, and the (ISC)2; a Life Distinguished Fellow of the ISSA; and a member of the Cyber Security Hall of Fame — the only person to ever hold all these distinctions. In 2012 he was named one of Purdue’s inaugural Morrill Professors — the university’s highest award for the combination of scholarship, teaching, and service. In 2016, he received the State of Indiana’s highest civilian honor by being named as a Sagamore of the Wabash.
The UMBC Cybersecurity Institute’s launch coincides with new cybersecurity faculty hires across campus including computing, public policy, and physics. Additionally, in AY25, UMBC will be expanding its faculty hiring across campus, with an anticipated six new hires to explore cybersecurity domain — two in each of our three Colleges (Engineering and Information Technology; Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; and Natural and Mathematical Sciences.)
Additionally, the UMBC Cybersecurity Institute will be announcing a call for its initial cohort of Cyber Fellows for graduate students pursuing cybersecurity research.
MP3 of Spaf’s Talk (attendees both in-person and hybrid — no slides were used.)
Transcript of Spaf’s Talk