Colorado Mesa University

The Maverick : Fall 2018

The Maverick magazine is a great way to stay in touch with current events at your alma mater, old classmates and the bright future of Colorado Mesa University.

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7 FALL 2018 • VOLUME 8.1 COLORADO MESA UNIVERSITY E thical hacking. A phrase of inherit contradiction? Not according to CMU Associate Professor of Computer Science Ram Basnet, PhD. Basnet, who is a certified ethical hacker (CEH) and CMU alumnus, said the concept of ethical hacking is critical for the future success of cyber security professionals in western Colorado. This new cyber-ethos is also a foundational concept within the university's emerging cyber security program. Basnet said fighting today's cybercriminals requires students to think and act like hackers while maintaining ethics and only using hacker skills for good. Throughout the early 2000s so called "mega hacks" captured the nation's attention. Some of the largest corporations in the world fell victim to embarrassing and alarming cyber infiltrations. Initially, cybercriminals sought to acquire personal consumer information. Later, the notorious hacking of the Sony Corporation escalated public concern as hacking was weaponized for use against one of the largest and best known technology companies on the globe. "Under my tenure the objective of the program is to provide students hands-on experience by teaming with local industry leaders to solve real-world cyber problems using standard tools and processes," Hagerman said. Where do CMU's cyber security efforts go from here? As Hagerman and Basnet speak with local stakeholders, they will remind the community that most businesses think in terms of engineering processes, procedures and solutions, but they also need to think about their systems weaknesses to hackers. When students earn a cyber-security certificate, they will have both procedural knowledge and the training to think like hackers. "Hacking is more of an art than it is a process. Ethical hacking trains students to think about elegant, artistic solutions to problems while not losing their integrity," said Basnet. The high profile Sony hack communicated a message — if it can happen to Sony, it can happen to anyone. Today, hacking is increasingly synonymous with espionage. Headlines of Russian hackers targeting U.S. utilities, federal and state agencies harken back to the 1980s Cold War fixation with Soviet Union spy mischief. The evolution of hacking, and societal awareness about the risks hacking poses to people, is what gives CMU's evolving cyber security program its mission and motivation. This program is in part a result of investments made by Colorado's Office of Information Technology. The state agency is funding computer experts throughout the Centennial State to promote protection of Colorado's state computer networks. This investment in e-security helped CMU recruit exceptional cyber talent. In 2018, the university hired Seana Hagerman, PhD, who most recently was a software engineering senior manager at Lockheed Martin — one of the most security conscious companies in Colorado. CMU received $300,000 from Colorado's Office of Information Technology to enhance the program under Hagerman's leadership and expertise. Basnet gleans this idea from a philosophy he uses in the classroom. He acknowledges hackers have the "first move" advantage and that hackers are the aggressors in the cyber-security arms race. However, Basnet thinks criminal hackers, just like history's most notorious bank robbers, always are caught in the end. Knowing the so called "bad guys" are on borrowed time, he wants local cyber-security professionals to do all they can to protect their client's information while waiting for karma to catch up to electronic criminals. That is where working with the local business community comes in. Hagerman explained that just because criminals are out there and always upping their game doesn't mean local businesses shouldn't be doing all they can to protect their business. During the next five years she hopes that she, alongside students, can help insulate local businesses from hackers be it Russians, hobbyists or criminals. The university will achieve success by testing the competence of its certificate students' skills through their abilities to execute ethical hacking, and with a growing cyber security program and center that will open in 2019. • "HACKING IS MORE OF AN ART THAN IT IS A PROCESS. ETHICAL HACKING TRAINS STUDENTS TO THINK ABOUT ELEGANT, ARTISTIC SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS WHILE NOT LOSING THEIR INTEGRITY." — RAM BASNET, PHD

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