If you missed our summer workshop, this is your opportunity to take the Advanced Alperovitch Workshop, The Science of Hacking: Weird Machines, Vulnerabilities, and Exploits, taught by Perri Adams.
Dates: 4 DAYS – October 25, 26, 27, and 28, 2024
Location: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center, 555 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC
Time: 10 – 4:30PM
Johns Hopkins SAIS students, please apply here by October 15, 2024.
Non-Johns Hopkins/SAIS participants, please contact our Managing Director, Prof. Elly Rostoum ([email protected]).
(Elly tip: Students interested in taking Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade’s Malware Analysis and Reverse Engineering Primer are strongly encouraged to take this course!)
Title:
The Science of Hacking: Weird Machines, Vulnerabilities, and Exploits
Course Description
What makes computers and networks hackable? Why are they so difficult to secure? Discussions of cybersecurity focus on vulnerabilities and malware, detection and defense, but rarely delve into the fundamental computer science underlying the insecurity of our increasingly connected world. However, understanding the theory and principles behind hacking, and securing, complex systems is necessary for developing strategic cybersecurity policy. This course is a hands-on overview of the computer science of insecurity, that will take both newcomers, policymakers, and practitioners from the fundamental theories of hacking to writing an exploit themselves. This course will introduce students to weird machines, memory safety, and how a vulnerability becomes an exploit. In this course, we will discuss how understanding these fundamentals shed new light on key policy issues around vulnerabilities and exploits, such as disclosure, equities processes, secure-by-design policies, and understanding foreign cyber capabilities. Finally, this course will look forward at how AI will alter the computer security landscape.
About Perri Adams
Perri is a Special Assistant to the Director at DARPA, where she advises the DARPA and stakeholders across the U.S. Government on the next generation of AI and cybersecurity technology. She joined DARPA’s Information Innovation Office (I2O) as a program manager in June 2022, where, among other programs, she created the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC). Prior to this role, Perri served as a technical advisor for government research and development programs at DARPA. Before joining the agency, she supported various U.S. government customers, including DARPA and other parts of the Department of Defense, while at Boeing and Two Six Technologies. A frequent speaker on both technical and cyber policy issues, her written work has been published by Lawfare and the Council on Foreign Relations. For years, Perri has been an avid participant in cybersecurity Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions and was one of the organizers of the DEF CON CTF, the world’s premier hacking competition. Perri holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a proud alumna of the computer security club, RPISEC.