Meredith Patterson Co-originator of the Language-theoretic Approach to Computer Security Computational Linguistics & Computer Security Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018 4:30pm-5:30pm Kemeny Hall 108
William Regli, Ph.D. Director of the Institute for Systems Research at the Clark School of Engineering, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Maryland at College Park A New Type of Thinking Friday, June 22, 2018 Life Sciences Center 105 11:00 AM
V.S. Subrahmanian Dartmouth Distinguished Professor in Cybersecurity, Technology, and Society Bots, Socks, and Vandals Tuesday, November 14th Carson L01 5:00 PM
Andrew Odlyzko School of Mathematics, University of Minnesota Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Co-sponsored by ISTS and the Computer Science Department
Abstract
Andrew Odlyzko University of Minnesota
Network security is terrible, and we are constantly threatened with the prospect of imminent doom. Yet such warnings have been common for the last two decades. In spite of that, the situation has not gotten any better. On the other hand, there have not been any great disasters either. To understand this paradox, we need to consider not just the technology, but also the economics, sociology, and psychology of security. Any technology that requires care from millions of people, most very unsophisticated in technical issues, will be limited in its effectiveness by what those people are willing and able to do.
This suggests that one can provide adequate security using contrarian approaches that violate traditional security and system engineering precepts (such as encouraging "spaghetti code").
Bio
Andrew Odlyzko has had a long career in research and research management at Bell Labs, AT&T Labs, and most recently at the University of Minnesota, where he built an interdisciplinary research center, and is now a Professor in the School of Mathematics. He has written over 150 technical papers in computational complexity, cryptography, number theory, combinatorics, coding theory, analysis, probability theory, and related fields. In recent years he has also been working in electronic commerce, economics of data networks, and economic history, especially on diffusion of technological innovation.
