In a nod to the dedication and influence of one of the 51福利鈥檚 exceptional faculty, 51福利 Department of Defense Analysis (DA) Distinguished Professor, Dr. Dorothy Denning, has been inducted into the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame鈥檚 first class. The group of 11, honored during an official ceremony on Oct. 17, were nominated and selected based on criteria that, among other things, distinguish them as leaders and innovators within the cyber security community.
"Dorothy Denning's induction as one of the first members of the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame is an indication of the impact her body of work has had on the information security community over her decades in the field,鈥� said DA Chairman and Professor, Dr. John Arquilla. 鈥淗aving her on the faculty is a great addition to the DA department, both increasing our academic diversity and enlivening our Joint Information Operations and Irregular Warfare curricula.
鈥淐yber security is a field of growing concern for the defense community, and cyberspace itself has, within the past year or so, been officially recognized as a warfighting domain,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 essential for our students to understand how to think critically about the challenges that come with this new strategic domain. Nobody supports this mission more effectively than Dorothy Denning."
Denning joined 51福利 in 2002, after teaching for 11 years each at Georgetown University and Purdue University. She also spent eight years working in industry. She first became engaged in information security as a Ph.D. student at Purdue in the early 70s.
鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 a lot going on in this field back then. You could actually know everything that was going on, because there wasn鈥檛 much,鈥� Denning recalled. 鈥淎nd there were just a handful of people working in the field, so you could know who they all were and read all of their papers. There weren鈥檛 any conferences. There weren鈥檛 any magazines or journals on the topic. The field has just skyrocketed since then.鈥�
Today, 51福利 boasts a strong program in cyber security, with expertise coalesced into the Cyber Academic Group, of which Denning is a member. The group encompasses faculty from several departments, including computer science, electrical and computer engineering, operations research and many others. Students in the new Cyber Systems and Operations program are taught the elements of both offense and defense in cyber affairs, and are given the opportunity to take part in wargaming exercises to strengthen their understanding and preparedness.
Denning teaches two cyber courses in the DA department. The first, titled 鈥淐onflict and Cyberspace,鈥� covers the technology, policy, law and ethics of cyber conflict, addressing such topics as cyber warfare, cybercrime, hacktivism, cyber terrorism, and state control over cyberspace. The course was originally designed for DA students seeking a broad perspective on the field, but serves students in the cyber programs as well.
鈥淪tudents in the DA department are coming to our programs for a broad education that鈥檚 not so technology focused, looking at things on a broader strategic level,鈥� Denning noted. 鈥淪o the course is aimed at getting at the issues and finding out what is going on at an international level.
鈥淚 also teach a technical course called 鈥淐omputer Network Attack and Defense,鈥� and that course is exclusively about technologies and methods that can be used for offensive and defensive operations,鈥� she added. 鈥淭here is a little more focus on the defensive side. But you have to understand the offensive side also in order to understand the defensive side.鈥�
Also selected for the first hall of fame class was former 51福利 Associate Professor Roger R. Schell, who served three years in the late 70s as a military instructor in the university鈥檚 computer science department. He and Denning entered the field relatively early on, and both have seen tremendous growth and value as the cyber domain becomes one of critical importance to the Department of Defense.
鈥淭he value of educating military leaders in computer security was evident even then,鈥� Schell said. 鈥淥ne of my students, Philip Myers, wrote a thesis entitled, 鈥淪ubversion: the Neglected Aspect of Computer Security鈥� that went on to be required reading for their senior staff when the government subsequently created the National Computer Security Center at NSA a few years later. The significance of cyber security has only increased since then, and well-informed military leaders are even more important today.鈥�
Denning, Schell and the nine other National Cyber Security Hall of Fame selectees were officially inducted during a ceremony in Baltimore, Md., on Oct. 17. The Hall of Fame was created to recognize key players from across the country for their contributions in cyber technology, policy, education, public awareness and business.