Information Security Basics for Engineering Technical Managers

Title: Information Security Basics for Engineering Technical Managers
Speaker: Dr. John M. Acken, Research Professor, Portland State
Time: 3:15 - 4:20 PM, Friday May 26th
Place: Room 92, Engineering Building, 1930 SW 4th Ave, Portland, OR 97201

Description:
Information security encompasses protecting organizational structure details, development process techniques and procedures, personnel assignments and capabilities, and technology development schedules or technical details from potential attackers. A manager must have a basic grasp of the information security topics relevant to their particular area. Of course, the manager must rely upon the security experts for the technical details. However, the manager must have a full grasp of the different information security topics in order to prioritize projects. This talk will cover the security main areas frequently categorized as Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability - nicknamed the “CIA” of security. The talk will cover threat models, trust models, the stages of security attacks, and several specific security concepts. These security concepts include access control, encryption (both symmetric and asymmetric), secure hashing, identity authentication, speaker identification, and match rates. Example security attacks that will be discussed include, denial of service attacks, spoofing, side channel attacks, eavesdropping, man-in-the-middle, and repudiation. The goal is for the manager to recognize a security term and when it relates to their own situation.

Speaker Bio:
John M Acken received his BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma State University and PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He is currently a research professor at Portland State University in Portland Oregon. From 1999 through 2015, he was at Oklahoma State University where he was advisor for several Master of Science theses on testing and information security. He has over 50 publications. He has co-authored four books, including one on engineering technical management entitled: A Perspective on Holistic Engineering Management: Learning, Adapting and Creating Value. His current research interests include digital testing, memristor circuits, information security for cloud and edge computing, and speaker recognition. This includes introducing a new Hardware Security class at PSU. He held several jobs throughout the 80s and 90s including at Sandia National Labs, Intel, Schlumberger Palo Alto Research, Valid Logic Systems, and Crosscheck Technology. He was in the US Army from 1970 through 1973 in the Army Security Agency.