Dr. Berghel is currently Associate Dean of the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering at the University of Nevada , Las Vegas and founding Director of both the Center for Cybersecurity Research and Identity Theft and Financial Fraud Research and Operations Center . He has held a variety of research and administrative positions in industry and academia during his twenty-five year career in computing. His current research focuses on computing and network security and forensics, digital crime, and technologies to anticipate network security events-of-interest. He is also a popular columnist, author, and keynote speaker in the network and security areas.

He is a Fellow of both the IEEE Computer Society and Association for Computing Machinery, has been both an ACM Distinguished Lecturer and an IEEE Computer Society Distinguished Visitor several times over the past two decades. He has received the ACM Outstanding Lecturer of the Year Award four times and was recognized for Lifetime Achievement in 2004. He has also received the ACM Outstanding Contribution and Distinguished Service awards. He is also the founder and owner of Berghel.net, a full-service information, computing and security consultancy.

Identity Theft and Financial Fraud for the New Millennium

The latest computing and law enforcement perspectives on identity theft and financial fraud will be discussed. Topics will include credit/debit card scams and related technologies like keystroke logging, skimming, and double-scanning; fungible credentials, counterfeiting, digital forgery and credential amplification; advantages and disadvantages of anti-counterfeiting technologies; tactics for hiding data; what disk wiping doesn't do (well), etc. Actual illustrations of ITFF taken from law enforcement case files will be presented. Demonstrations of software and hardware developed in the speaker's research center may accompany this talk if time permits.

Phactors in Phish Pharming

This talk will focus on the latest manifestations and mutations of phishing attacks. Topics will include the art of perception management and social engineering; various forms of technical subterfuge; "core" phishing tactics; obfuscation techniques; delivery techniques; client-side vs. server-side vulnerabilities; anti-phishing weaponry, legal issues, etc. Several current phishing expeditions will be analyzed and compared for effectiveness.

On the Art and Practice of Internet Forensics

For the past decade, Internet Forensics has been subsumed under the rubric of Computer Forensics. Typically, Internet forensics is buried in the latter chapters of Computer Forensics books - usually between "the Criminal Justice System" and "Conclusion". In this talk, I will show why Internet Forensics should be considered an art in its own right. While Computer Forensics is older and more mature, it is a very different activity requiring very different skills. Internet Forensics is more about eternal vigilance than search-and-seizure.

Several aspects of Internet Forensics will be discussed, including packet crafting, Denial of Service attacks, stimulus-response theory, malware, packet analysis, intrusion detection, fragmentation theory, and protocol bending, to name but a few.

Familiarity with TCP/IP and basic packet analysis will enhance the audience experience. For a quick refresher, consult the Center for Cybersecurity Research Resource page via ccr.i2.nscee.edu.

Risk Aversion in the Digital Age

The rapid explosion in Internet use has added new dimensions to the business of risk aversion, both in terms of illegal and unethical activities. The new millennia carries with it previously unimagined categories of Internet activity that is of major concern to law enforcement, the Federal Government, the Internet research community, computing and information practitioners, and to an increasing degree, the public at large. Ubiquitous desktop computer technology offers law enforcement many challenges with regard to authentication, provenance and authentication.

This talk will describe the technological underpinnings of a specific cluster of risk-prone Internet activities including aggressive Internet and Web mining, the practice of anonymization and re-mailing, cyber-vandalism, cyber-espionage (both economic and political), information warfare, identity theft, financial fraud, and credit/debit card fraud. The technologies used to deploy these activities will be discussed, along with a general discussion of their social implications and economic impact.

Defending Against the Digital Tsunami

The same Internet that provides us with access to enormous repositories of information, sustains e-commerce, and provides global interactivity, also exposes us to a wide range of vulnerabilities. This talk will discuss such vulnerabilities from basic Internet reconnaissance to the more advanced tactics like WEPcracking and metamorphic viruses. The lecture will be framed in the context of intelligent risk management and securing IT assets. Several categories of traditional exploits (e.g., SYN floods, ACK storms, DOS and DDOS attacks, buffer overflows, ping wars and packet storms) will be compared with the next-generation exploits (Zero-day exploits, polymorphic and metamorphic viruses and worms, and multi-platform malware).

NOTE!: EQUIPMENT REQUIRED (all talks): Digital Projector with XGA or higher-resolution connected to a XP computer with Powerpoint 2003. Lecturer will bring a USB memory stick with relevant Powerpoint slides and software. If your organization wants live demonstrations of software, ask your SYSAD to ensure that programs may be executed from USB devices. No content will be placed on your computer. Direct Internet access is recommended but not necessary. Other arrangements may be made with the Instructor at the time of booking.