Media Advisory

December 12, 2005

Cyber Defense Experts Available to Speak on Computer Hacking and Security

Pentagon officials recently reported that hackers have made 80,000 attempts to disrupt their computer systems in the past year. The Pentagon, with its five million computers, could be vulnerable to attacks by terrorists who employ hackers’ tactics to interrupt Department of Defense systems. Earlier this year, Army officials reported spending millions of dollars to rebuild networks at major U.S. bases after hackers penetrated the systems. In a world in which computers and networking are necessary for industry and government to conduct business, Internet security is of paramount importance.

At North Carolina State University, computer scientists in the Cyber Defense Laboratory are working to develop new ways to keep computer systems, data and networks safe from hackers. Professor S. Purushothaman Iyer, Assistant Professor Peng Ning, Professor Douglas S. Reeves and Assistant Professor Ting Yu collaborate to attack the serious problems of hackers, infected software and other threats to computer systems. The professors are available to the media for expert commentary on cyber defense issues.

— weston —

Media contact:
Jennifer Weston, (919) 515-3848, weston@ncsu.edu

Technical contacts:
Dr. S. Purushothaman Iyer, (919) 515-7291, purush@csc.ncsu.edu
Dr. Peng Ning, (919) 513-4457, ning@csc.ncsu.edu
Dr. Douglas S. Reeves, (919) 515-2044, reeves@eos.ncsu.edu
Dr. Ting Yu, (919) 513-7578, yu@csc.ncsu.edu

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