Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Q&A: Shiu-Kai Chin on Cybersecurity

Tuesday, July 11, 2017, By Cyndi Moritz
Share
College of Engineering and Computer SciencefacultyQ&A
Shiu-Kai Chin

Shiu-Kai Chin

Shiu-Kai Chin, professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, director of the Center for Information and Systems Assurance and Trust, provost faculty fellow for strategic planning and Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence, is an expert on cybersecurity. He recently shared his thoughts on the spate of major cyberattacks around the world.

  • 01
    There have been a lot of major cyberattacks in recent months. Is the world poorly prepared to deal with this sort of thing?

    Most of our systems were not designed with security in mind. We are living in the equivalent of a shantytown in cyberspace, much like the shantytowns that were precursors to our major cities. Those structures were thrown up with little regard for the safety standards we now have and weren’t built to withstand the natural and human-made disasters that befell them. Once folks saw the need to build things that last, we got standards and enforcement, based on sound engineering and public policy. Cyberspace is still evolving from that shantytown into a modern city.

  • 02
    Attacks against utilities seem to have come from enemies. What about ransomware attacks? Just a moneymaking scheme?

    The ransomware attacks might be a smokescreen for something much more insidious: theft of root credentials, which renders authentication incapable of discerning between legitimate identities and fraudulent ones. This is equivalent to losing the plates for minting $100 bills.

  • 03
    Should we have been better prepared for all these attacks?

    I can point to papers written by the U.S. Air Force in 1979 about the very situation we’re in today. There is no plausible deniability. We are living with the consequences of inattention, failure of vision and poor leadership. We have valued short-term economic gain over long-term investments in safety, security and integrity.

  • 04
    What needs to happen now to enhance our cybersecurity going forward?

    In the U.S., we need to be willing to invest in it. For example, chip-enabled cards were introduced a long time ago in Europe, but U.S. financial services businesses deemed the cost of issuing new chip-enabled cards too expensive to justify—until the data breaches at Home Depot and others raised the cost of poor security. If costs continue to rise, then we might see investment in systems and new standards emerge where security—just like safety—must be rigorously required, justified and demonstrated.

  • Author
  • Faculty Experts

Cyndi Moritz

  • Shiu-Kai Chin

  • Recent
  • Drama Department to Virtually Present New Theatrical Work Inspired by University’s 150th Anniversary
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By Erica Blust
  • Professor Rahman Awarded Google Grant to Engage Underrepresented Students in Computing Research
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By Alex Dunbar
  • Special Collections Research Center Launches Latin American 45s Digital Collection
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By Cristina Hatem
  • VPA Faculty to Present World Premieres at Society for New Music Concert Jan. 31
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By News Staff
  • ‘Democracy on Trial: Can We Save It?’
    Friday, January 22, 2021, By News Staff

More In STEM

Professor Rahman Awarded Google Grant to Engage Underrepresented Students in Computing Research

Electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) Professor Farzana Rahman received a 2020 Google exploreCSR award to fund the development of an undergraduate student engagement workshop program, Research Exposure in Socially Relevant Computing (RESORC). The RESORC program will provide research opportunities…

Arts and Sciences Welcomes New Director of Forensics Kathleen Corrado

After 25 years working in the field of forensic science and over two decades of executive experience as a laboratory director, Kathleen Corrado has been named director of the Forensic and National Security Science Institute (FNSSI) in the College of…

Hehnly Lab Awarded $1.2M NIH Grant to Research Critical Tissue Formation

A key process during the development of an embryo is tissue morphogenesis, where the number of cells in an organism increase through cell division and tissues begins to take shape. Heidi Hehnly, assistant professor of biology, has been awarded a…

The Role of Digital Forensics and Tracking Down US Capitol Riot Criminals

With just under a week left before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony, investigators and law enforcement agencies across the country are working speedily to identify as many of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot offenders as they can. Knowing exactly…

A&S Researchers Awarded $2.1M Grant to Study Causes of Congenital Heart Defects

Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect, affecting nearly 1 percent of births in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors have been unable to lower that number…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.