鶹Ƶ

Skip to main content
  • Home
  • 鶹Ƶ
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • 鶹ƵUniversity Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • 鶹ƵUniversity Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Home
  • 鶹Ƶ
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Cybersecurity Workshops Bring Professors from Around the World to Syracuse

Tuesday, June 20, 2017, By Alex Dunbar
Share
College of Engineering and Computer ScienceCybersecurity

Using secure computers inside the , professors from around the world can mimic cyberattacks on networks and see where software is vulnerable.

 and his students developed the that include cybersecurity exercises, research and software that is provided at no cost to other schools.

“From my background, I learn much better when I do something. So then I decided, I should get the students to work some exercises. But at the time, there was not much going on, on the internet. So I decided I would just develop my own for my own class at 鶹ƵUniversity,” says Du.

Du developed labs where students could simulate cyberattacks and then identify security flaws and software errors.

“It turns out students liked that very much and they are very passionate about this. So then I decided maybe other people will like that,” says Du.

“This lab itself sometimes takes some learning. So I also got a grant from the National Science Foundation to train other professors—especially professors who are new into this area—to teach them how to use that. So they come to 鶹Ƶfor four days and the training and they take what they learn back to their class,” says Du. “So far 600 universities worldwide and in more than 30 countries are using my labs”

High-profile cyberattacks have shown hackers can exploit even small mistakes.

“In the past, just one computer is maybe open to the outside. Now 10 devices are in your home—10 doors open you don’t even know,” says Du.

Using secure computers inside the College of Engineering and Computer Science, professors can mimic attacks on networks and programs. Professor Megan Thomas from California State University Stanislaus was grateful for the opportunity to participate in exercises that can only be done in a controlled environment.

“It would be tough to do with limited resources and it would be almost impossible to do safely,” says Thomas. “It is very kind of folks at research universities like 鶹Ƶthat they share what they have developed with the grad students and all that kind of thing, and public universities that don’t have the resources.”

Daniel Ragsdale from Texas A&M University uses Du’s labs in his classes. He believes the program offers practical experience that could help secure countless devices and networks we rely on every day.

“We continue to see, if you want students to understand what this is all about, they have go to do hands on. They have to work directly with the software, see the vulnerabilities, understand how those vulnerabilities could be exploited and you can only do that in an environment such as this. What Kevin and his students have done is really an incredible resource for people that are teaching in this space,” says Ragsdale.

“We are trying to educate our students so when they write a program, they know an attacker is going to attack in such a way so they don’t make the same mistake,” says Du. “As a result, their system is going to be more robust, more secure.”

For more information on using online versions of the SEED labs, .

For his work on the Seed labs, Du received the 2017 Academic Leadership award from , a leading computer science conference that brings government, academia and industry together.

  • Author
  • Faculty Experts

Alex Dunbar

  • Kevin Du

  • Recent
  • Timur Hammond’s ‘Placing Islam’ Receives Journal’s Honorable Mention
    Tuesday, May 27, 2025, By News Staff
  • 鶹ƵUniversity 2025-26 Budget to Include Significant Expansion of Student Financial Aid
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • University’s Dynamic Sustainability Lab and Ireland’s BiOrbic Sign MOU to Advance Markets for the Biobased Economy
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Engaged Humanities Network Community Showcase Spotlights Collaborative Work
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By Dan Bernardi
  • Students Engaged in Research and Assessment
    Tuesday, May 20, 2025, By News Staff

More In STEM

University’s Dynamic Sustainability Lab and Ireland’s BiOrbic Sign MOU to Advance Markets for the Biobased Economy

This month at the All Island Bioeconomy Summit held in Co. Meath, Ireland, it was announced that BiOrbic, Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy, comprising 12 leading Irish research universities in Ireland, signed a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Dynamic Sustainability…

Professor Bing Dong Named as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The College of Engineering and Computer Science has named Bing Dong as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. This endowed professorship is made possible by a 1998 gift from the late Fritz Traugott H’98 and his wife, Frances….

Physics Professor Honored for Efforts to Improve Learning, Retention

The Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has made some big changes lately. The department just added an astronomy major approved by New York State and recently overhauled the undergraduate curriculum to replace traditional labs with innovative…

ECS Team Takes First Place in American Society of Civil Engineers Competition

Civil and environmental engineering student teams participated in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Sustainable Solutions and Steel Bridge competitions during the 2025 Upstate New York-Canada Student Symposium, winning first place in the Sustainable Solutions competition. The symposium was…

Chloe Britton Naime Committed to Advocating for Improved Outcomes for Neurodivergent Individuals

Chloe Britton Naime ’25 is about to complete a challenging and rare dual major program in both mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and neuroscience from the College of Arts and Sciences. Even more impressive? Britton…

Subscribe to SU Today

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

Connect With Us

For the Media

Find an Expert
© 2025 鶹ƵUniversity News. All Rights Reserved.