Speaker:
Abe Baggili
University of New Haven

Abstract: The Virtual Reality (VR) market could surpass $ 40 Billion by 2020. The U.S. Military recently closed a deal worth $ 480 Million for the Microsoft HoloLens Mixed Reality (MR) device. Oculus has already released the first immersive VR system that is mobile with no wires and no need for a high-end gaming PC for $399. While these are exciting times, an important question needs to be investigated: Are we ensuring the security and privacy of these systems? In this talk I will present various experiments and findings we conducted in our lab related to the security and forensics of consumer grade immersive VR systems. I will show you how we are able to move people in physical spaces without their knowledge or consent, as well as other attacks that we coined and implemented related to immersive VR. Furthermore, we will also explore the forensic artifacts these systems produce.

About:

Dr. Ibrahim(Abe) Baggili is the Elder Family Endowed Chair of Computer Science &Cybersecurity at the Tagliatela College of Engineering, Department of Computer &Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of New Haven, CT, specializing in Cybersecurity& Forensics. He is also a European Alliance for Innovation Fellow, and a CT40 under 40. He serves as the Assistant Dean and is the founder of theUniversity of New Haven’s Cyber Forensics Research and Education Group (UNHcFREG). Abeis also the former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Digital Forensics,Security and Law (JDFSL). He received his BSc, MSc and PhD all from PurdueUniversity where he worked as a researcher in CERIAS. He is the program lead onthe Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations, designated by theNational Security Agency – one of only 21 programs nationally with thatprestigious designation, and is also the Principle Investigator for theCyberCorps Scholarship for Service program at the university. Abe is also theco-founder of the X Reality Safety Initiative (XRSI.ORG).

Abe co-authoredover 70 publications including books, peer reviewed articles, and conferencepapers and has received millions of dollars in funding for his work from avariety of sources including the NSF, NSA, DHS and MITRE. Most recently, workwith his students showed security issues in mobile social messagingapplications that affect over 1 billion people worldwide. Most recently histeam also found major Virtual Reality exploits that affect people globally. Hisresearch interests include cybersecurity and forensics from technical, social,and psychological perspectives. He has worked closely with law enforcement andprivate sector and has published work on real challenges facing cybercriminalinvestigators and has presented at a number of conferences worldwide. Abe hasalso led the creation of the Artifact Genome Project (https://agp.newhaven.edu) which is used by government organizations and private sector byover 178 organizations in 27 countries.

Abe’s work hasalso been featured in news outlets and on TV worldwide in over 20 languages.  

To learn moreabout Abe and his work you can visit http://www.baggili.com and http://www.unhcfreg.com.

The weekly security seminar has been held every semester since spring of 1992. We invite personnel at Purdue and visitors from outside to present on topics of particular interest to them in the areas of computer and network security, computer crime investigation, information warfare, information ethics, public policy for computing and security, the computing "underground," and other related topics. More info