Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A noted author and expert on information security and computer hacking will speak Nov. 7 at Mississippi State.
Lance Spitzner, founder and president of the Honeynet Project, will discuss his pioneering efforts in the area of "honeypots/honeynets" as part of an annual visiting lectureship program sponsored by MSU's Center for Computer Security Research.
He will speak at 9:30 a.m. in Room 103 of MSU's Butler Hall, which houses the research center and department of computer science and engineering.
"Honeypots and honeynets are computers or networks of computers that have no real function other than they are designed to attract attackers," explained research center director Ray Vaughn.
"By placing such systems on your network, one can monitor attack activity and use them as an indicator that one's defenses have been penetrated," added Vaughn, the university's Billie J. Ball Professor of Computer Science and Engineering.
Vaughn said Spitzner's Honeynet Project is considered the leading organization for honeynet research nationwide. The project's Web site is www.honeynet.org.
Spitzner earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Illinois-Champaign and a master of business administration degree from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Before entering the field of information security, he served for seven years in the U.S. Army, including four as an officer in the Rapid Deployment Force.
"Information is a constantly changing battle," says Spitzner. "Your job is to defend against the bad guys."
Spitzner is the author of "Honeypots: Tracking Hackers," a co-author of "Know Your Enemy," and numerous white papers. He speaks widely at conferences and other events sponsored by the Pentagon, Department of Justice and FBI Academy.
For more information, contact Dr. Vaughn at (662) 325-7450 or Vaughn@cse.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.