We've been working on this project for a month now, so perhaps this post is rather belated. However, I thought an interesting first post would be an introduction to us and our project.
James and I met at the Research Mentorship Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, so we have some research experience. We were in the same project, conducting research on computer vision at the MIRAGE Lab. I specifically worked on image classification, while he explored loss functions.
Artificial intelligence was an interesting field for us to work in, as a growing field in computer science. Both of us have extensive backgrounds in CS, so we were drawn to this lab when we were choosing projects at RMP. Outside of this program, we've both explored several of computer science's multitude of subfields. For example, I once took a summer course through Stanford on cryptography and cybersecurity. Here, I was exposed to the mathematical side of encryption and malware.
We both thought it would be interesting to explore the other side of this field, and see computer science from a humanities and ethical standpoint. For one, we hope this will allow us to gain a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of CS. Additionally, both of us have participated in other science fairs focused on STEM. I've done the Synopsys Championship and the California State Science Fair, while James is affiliated with the Alameda County Science and Engineering Fair. We both competed in and were successful in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. For us, a humanities, arts, and social sciences research competition is an interesting and attractive avenue to pursue to broaden our horizons. We both hope to gain a new appreciation for research in these fields, by trying it ourselves.
Our project explores the ethical dilemma behind malware, specifically those based on social engineering. These cannot be prevented mathematically using cryptography or firewalls, and these types of attacks are behind 95% of successful malware attacks, according to our research. As computer science evolves, so will these types of attacks, and we find it paramount to investigate this issue from an ethical and philosophical standpoint, to better advise both governments and users of susceptible technologies how to deal with social engineering. We also hope to be trace patterns in this type of malware, and use trends that emerge for artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect and advise against attacks.
We're excited to see where this research takes us, and we look forward to exploring research in ethics and philosophy.
-Sohini
James and I met at the Research Mentorship Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, so we have some research experience. We were in the same project, conducting research on computer vision at the MIRAGE Lab. I specifically worked on image classification, while he explored loss functions.
Artificial intelligence was an interesting field for us to work in, as a growing field in computer science. Both of us have extensive backgrounds in CS, so we were drawn to this lab when we were choosing projects at RMP. Outside of this program, we've both explored several of computer science's multitude of subfields. For example, I once took a summer course through Stanford on cryptography and cybersecurity. Here, I was exposed to the mathematical side of encryption and malware.
We both thought it would be interesting to explore the other side of this field, and see computer science from a humanities and ethical standpoint. For one, we hope this will allow us to gain a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of CS. Additionally, both of us have participated in other science fairs focused on STEM. I've done the Synopsys Championship and the California State Science Fair, while James is affiliated with the Alameda County Science and Engineering Fair. We both competed in and were successful in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. For us, a humanities, arts, and social sciences research competition is an interesting and attractive avenue to pursue to broaden our horizons. We both hope to gain a new appreciation for research in these fields, by trying it ourselves.
Our project explores the ethical dilemma behind malware, specifically those based on social engineering. These cannot be prevented mathematically using cryptography or firewalls, and these types of attacks are behind 95% of successful malware attacks, according to our research. As computer science evolves, so will these types of attacks, and we find it paramount to investigate this issue from an ethical and philosophical standpoint, to better advise both governments and users of susceptible technologies how to deal with social engineering. We also hope to be trace patterns in this type of malware, and use trends that emerge for artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect and advise against attacks.
We're excited to see where this research takes us, and we look forward to exploring research in ethics and philosophy.
-Sohini
