February 4, 2025 –
The purpose of this webinar is to build awareness within the academic community and the Department of Defense about the critical role multidisciplinary collaboration plays in driving innovation in cybersecurity research. Focusing on the ways in which partnerships between STEM fields and the social sciences contribute to addressing complex cybersecurity challenges and highlighting successful collaborations, the webinar aims to inspire researchers to think creatively about leveraging cross-discipline partnerships to tackle emerging cybersecurity threats.
Speakers: Dr. Timothy Clancy, University of Maryland and Dr. Patrick Warren, Clemson University
Dr. Timothy Clancy's research specializes in studying wicked mess problems, including violence and instability, as complex systems. Hacktivism spreads rapidly via digital platforms, fueled by accessible scripts outlining motivations and methods, making it easy for individuals to adopt and replicate. Current tools lack the capability to predict, understand, and counteract these campaigns, posing significant cybersecurity and social stability risks.
Dr. Patrick Warren's research investigates the operation of organizations in the economy-- for-profit and non-profit firms, bureaucracies, political parties, and even armies. He has written numerous peer-reviewed articles in top economics and law journals and currently serves as an associate editor of the Public Finance Review. Foreign groups use social media to secretly spread false information by coordinating activity across multiple accounts, making them hard to detect with traditional tools. Our tool, FIND, identifies these hidden networks by analyzing unusual patterns in how topics are influenced, providing fast, accurate insights while protecting privacy.