Add as a preferred source on Google


Carnegie Mellon Researchers Create Data Visualization Tool to Identify Cyber Attacks

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab Security and Privacy Institute have developed a new tool for analyzing network traffic and identifying cyber attacks. The tool uses data visualization to make it easier for network analysts to see key changes and patterns generated by distributed denial of service attacks, malware distribution networks and other malicious network traffic. 

"Lots of network traffic data is collected in the form of static reports, but it is very overwhelming for an analyst to digest those data," said Yang Cai, senior systems scientist and director CyLab's Visual Intelligence Studio, in a press release. "Visualization is one way to change abstract data into pictures, sound, and videos so you can see patterns in a very intuitive way."

"Based on these visualization graphs, analysts can focus on critical areas to help shut down a malware distribution network, or in the case of a DDoS attack, target a critical node to thwart the attack," noted Sebastian Peryt, a research assistant in CyLab. Cai and Peryt presented the tool last week at the IEEE Symposium on Visualization for Cybersecurity in Baltimore, MD.

The team plans to integrate the tool into a virtual reality platform "so analysts can more easily explore the graphs with intuitive motions," according to a CyLab statement. Future plans also include improvements to make the tool more user-friendly and operate more efficiently.

For more information, including a video demonstration of the tool, visit the CyLab site.

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • InCommon Academy in action with an Advance CAMP unconference activity at the Internet2 Technology Exchange

    Community-Driven IAM Learning with Internet2's InCommon Academy

    Internet2's InCommon Academy Director Jean Chorazyczewski examines how the academy's community-driven identity and access management learning opportunities support CIOs, IT leaders, and their IAM teams in R&E.

  • businessman juggling cubes

    Anthology Restructures, Focuses on Teaching and Learning Business

    Anthology has announced a strategic restructuring, divesting its Enterprise Operations, Lifecycle Engagement, and Student Success businesses and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to right-size its finances and focus on its core teaching and learning products.

  • Jasper Halekas, instrument lead for the Analyzer for Cusp Electrons (ACE), checks final calibration. ACE was designed and built at the University of Iowa for the TRACERS mission.

    TRACERS: The University of Iowa Leads NASA-Funded Space Weather Research with Twin Satellites

    Working in tandem, the recently launched TRACERS satellites enable new measurement strategies that will produce significant data for the study of space weather. And as lead institution for the mission, the University of Iowa upholds its long-held value of bringing research collaborations together with academics.

  • Hand holding a stylus over a tablet with futuristic risk management icons

    Why Universities Are Ransomware's Easy Target: Lessons from the 23% Surge

    Academic environments face heightened risk because their collaboration-driven environments are inherently open, making them more susceptible to attack, while the high-value research data they hold makes them an especially attractive target. The question is not if this data will be targeted, but whether universities can defend it swiftly enough against increasingly AI-powered threats.