October 21, 2016

Colloquium Topic: Sony’s Nightmare Before Christmas: The 2014 Cyber Attack

The cyber-attack on SONY that played out at the end of 2014 achieved wide notoriety primarily because leaked emails disclosed interesting ways celebrities misbehave, but the events in that short period provide a window into nation-state actions in cyberspace and an interesting case study of US actions at the intersection of law enforcement and national security. While the cyber-attack itself played out over a few weeks in November and December, the activities over those weeks are connected to actions by both the US and by North Korea that extend back over a decade. This talk lays out the timeline of events by the US, the DPRK, actors in cyberspace and interested private-sector parties. The incident provides insight into how governments and the private sector can cooperate to influence actions in cyberspace.

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Colloquium Speaker: Antonio DeSimone and Nicholas Horton

Dr. Antonio De Simone is the Chief Scientist for Communications Systems at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. He is the technical leader of APL's efforts in Senior Leadership Communications and National/Nuclear Command and Control.  He holds ten patents in data networking, Web caching and other Internet applications and has authored numerous technical publications. He earned a Ph.D. and Sc.M.  from Brown University and a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY (1981), all in Physics.

Dr. Nicholas Horton joined the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory as a National Security Analyst in April 2015. He has done analysis for projects on deterrence, national health, and future operational challenges for the military. He earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in Applied Physics from Cornell University and a B.A. in Physics from Rollins College.