Supply chain security is more than buzzword at the Center for Cybersecurity. In its next issue, the Center’s newsletter, CyberByte, offers a snapshot of a few facets of supply chain security being addressed by students and faculty at Tandon. A series of short articles report on efforts to detect Trojans in integrated circuits, prevent the distortion of photographic images, assure quality in digital manufacturing, and explore how cyber insurance can hedge the financial losses of attacks on Public Electric Vehicle Charging Stations. The section concludes with a Faculty Profile featuring Dr. Justin Cappos, associate professor of computer science and engineering and a researcher who has spent a good portion of his professional career seeking practical solutions for security gaps. Cappos discusses the evolution of the in-toto project, which uses signed attestations to ensure the integrity and verifiability of all the actions performed along the software supply chain, as well other aspects of his research work.

Cappos is the latest CCS faculty member to be featured in a faculty profile in the newsletter. The article not only touches on his research projects, but also suggests why he feels it is important for academic researchers to maintain ties to the industrial sector. “I may be one of the few academic researchers to ever walk into a conference meeting room and see an ice sculpture in the shape of his TUF project logo. I think of things like this being ancillary benefits of working with industry, and honestly, it can be a lot of fun.” 

The new CyberByte issue, which also includes coverage of CSAW ‘21, a profile of Ph.D. candidate Rasika Bhalerao and alumnus Timothy Kieras, should be available in mid-February.