Indiana University of Pennsylvania's department of computer science will offer Information Assurance Day, a day of programs on the topic of information assurance, on Nov. 7. The event is free and open to the community. Programs are scheduled for Johnson Hall, Room 247.

Information assurance operations protect and defend information and information systems by ensuring availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality and non-repudiation.

Information Assurance Day presentations begin at 9 a.m. with Dominic Glavich, principal information systems security engineer at Concurrent Technologies Corp. of Johnstown, presenting “Incident Response, Tales from the Trenches.”

Glavich is a graduate of IUP. His work at Concurrent Technologies Corp. includes a variety of information assurance projects, including Internet exchange point intrusion detection systems. He also has served as a network attack subject matter expert for the National Defense University; developed and coordinated cyberexercises; and presented “nix Computer Forensics” for the International High Technology Crime Investigation Association.

From 10:30 a.m. to noon, Daniel Larkin, FBI cyberdivision unit chief, will discuss “National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance: Responding to New and Evolving Threats to Information Assurance.” Larkin is a 1982 IUP criminology graduate and a 2007 IUP Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.

In his current role, he created the first cyberfusion unit for the federal government. Larkin also co-authored the FBI's national cybercrime strategy. He initiated and managed undercover operations that resulted in dismantling Internet-based illegitimate disaster relief fundraisers and other schemes. He also developed an Internet risk and resource assessment project to assist law enforcement and secondary educators in detection of Internet child exploitation.

From 1:30 to 2:45 p.m., Thomas Richardson will speak on “Peripheral Topics to Information Assurance.”

Richardson is the chief systems engineer and assistant vice president of Science Applications International Corp., based in San Diego, and program manager of the company's Center for Intelligence Innovation.

The presentation will include Brian Corl, IUP senior computer science major and information assurance minor, who is currently completing an internship at Science Applications International Corp.'s Center for Intelligence Innovation lab in Columbia, Md.

The pair will address the following topics: how “exposed” we all have become on the Internet, voice biometrics and the unique problems they address, using visualization tools to show complex data sets, cyberintelligence preparation of the environment and the Ike-504 data capture tool.

The day's events conclude with a program by Tom Hendricks from 3 to 3:45 p.m. on information assurance infrastructure. Hendricks works at the National Security Agency.

IUP was one of the first universities in the nation to join the disciplines of criminology and computer science in the information assurance field.

IUP has been designated as a Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. It is one of only 75 centers in the nation holding this designation.

Universities are chosen for this status as a result of excellence in the curriculum; a multidisciplinary, nontraditional and cross-departmental approach to teaching of the subject; quality of library and other reference materials related to the subject; and a demonstrated commitment from the faculty and university to research in the discipline.

IUP also offers the IUP Institute for Information Assurance, staffed by IUP professors of computer science. The institute is designed to facilitate faculty and student interactions in research, presentations, publications and workshops. Professors also work to assist students in job placement and career planning.