[Talk Ideas] – 12th of October 2022, Inês Valentim and Vittorio Orbinato

12th of October at 16h00, Inês Valentim and Vittorio Orbinato  will give two short presentations, to promote discussion on two relevant ongoing or disruptive topics. Afterwards, there will be a social gathering where everyone can talk freely on whatever subjects they like.
Location: G4.1

Inês Valentim – “NeuroEvolution meets Adversarial Robustness” 

Bio
Inês Valentim is a Ph.D. candidate in Informatics Engineering at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, where she also received her BS and MSc in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Her current research is on the intersection of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Evolutionary Computation, and Adversarial Machine Learning. In particular, she is investigating how NeuroEvolution can be leveraged to design ANNs that are more robust to adversarial examples.

Abstract
Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have achieved remarkable results in several domains, but their widespread adoption means that concerns other than predictive performance must be addressed. One of these concerns is their vulnerability to adversarial examples, which are carefully perturbed inputs that cause these models to produce erroneous outputs.
Manually designing and configuring ANNs becomes even more difficult under such adversarial settings. Evolution-based approaches have designed ANNs with competitive performance in the past, but the adversarial robustness of the evolved models was mostly overlooked.

In this presentation, we will overview how we plan on tackling these gaps in the literature during the Ph.D., namely by using NeuroEvolution to improve the adversarial robustness of ANNs.

Vittorio Orbinato – “Automating Adversary Emulation: a new approach to Offensive Security” 

Bio
Vittorio Orbinato is a PhD student in Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (ITEE) at Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy.  He got his master degree at Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy, and is currently working at the Department of Informatics Engineering (DEI), Portugal. His research interests concern Cybersecurity, Adversary Emulation and Virtualization.

Abstract
The security of software platforms and applications depends on effective techniques to detect vulnerabilities exploited by malicious attackers. To achieve this goal, the Offensive Security paradigm is becoming increasingly popular: the idea behind this approach is to test software security from an adversary perspective. Despite the advantages provided by such a paradigm, there are still many challenges related to the feasibility and costs of all the related activities.

[Talk Ideas] – 28th of September 2022, Rodrigo Ronner Tertulino da Silva

28th of September at 16h00 Rodrigo Ronner Tertulino da Silva will give a presentation entitled “How to ensure the privacy and security of data shared between electronic health record systems – ERH
Location: G4.1

Bio
Rodrigo Ronner Tertulino da Silva is a professor at the Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN), Brazil. He got his master’s degree at the State University of Rio Grande do Norte (UERN), Brazil, and is working at the Department of Informatics Engineering (DEI), Portugal.He works in the following lines of research: Networks and Distributed Systems, performance evaluation of networked systems, network management. Software Engineering: Agile methods and integration with traditional approaches, object-oriented software development, including refactorings and frameworks. Security: Security in Web and PenTest applications. He is currently developing research on privacy and security in Healthcare (EHR) systems.CV (In Portuguese): http://lattes.cnpq.br/5863705420808941

Abstract
The Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN) is a public higher education institution established in 1909. Nowadays, IFRN is composed of 22 campuses strategically located in all the mesoregions of Rio Grande do Norte. It holds 40,000 students enrolled in 36 undergraduate programs, 29 graduate programs (lato sensu, masters and doctorate).
The doctoral work aims to enhance privacy issues aligned with data privacy laws and regulations in Electronic Health Record Systems (EHRs), making these systems more trustworthy for users and developers. To carry out our study and propose the development of an architectural reference for the development of EHR systems, we will also propose privacy level agreements according to essential requirements according to our research that was carried out. To evaluate our work, we will analyze systems already well known in Brazil, such as E-SUSAPS and AGHUSE, which the Brazilian government uses in public hospitals. Therefore, this doctoral work aims to propose a privacy-aware reference architecture that can guide the development of EHR systems. Security and privacy aspects are issues throughout the development cycle of these systems. Hence, allowing developers to analyze more focused aspects such as privacy and security.

Onboarding – SSE

Welcome to the SSE group!

You must subscribe the following mailing lists using your @student.dei.uc.pt/@dei.uc.pt email. Do not forget to provide your name as well, so that the moderator can identify you easily (do not subscribe as “digest“):

You must also subscribe the SSE calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/tca0cs4e33c9b3sf4s0vclreg4%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics . Group events will be scheduled there.

The group has several labs: G 4.3, G 4.5, and G 4.6. Room G 4.1 is also allocated to SSE, it is our meetings/community room, you are free to use it (responsibly)! You should go to the administration office on the ground floor to request access (along with your supervisor) to the lab to which you were assigned, to room G 4.1, and to both side entrances to the department. With this access you can access the department/labs at any time (24h/7).

Every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month there is a discussion session called Talk Ideas, that you must attend! It takes place at 16:00h in room G4.1. They are scheduled in the SSE calendar and notifications will be sent prior to every session.

At the end of the year there is also a special group event, SSE Away Day. Further details are shared closer to the event!

If you need further assistance feel free to contact any member of the group.

Onboarding – University of Coimbra

Here, you find useful information when start being a student at the University of Coimbra (UC):

NOTE: this information does not replace the need of reading the official documentation/information

Helpdesk@DEI: https://helpdesk.dei.uc.pt

  • As a student from the University of Coimbra you have access to a variety of software; you can find/access it here
  • You also have access to infrastructures made available by DEI (e.g., cloud, VPN, OwnCloud)
  • Configurations for the most relevant services


Inforestudante: https://inforestudante.uc.pt/

  • “Propinas e Emolumentos” (PT) / “Tuition Fees” (EN): check all the tuition fees that you need to pay to UC.
  • “Taxa de Inscrição” (around 20€) is something you must pay at the beginning of the academic year. Right after that, do not forget to issue your “Certificado Multiusos” (PT) / “Multipurpose certificate” (EN)
  • Do not forget to update the date of your last shot of the “Tetanus Vaccine”. This vaccine is mandatory to be a student at UC, and all adults should take one every 20 years. Check more details here (Portuguese only): https://www.uc.pt/e-prevencao/estudantes/saude/saude/vacinacao/PNV


Student Hub: https://www.uc.pt/en/studenthub/

  • You can find several services from the University. To solve some of the problems, you can go there in person. It stays at Pólo I.
  • Some of the services available there are SASUC (canteens and residences), International Relations Unit (DRI), and UC Academic Services (SGA) and UC Treasury. An office of the Immigration and Border Service (SEF) exclusively for the academic community is also available.


Health Services:


Canteens

  • Daily Menu: https://portaldossas.uc.pt/ementas/
  • SASUC App: https://sasuc.go.uc.pt/ -> This is used to pay in the canteens by showing the QR Code. You can charge your app using MB Way, ATM, or debit/credit card. Notice that this is mandatory to pay for the meals at the canteens and the bars from the University (such as the bar from DEI).
  • You can also use your student card to pay for the meals using the available money in your account.You can also charge it in cash, but this needs to be done at the Student Hub (Pólo I)
  • Alternatively, you can buy your meal using the automatic machines available at the canteens (probably more expensive than the student’s price).
  • For more information, check the link: https://www.uc.pt/sasuc/app-sasuc-go/ (unfortunately, only in Portuguese).


Bus lines: 34 (from Polo I to Polo II), 38 (from Santa Clara to Polo II).

  • Timetables available here: https://www.smtuc.pt/rede-e-horarios/
  • You can pay as a student if you deliver the “Certificado Multiusos” (PT) / “Multipurpose certificate” (EN) at SMTUC. The certificate expires at the end of the academic year (end of August), and you need to deliver a new one. You pay 15€ and can travel as much as you want for a month.


Académica: You can also find sportive information in their website: https://academica.pt