Curriculum Vitae
Posted 1 year, 7 months ago at 11:29 pm. Add a comment
Jose Andre Morales, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Institute for Cyber Security
University of Texas at San Antonio
Member: Sigma Xi, IEEE, ACM, Upsilon Pi Epsilon
Room: SB 01.02.06
Emails: jose.morales@utsa.edu - Academia
jose@joemango.com - Everything else
Current Research
Currently conducting research on host behavior based detection of botnets. The immediate purpose of this study is to find a novel approach to detecting the presence of a bot sofware currently running on a host computer.
Research Supervisors: Dr. Shouhuai Xu and Dr. Ravi Sandhu
Research Interests
Computer viruses and Malware: Defining and modeling virus behavior, replication techniques, distribution methods and detection avoidance. Characterizing distinct forms of behavior derived from the execution of different malware classes. I am very interested in creating new behavior based approaches to identify different forms of malware based on fundamental characteristics of the specific malware class. I conduct my research on various platforms with a focus on mobile platforms such as PDA’s and cellphones.
Education
PhD in Computer Science, Florida International University
Degree Conferred: April 2008
Dissertation Title: A Behavior Based Approach to Virus Detection.
Advisor: Yi Deng, Co-advisor: Peter J. Clarke.
MS in Computer Science, Florida International University
Degree Conferred: December 2004.
Thesis Title: Reducing False Positives in Behavior Blocking Software.
Committee: Yi Deng (chair), Geoffrey Smith, and Chi Zhang.
BA in Computer Science, Florida International University
Conferred: Spring 1997.
Publications
Book Chapters
“Timeline of Mobile Malicious Code, Hoaxes and Threats”, Mobile Malware Attacks and Defense, Jose Andre Morales and Ken Dunham, Syngress Publishing 2008, Chpt. 3
“Overview of Malicious Mobile Code Families”, Mobile Malware Attacks and Defense, Jose Andre Morales, Syngress Publishing 2008, Chpt. 4
“Taxonomy of Mobile Malicious Code”, Mobile Malware Attacks and Defense, Jose Andre Morales, Syngress Publishing 2008, Chpt. 5
Journals
“Identification of File Infecting Viruses through Detection of Self-Reference Replication”, Jose Andre Morales, Peter J. Clarke, B.M. Yi Deng. Journal in Computer Virology Special EICAR conference invited paper issue, Springer Paris, published online July 2008; published in print Volume 6/Number 2, May 2010, pg. 161-180.
“Characterization of Virus Replication”, Jose Andre Morales, Peter J. Clarke, B.M. Golam Kibria, Yi Deng. Journal in Computer Virology Special Issue on Theory of Computer Viruses Workshop, Springer Paris, Volume 4/Number 3, August 2008, pg 221-234.
“Testing and Evaluating Virus Detectors for Handheld Devices”, Jose Andre Morales, Peter J. Clarke, B.M. Golam Kibria, Yi Deng. Journal in Computer Virology Special Issue on Mobile Malware and Anti-malware Technologies, Springer Paris, Volume 2/Number 2, November 2006, pg. 135-147.
Conferences
“Analyzing and Exploiting Network Behaviors of Malware”, Jose Andre Morales, Areej Al-Bataineh, Shouhuai Xu and Ravi Sandhu, Proceedings of the 6th International ICST Conference on Security and Privacy in Communication Networks (SecureComm 2010), September 7-9, Singapore.
“Symptoms-Based Detection of Bot Processes”, Jose Andre Morales, Erhan Kartaltepe, Shouhuai Xu and Ravi Sandhu, Proceedings of the Mathematical methods, models and architectures for computer network security 2010 Conference (MMM-ACNS 2010), September 7-10, St. Petersburg, Russia.
“Social Network-Based Botnet Command-and-Control: Emerging Threats and Countermeasures”, Erhan Kartaltepe, Jose Andre Morales, Shouhuai Xu and Ravi Sandhu, Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Applied Cryptography and Network Security (ACNS 2010), June 22-25, Beijing, China, acceptance rate 18% (33/178).
“Analyzing DNS Activities of Bot Processes”, Jose Andre Morales, Areej Al-Bataineh, Shouhuai Xu and Ravi Sandhu, Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Malicious and Unwanted Software (Malware 2009), October 13-14 2009, Montreal Quebec, Canada.
“Detecting Self-Reference Replication Behavior in Win32 Viruses”, Jose Andre Morales, Peter J. Clarke and Yi Deng, Proceedings of the 17th Annual European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research (EICAR) Conference, May 3-8 2008, Laval France.
“Characterizing and Detecting Virus Replication”, Jose Andre Morales, Peter J. Clarke and Yi Deng, Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Systems (ICONS), April 13-18 2008, Cancun Mexico.
“Threat of Renovated .NET Viruses to Handheld Devices”, Jose Andre Morales, Proceedings of the ACM Southeast Regional Conference (ACMSE), February 2008, Auburn, Alabama.
Workshops
“Testing and Evaluation of Virus Detectors for Handheld Devices”, Jose Andre Morales, Peter J. Clarke and Yi Deng, Proceedings of the NIST Workshop on Software Security Assurance Tools, Techniques, and Metrics (SSATTM). November 7-8 2005 at Long Beach California.
Presentations
“Characterizing Virus Replication”, Jose Andre Morales, Peter J. Clarke, Yi Deng. Presented at the 2nd International Workshop on the Theory of Computer Viruses in Nancy, France; May 10-11, 2007.
Projects
SRRAT - Real time process monitoring behavior based virus detector created for desktop computers running Windows operating system implementing my SR-replication detection algorithm focusing on detection of file infecting viruses.
PSCAN – Signature based virus detector built in C sharp .NET for cell phones and PDA’s running Windows CE/Mobile operating system.
Patents
SR-Replication for file infecting viruses – patent pending
Teaching Experience
Adjunct Faculty
• Fall 2008, Florida International University, COP2250: Introduction to Java.
• Fall 2008, Florida International University, COP3804: Intermediate Java Programming.
Visiting Instructor
• Fall 2007, Florida International University, COP2250: Introduction to Java (2 sections).
Instructor of Record
• Spring 2007, Florida International University, COP2250: Introduction to Java Programming.
• Summer 2006, Florida International University, CGS2518: Data Analysis.
• Spring 2006, Florida International University, COP2250: Introduction to Java Programming.
Teaching Assistant
• Spring 2005, Florida International University, CGS2100L: Intro to Microcomputer Applications for Business Lab; CGS2518L: Data Analysis Lab.
Honors and Awards
- 2007-2008 Latin American Grid (LA Grid) Scholars Award, Florida International University, November 2007, sponsored by IBM, supported by NSF PIRE program.
- CRA Scholarship: CRA Academic Careers Workshop, February 25-26 2008, Washington D.C.
- Invited Workshop: CDC Academic Workshop, Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC) Academic Workshop for Underrepresented Participants, funded by the NSF Broadening Participation in Computing grant; College Station, Texas; November 30 – December 2, 2007.
- GAANN Fellowship, Funded by U.S. Department of Education, Florida International University, Fall 2007.
- Research Assistantship, NSF CREST Grant, Florida International University Spring 2005 – Summer 2007.
- Golden Key International Honour Society, Florida International University, December 2007.
- Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, Associate Member, Florida International University chapter, October 2007.
- Upsilon Pi Epsilon, The International Computer Science Honor Society, Mu chapter, September 2007.
- Diversity/Careers in Engineering & Information Technology Magazine, Winter 2007/Spring 2008, volume 26 number 7, featured in article entitled: “Advanced IT Degrees Lead to Top Jobs”, pp 58-62.
- Univision Spanish broadcasting corporation, November 2006, interviewed in Spanish for a special segment on protecting children from sexual predators on the Internet, broadcast on national morning how “Despierta America”.
Service
HispanicPhD Mailing list, co-founder and moderator. The list is dedicated to the dissemination of information and open exchange of opinions by and for PhD level Hispanic and other minority students, educators and researchers in the computing sciences. http://www.cs.fiu.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/hispanicphd
Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing 2009, Scholarship Committee Member.
NSF-Sponsored Academic Workshop for Underrepresented Ethnic Minorities and People with Disabilities at the level of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Senior Doctoral Student, March 5 -7 2010, Houston TX, Invited Panelist.
Professional Associations
Member
ACM, Special Interest Group on Security, Audit and Control (SIGSAC).
IEEE, Computer Society, Technical Committee on Security and Privacy.
Personal Information
Citizen: USA
Ethnic Group: Hispanic
Member of American Philatelic Society, 1997-Present.
Founding Member of Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami Florida, 2000-Present.
My old website at FIU