USENIX Security '19 Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions

BoF Schedule

Lead or attend a BoF! Meet with your peers! Present new work! Don't miss these special activities designed to maximize the value of your time at the conference. Birds-of-a-Feather sessions are very informal gatherings of persons interested in a particular topic. Attendees of USENIX Security '19 and all co-located events are welcome to schedule and attend BoFs.

Vendor BoFs

Want to demonstrate a new product or discuss your company's latest technologies with USENIX Security '19 attendees? Host a Vendor BoF! These sponsored one-hour sessions give companies a chance to talk about products and proprietary technology—and they include promotional benefits. Email sponsorship@usenix.org if you're interested in sponsoring a Vendor BoF.

Scheduling a BoF

It's not too late! To schedule a BoF, simply write the BoF title as well as your name and affiliation on the BoFs board located in the badge pickup area. If you have a description of your BoF you'd like posted on this Web page, please schedule your BoF on the BoF board, then send the title, the organizer's name and affiliation, and the date, time, and location of the BoF to with "USENIX Security '19 BoF" in the subject line.

BoF Descriptions

USENIX Women in Advanced Computing (WiAC BoF)
Tuesday, August 13, 7:00 pm–8:00 pm
Let’s talk about women in advanced computing. All registered attendees—of all genders—are welcome to attend this BoF.

Students and Young Professionals Meetup
Tuesday, August 13, 8:00 pm–9:00 pm
Come for the refreshments, stay for the opportunity to meet and network with other students and young professionals.

Board Game Night
Tuesday, August 13, 9:00 pm–11:00 pm
Join us for some good old-fashioned board games. We’ll have some on hand, but bring your own games, too!

Security Misconceptions Education Project Info & Feedback Session
Wednesday, August 14, 8:30 pm–10:30 pm, Alameda Room
Organizers: Peter Peterson (UMN Duluth), Contact: pahp@d.umn.edu
The Security Misconceptions Project (SMP) is creating a Concept Inventory (CI) for significant misconceptions about computer security that are held by novices and which impede successful security-related learning and practice. Through a public survey of security experts, we've identified 19 common misconceptions and are in the process of developing a multiple-choice CI. The SMP seeks feedback on the importance of these misconceptions, our characterization of them, and our open-ended questions targeting them. We're hoping for a lively discussion of these results and questions. Refreshments will be provided. This event is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under SaTC EDU grant 1821788.

Students, Smarthome Security, Storytelling, and Diverse Stakeholders
Thursday, August 15, 7:30 pm–8:30 pm, Grand Ballroom ABC
Organizers: Jean Camp (Indiana University) and Tadayoshi Kohno (University of Washington)

Smarthome security is difficult for many people to reason about, including students and technology designers. We will begin this BOF with a demo of a new smarthome-focused security lab, designed to help familiarize students with a diverse spectrum of smarthome-related computer security and privacy issues (and help instructors teach the topics as well). This lab will be open to all researchers and educators. The discussion will include existing components, use in different educational settings, and how to contribute. We will also discuss the importance of the narrative around IoT education and activities. IoT provides new opportunities and risks because of the great diversity of users and participants, particularly relative to the security community. Storytelling and narrative in teaching can impinge inclusion and efficacy of educational outcomes. We will also ask people to come forward with lessons learned or options for more imaginative storytelling and engagement. We will brainstorm about the use of different storylines to reach under-represented populations. As a starting point we will discuss use of the IoT demo with two storylines — a traditional capture the flag and then an alternative feed the cat (CTF/FTC) where all technical actions are the same but the narrative differs — to collectively understand how to integrate activities and narratives.

This BOF is designed to be interactive and discussion-filled, with the hope of leaving all attendees in a better position to help others (their students, relevant companies, or anyone else) better understand and navigate challenging smarthome security and privacy design.

USENIX LGBTQ+ and Allies Happy Hour
Thursday, August 15, 7:30 pm–8:30 pm, Cypress Room
Refreshments Provided by Google
All are welcome! Come enjoy tasty refreshments while meeting and chatting with LGBTQ+ attendees and allies in the security community.

CATS Project Feedback Session on the Cybersecurity Curriculum Assessment (CCA)
Thursday, August 15, 8:30 pm–10:30 pm, Alameda Room
Organizers: Alan T. Sherman (UMBC) and Peter Peterson (UMN Duluth), Contact: sherman@umbc.edu
The Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATS) Project is creating the Cybersecurity Concept Assessment (CCA), a concept inventory for college graduates of security programs. As part of the initial validation process, the CATS Project seeks feedback on its CCA test items. Attendees are encouraged to take the CCA before the session by following these instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMhOehNrfgw. Refreshments will be provided. This event is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under SFS capacity grant 1819521.