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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories 10 things to know for Tuesday Ashland Middle School student spearheads Nepal relief effort Fourth of July celebration theme is 'Be Active, Live Healthy!' Police Reports Rogue Valley police receive training in interacting with LGBTQ community Education Ashland Middle School student spearheads Nepal relief effort Southern Oregon University's week-long Arts & Research showcase offers a potpourri of academics Ashland Middle School students put their Spanish-speaking skills to the test Grizzlies claim speech championship Levy backers eye final push Environment Ashland publisher offers prize for environmental book Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection Stopping fire in its tracks Some trails, roads remain closed due to controlled burn Earth Day: Hope for our 'pale blue dot' Business Cars We Remember: Noted musician unravels 55-year Nash Rambler mystery 'Fill'er up' will mean with beer, not gas Ride & Drive: 2015 BMW 428i Gran Coupe Ashland Safeway closes Thursday, to reopen as Haggen on Sunday Cars We Remember: Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were ‘more different’ Politics and elections City of Ashland to consider making recorder position appointive, not elective Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection BREAKING: Baltimore prosecutor charges officers in Gray's death Arthur I. Cyr: Cuba’s enduring challenge to American foreign policy – and American politics Kent Bush: Clinton 2.0 is neither new nor improved State News Oregon's snowpack at just 11 percent of average Lack of snow nixes ski portion of popular Central Oregon race Bill under debate in Oregon would limit livestock antibiotics Oregon lawmakers begin minimum wage debate Nation - World There's a $10 million precious stone hidden in plain sight at Grand Central Obituaries Death Notices Ines Tracey Thompson Compton Kenneth Lee Nichols R. Charles "Charlie" Snyder Death Notices Shareable Patriots fan sets up GoFundMe page to help pay for team's Deflategate fine Sports Latest Stories Stormy weather for footgolf kick-off day Raiders Maguin, Parks, Sanders highlight first day of CCC track meet Chris Singleton: No need for a rematch Ashland boys sweep doubles, beat GP Living on the edge High school Raiders Maguin, Parks, Sanders highlight first day of CCC track meet Ashland boys sweep doubles, beat GP Living on the edge SOU lands two on all-CCC softball team Ashland softball team rolls past Springfield Southern Oregon University Raiders Maguin, Parks, Sanders highlight first day of CCC track meet SOU lands two on all-CCC softball team See you in August Same old Raiders Ashland softball team rolls past Springfield Voices Latest Stories Kent Bush: Moral and ethical standards need to be higher Letters to the editor: Tuesday, May 12 Granlund cartoon: Grad party Dianne Williamson: Enough of ‘Say it isn’t so’ Chris Honoré: Supreme Court grapples with tradition, suffrage Editorial Our View: Forest work is a bargain Our View: What price history? Our View: Waging peace after war Our View: Rail car roulette Our View: Reading the tea leaves Letters Letters to the editor: Tuesday, May 12 Letters to the Editor, May 8 Letters to the Editor, May 6 Letters to the Editor, May 5 Letters to the Editor, May1 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: Ambrose spins a conservative fantasy Guest Opinion: Restoring the Plaza's sense of place Guest Opinion: Making conservation a game Guest Opinion: A good day to act Guest Opinion: Allegations unfair to Dr. Tomashefsky Columns Chris Honoré: Supreme Court grapples with tradition, suffrage Guest Opinion: Ambrose spins a conservative fantasy Herb Rothschild Jr.: The courage to ask Arthur I. Cyr: Britain’s important election – in royal political context Matthew T. Mangino: Aging prisoners: An American crisis Chris Honore Council Corner Editor's Notes Jeffrey Gillespie Herb Rothschild Revels Latest Stories Peter Rowan, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys at Rootsfest Movie listings: May 8-14 Dancing People Company presents 'Salon Series' 5 picks for live entertainment Prepare for lots of dialogue in 'Clouds of Sils Maria' Theater Ticket Availability OSF to commission three new 'American Revolutions' plays Ticket availability Ticket Availability Ticket Availability Music The Farr Side: Mumford & Sons’ latest is full-on rock Interview: Country singer Suzy Bogguss enjoying life on the road The Farr Side: CMAs do it right, in many ways Interview: Offspring plays hits new and old on tour The Farr Side: Slow disappearance of physical music Visual Art Movies Movie review: ‘Hot Pursuit’ is a hot mess George Miller returns to his ‘Mad Max’ roots Tom Hardy adapts to life as Mad Max Movie listings: May 8-14 Prepare for lots of dialogue in 'Clouds of Sils Maria' Food and Drink Taqueria Picaro takes over Tabu space Owner of Mix and Amuse to bring Flip burger joint to Ashland Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Tammy Kelly: Add springtime crunch with cucumbers Options abound for gardens in shady spots Tricks and tips to enlarge your small bath Dr. Elaine Heffner: Mothers-in-law Fourth of July celebration theme is 'Be Active, Live Healthy!' Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Mocha Musings Rogues: Tales from the Valley Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business Business Services NEWS NOW Oregon's snowpack at just 11 percent of average ... Ticket Availability ... Rogue Valley police receive training in interacting with LGBTQ community ... Oregon's snowpack at just 11 percent of average ... Ticket Availability ... Rogue Valley police receive training in interacting with LGBTQ community ... SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY Southern Oregon University's week-long Arts & Research showcase offers a potpourri of academics Week-long Southern Oregon Arts & Research showcase is open to public at no charge — even for the parking Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted May. 10, 2015 at 3:51 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted May. 10, 2015 at 3:51 PM » RELATED CONTENT What do you think? --> Have an opinion on this issue? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter. » Read more X What do you think? Have an opinion on this issue? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter . • SOU student projects on display • SOAR puts ideas on display • SOU, just for you • Southern Oregon University Arts and Research celebration » Social News For a smart and determined hacker or terrorist, it would not be terribly difficult to disable any or all of the local civil infrastructure, including the power, water, sewage, communications and health care systems, a local professor says. That’s because all these systems are controlled by little SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) boxes, about the size of a deck of cards that are part of our nation’s Industrial Control System (ICS).  These small boxes are all over the place, not under very secure lock and key, and they need to be near the equipment they control and available to legitimate systems users. So it’s a conundrum, one that information technology (IT) specialists and the federal Department of Homeland Security are trying to figure out.  That’s the thrust of computer science teacher Dr. Lynn Ackler ’s upcoming presentation during this week’s eighth annual Southern Oregon Arts & Research (SOAR) series of events, a big showcase of the latest research done by students and teachers of Southern Oregon University. It starts today and runs through Friday with a number of free presentations on the SOU campus on a diverse array of topics, ranging from sentence diagramming to a documentary about last season's SOU football team's national championship campaign to food insecurity to voter engagement to the differing effects of climate change on more and less developed countries. " Vulnerability of the Nation's Critical Infrastructure " is the title of a presentation prepared by Ackler, a 15-year veteran of SOU, and seven computer science students. Ackler says he leaves his keys in the lock of his office door as a message that, a) there is little or no real security and, b) you have to have super-trustworthy people around you. Up on the wall of his basement laboratory is the slogan, “They got what it takes to take what you got.” What can you do? For starters, you take all five of his computer security, computer forensics and networking classes, which most of this region’s corporations and municipalities have done. Then you get it through your head that there is no such thing as “deleting.” If it was in the computer, tablet, phone or system, it’s still there. You have to burn, drown, explode or shoot the device to make it go away, he says. In drills with his students and police or military forces, says Ackler, he’s done all the above and they work. Dropping your hard drive off at recycling doesn't work. His SOAR project is a demonstration of what happens when a hacker hacks but, he says, he’s not going to tell anyone how to do it.  You have to create “strong access control,” which means strong passwords, each one long, complex and different from the others, but there’s always a drawback — in this case, if you make scads of complicated passwords, it’s easy to lose data.  “Everything is both good and bad, no matter what you do,” said Ackler, noting that one key administrator in San Francisco recently quit his job in a huff and left with all the passwords, which he would not divulge. How to force him? They’re still working on it.  “In security, there are ways to crack passwords,” he says. “It’s called the rubber hose attack. That means ‘sex, money or pain will get you anything.’ So, be careful when you hire people. It all comes down to trust.”  Ackley’s display has photos of the Ashland Water Treatment Plant, with SCADA devices sitting out in the open. Unfortunately, he notes, it’s necessary, because “if they’re not in the open, near what they control, they’re not of use. If you put them in a secure, cinder block building, hackers can penetrate that with radio waves.”  The cutting edge of computer science now is security and his best students are landing great jobs in the industry, he says.  “The big push is to secure everything. Terrorists are not dumb. They are very smart and there are lots of them,” he says. In big countries like India, there are millions of high school students who are smarter than ours, unemployed and “they’ve got time and they’ve got computers.”  His presentation, supported by seven other presenters, is set for noon to 2 p.m. Thursday in the Stevenson Union foyer. Other presentations and events on display in Hannon Library during SOAR week and throughout the month of May include:  • “10 Years, 9 Months, 3 Weeks, and 5 Days,” a multi-media display and introduction to the topic of modern-day atrocities. Creators participate in the Artists Reception on the third floor of Hannon Library from 3:30 to 5 p.m. today, Monday, May 11;  • “BECOMING,” a documentary film chronicling the SOU football national championship season; and • “Jim Rock Historic Can Collection,” a series of images of historic cans assembled by Jim Rock over his career as an archaeologist with the U.S. Forest Service.  Academic presentations, which run Tuesday through Thursday at Stevenson Union, include these events on Wednesday, May 13:  • Barriers and opportunities for voter engagement,  from 8:30 to 8:50 a.m.; • Analysis of the battle at Captain Jack’s Stronghold during the Modoc War near Klamath Falls, from 9:30 to 9:50 a.m. in Room 319; • Food insecurity, from 10 to 10:20 a.m. in Room 306; • Impacts of agriculture on water quality, from 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. in Room 306; and • A panel discussion by Skeptic House students on "Controversial Issues in Society: Opposing Positions," including the proposed Medford casino, forced sterilization of prison inmates, doctor-assisted suicide and treating juvenile offenders as adults, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Room 319. “This is one of my favorite events of the year,” said event organizer Jeffrey Gayton, director of SOU’s Learning Commons and university librarian. “There is a wide variety of multi-disciplinary work that will be presented during SOAR week. This event really serves as a bridge between the classroom and the community and provides an opportunity for students to share some of their creative and academic accomplishments with a wide audience.” The week officially kicks off with opening ceremonies at noon and an ice cream and "SOARbet" social from noon to 2:30 p.m. Monday, May 11, in the Rogue River Room at Stevenson Union. The full schedule of events is available at www.sou.edu/soar/soar-2014-calendar.html . John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted May. 10, 2015 at 3:51 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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