Jose Andre Morales, Ph.D.

Degree Conferred April 17, 2008

Florida International University

Member: Sigma Xi, IEEE, ACM, Upsilon Pi Epsilon

 

PhD Dissertation Advisor:  Dr. Yi Deng

PhD Dissertation Co-Advisor: Dr. Peter J Clarke

Area of Study: Computer Viruses

 

Office:  ECS 212

Email:  jmora009@cis.fiu.edu

Current Curriculum Vitae

Research Statement

Teaching Statement

 

My recent interview in Diversity/Careers in Engineering & Information Technology Magazine winter 2007 / spring 2008

 

Photo Album

 

 

CURRENTLY TEACHING CLASSES

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

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, July 2008.  http://www.springerlink.com/content/f13m405335g40132/

·        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-Verlag 2008.

  • 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, http://www.springerlink.com/content/4p1413068273451h/.  Download in PDF format

Book Chapters

·        “Timeline of Mobile Malicious Code, Hoaxes and Threats”, Mobile Malware Attacks and Defense, Jose Andre Morales and Ken Dunham, Syngress Publishing 2008, Chapter 3.

·        “Overview of Malicious Mobile Code Families”, Mobile Malware Attacks and Defense, Jose Andre Morales, Syngress Publishing 2008, Chapter 4.

·        “Taxonomy of Mobile Malicious Code”, Mobile Malware Attacks and Defense, Jose Andre Morales, Syngress Publishing 2008, Chapter 5.

 

Conferences

  • Detecting Self-Reference Virus Replication, 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

 

 

Master’s Thesis

  • Reducing False Positives in Behavior Blocking Software, Committee: Yi Deng (chair), Geoffrey Smith, and Chi Zhang, fall 2004  Download in PDF Format

 

Independent Study

  • The Fort Knox Theory: A Preemptive Approach to Defending Computer Systems from Computer Viruses., Jose Andre Morales, Florida International University, summer 2003  Download in PDF format           

 

 

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.

 

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

 

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Student Member

IEEE, Computer Society, Technical Committee on Security and Privacy.

ACM, Special Interest Group on Security, Audit and Control (SIGSAC).

Member

Mobile Antivirus Research Association (MARA), http://www.mobileav.org

 

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 2006.

  • 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 show “Despierta America”.

 

 

PREVIOUS TAUGHT CLASSES

 

  • Programming in Java COP2250 – Fall 2007(2 sections), Spring 2007, Spring 2006
  • Data Analysis CGS2518 – Summer A 2006

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Computer Viruses:  Defining and modeling virus behavior, transformation techniques, distribution methods and detection avoidance.  My primary focus centers around the development of behavior based virus detection for handheld devices such as a smartphone or a PDA.