Project Title: A periodicity-agnostic method for detecting parasitic botnets in Distributed Hash Table-based Peer-to-Peer networks

Project Description:

Parasitic botnets coexist with benign nodes and services in a Distributed Hash Table (DHT)-based Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network. Recent years have observed the emergence of new parasitic botnets on the BitTorrent and IPFS networks. Their presence is a threat to benign nodes and services relying upon the underlying DHT. State-of-the-art in detecting parasitic botnets are rather limited in their application scenarios and can be easily circumvented. Parasitic botnets are harmful to the DHT network in many ways. They can manipulate consensus algorithms or sabotage the networks’ underlying routing mechanisms for profit and fun. Hence, the main objective of this research is to propose a more effective method to detect parasitic botnets within DHT-based P2P networks.

Applicant’s Criteria:

• Curiosity-driven researchers/tinkerers
• Independent/self-motivated personality
• Knowledge/experience in (at least one):
  • Cybersecurity
  • Malware/Botnets
  • Graph Theory/P2P networks/Distributed Systems

If you satisfy the criteria above, you could be the candidate we are looking for right now! Go ahead and send in your application.

Requirements:

• Mandatory enrolment into a full-time MSc or PhD (Research Mode) programme @ National Advanced IPv6 Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia
• Fulfillment of the USM general admission requirements
• An academic degree in the field of Computer Science/Mathematics/Computer Engineering/Information Technology or equivalent
• Foreign students are also welcomed to apply for this position

Funding Details:

• Monthly stipend of up to RM 2,500* for 24-36 months
• Funding begins from September 2021 - August 2024*

(*depending on whether the applicant is a MSc or PhD candidate)

What can we offer you:

• A great university experience in an island (Penang) north of Malaysia
• A close research supervision to guide you throughout your postgraduate journey
• A fun working environment with local and international colleagues (other postgraduate students) that often closely work together (within our research group)
• Close international collaboration (and travel) opportunities with our collaborators in Germany

How to Apply:

• Drop me an email (kshankar[@]usm[.]my) ASAP with “[FRGS-2021]” appended to the subject
• Attach your CV and a research statement