COLLOQUIUM
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
and
Advanced Solutions Group
University of South Carolina
 
Modeling Active Immune Response
with Computer Network Considerations 

Victor A. Skormin

Department of Electrical Engineering
Binghamton University

Date: September 27, 2004 (Monday)
Time: 1-2:30
Place: Swearingen 1A03 (Faculty Lounge)

Abstract

Response of the immune system to invading alien proteins presents an
example of a highly successful defense of a complex system against an
information attack. Specific components of this defense mechanism are
well established in immunology and could be subjected to mathematical
modeling. The entire mechanism is viewed as a closed-loop, nonlinear,
negative feedback circuit. Generic conditions resulting in two
distinctive outcomes of such an attack, lethality and full recovery,
are established. The control law that inevitably results in the full
recovery outcome is formulated. In application to the immune system
these results are virtually useless due to unknown parameters of the
mathematical model and inability to implement any “control law”
in a biological system. A chronology of a recent information attack on
the international computer network community is presented, and the
resemblance between the particular stages of the attacks on the
computer network and the immune system is emphasized. Indeed such a
model could be applied for the description of an information attack in
a computer network and the network defenses. In this case model
parameters could be reliably estimated and consequently, the control
law established for the immune defenses could be fruitful in
application to computer defenses.
       
Victor A. Skormin is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the
Watson School of Engineering, Binghamton University (SUNY).  He holds
a MS (1968) from Kazakh National Technical University, Kazakhstan, and
Ph.D. (1975) degrees from the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys,
Russia. His area of research includes modern control theory and
applications (motion control, pointing-acquisition-tracking systems in
laser communication, novel robotics-based gimbals systems,
high-performance hybrid laser positioning systems), technical
diagnostics (system diagnostics for power generators and avionics),
mathematical modeling and system optimization, information security
(biological approach to system information security, detection of the
“gene of self-replication” in malicious codes, immunocomputing),
and biometrics (effects of intoxicants and fatigue on speech). His
current research is funded by NSF, NASA, and Air Force. Dr. Skormin is
a recipient of the IEEE Region I Award “For Leadership in
Establishing University-Industry Links in Research and Education”,
the University Award for Graduate Teaching from Binghamton University,
the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the SUNY
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative
Activities, and the 2004 Book of the Year Award for his book on
IMMUNOCOMPUTING from the International Institute for Advanced Studies
in Systems Research and Cybernetics (IIAS).  He is a Senior Member of
the IEEE and served as the Editor for Space Systems of the IEEE
Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.  From 1999-2000
Dr. Skormin was the appointed National Research Council’s Senior
Researcher with the Air Force.  In 1999 Dr. Skormin was awarded the
title of Honorary Professor of the Kazakh National Technical
University, Almaty, Kazakhstan. In 2000 he was elected an
International Member of the Russian Academy of Navigation and
Control. He is a Member of the Cyber Security Task Force of
SUNY-Central. He authored three books and many journal papers.