Kevin Butler, CSE Ph.D. Student, Receives Symantec Graduate Fellowship

Kevin Butler, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at Penn State has won one of three Graduate Fellowships from Symantec Research Labs for the 2009-2010 academic year. Kevin will work closely this summer with Symantec researchers in Santa Monica and Mountain View, CA, on developing policies and understanding usability requirements for securing data storage.  Symantec will also pay Kevin's tuition and fees, along with a competitive stipend to fund his ongoing research.

The Symantec fellowship organizers look for outstanding Ph.D. and M.S. students who are working on research projects likely to have real-world practical value in information security, availability and integrity.  According to Symantec's press release, "The Symantec Research Labs Graduate Fellowship program is currently in its third year and has played a strong role in our efforts to continuously generate innovative solutions to today's challenges," said Darren Shou, senior manager, Symantec Research Labs University Research Program. "We received a large number of superb applicants and this year it was quite challenging to make our final selections. This latest group of student researchers represents some of the most promising students in their fields."

At CSE, as part of the Systems and Internet Infrastructure Security Laboratory, Kevin's research focuses on storage security and understanding how advances in disk technology may be used to improve data and system security.  He has developed disk prototypes that prevent rootkits from taking hold in a system and that enforce isolation of critical files and data.  He is currently investigating enhanced disk policies for data protection.  Kevin has served on over 20 program and organizing committees for conferences and workshops.  His Ph.D. advisor is Patrick McDaniel.