NACC Computer Science Instructor Wins IACIS Best Paper Award

October 30, 2020

NACC Computer Science Instructor Bryon Miller’s research paper won the Best Paper Award in the Research Category at the International Association for Computer Information Systems (IACIS) conference earlier this month.

Miller’s paper, “A Multi-Layer Approach to Detecting and Preventing IoT-Based Botnet Attacks”, will be published in IACIS’s quarterly journal Issues in Information Systems. A digital version of this issue is now available online at www.iacis.org.

“We are very pleased that Mr. Miller is publishing cutting edge articles relating to Cybersecurity,” stated Dr. David Campbell, NACC President.  “This reflects so well on not only him, but Northeast as well.  Congratulations to him on this hard work and resulting honor.”

Miller began the research paper while taking an independent study course earlier this year through the University of North Alabama. Miller previously completed his Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems before becoming a full-time computer science instructor at Northeast this fall.

Miller has been the sole instructor for NACC’s Google IT Support Professional Certificate since the program began in January of this year. Miller is also an instructor for Microcomputer Applications (CIS 146). He will also teach Server Administration (CIS 276) in the Spring Semester.

Miller says he wanted to write a paper related to cybersecurity because of the importance of the topic. “As we discuss in our paper, cybersecurity, especially related to IoT devices like your smart speaker or wireless security cameras, has become a significant issue. Cyberattacks are on the rise globally and impact virtually every industry. Nguyen et al. (2019) estimate that this year IoT devices will be involved in over 25% of these cyberattacks.”

Miller presented his research paper Thursday, October 8^th, at IACIS’s annual conference where the conference theme was “The Internet of Things (IoT)”. This year’s conference was held virtually. “It was an honor to present our paper and to represent Northeast in this way. It was a privilege to share this research with a group of IT professionals, educators, and researchers. Winning an award was just the icing on the cake for us and it really wouldn’t have happened without Dr. Zhang’s guidance and encouragement.”  

Published quarterly, Issues in Information Systems (IIS), journal is a refereed (double-blind peer review) publication (ISSN 1529-7314). IIS publishes the latest research in practice and pedagogical topics that focus on how information systems are used to support organizations or enhance the educational process.

This research paper will not be the only time Miller is published in the IIS journal. He is also being published in IIS’s journal for a paper co-written with his wife, Katelin Miller, Administrative Systems Manager/Assistant Registrar. This piece, titled “Prevention of Phishing Attacks: A Three-Pillared Approach”, appears in IIS Volume 21, Issue 2 and addresses another cybersecurity topic.

NACC is one of only 100 community colleges in the nation currently offering the Google IT Support Certificate. Completing the course and earning the certificate will give students an added credential when applying for jobs in information technology support.