Associate Research Fellow (PREP0003810)

Johns Hopkins, founded in 1876, is America's first research

university and home to nine world-class academic divisions working

together as one university.

Salary : $120,579 - $149,315 a year

Johns Hopkins University: Whiting School of Engineering: Office of

Research and Translation

Description

PREP Research Associate

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST)

Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes

that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at

academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus

requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP

award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of

backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees

in this position will perform technical work that underpins the

scientific research of the collaboration.

Research Title:

Evaluating and Advancing Measurement of Real-Time Deepfake

Detection and Digital Injection Prevention for Digital Identity

Services

U.S. Citizen Preferred

The work will entail:

The increased availability of generative AI technology has given

rise to fear of these tools being used to disrupt any number of

cybersecurity safeguards implemented by US Government and

commercial systems. Most notably, identity systems used to enable

remote proof of identity and online access have found themselves in

the crosshairs of attackers [1,2,3]. Many of these use real-time

deepfake technology to defeat biometrics and human-supported

identity verification systems. They use technical measures to

insert (known as injection) modified or forged media (images or

videos) into communication channels to defeat matching algorithms,

presentation attack detection, or human reviewers. Protections

against these attacks focus on two areas: defending against the

injection and detecting the deepfakes. The project will focus on

providing controls for the first and measurement for tools used in

detection. No organization should rely on just one of these methods

as it should be assumed that attackers will be able to achieve an

injection. This makes accurate detection imperative, while at the

same time, all efforts need to be made to deter injections since

detection algorithms are nascent and will likely miss well-crafted

deepfakes. Some products currently support detection capabilities,

yet there are no well-established metrics, tests, or standards to

measure the effectiveness of these technologies in combating

real-world threats.

This project will address this gap by evaluating risks posed by

emerging injection techniques and real-time deepfakes and

establishing a framework for measuring the efficacy of available

controls. It will give NIST the foundation for a measurement-based

approach to support federal government guidelines and future

technology assessments. Ideally this research will set the

framework for an ongoing technical evaluation capability like those

established by the Face Recognition Technology Evaluation and Face

Analysis Technology Evaluation programs.

Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

 Generating deepfake artifacts,

 proposing a scientific framework for evaluation of different

detection and prevention tools

 recommending performance metrics for detection systems

 Presenting results at internal meetings, and occasional meetings

with external stakeholders.

 Ensuring that results, protocols, software, and documentation

have been archived or otherwise transmitted to the larger

organization

 assisting in the development of research papers or

guidelines

Qualifications

 A Doctorate or in a Doctoral program with a focus on Computer

Science, Engineering, or Cybersecurity

 5-8 years of relevant experience.

 Expertise in biometric systems and biometric system threats

 Ability to work with leading software and hardware to replicate

deepfake threats and evaluate detection system performance

 Familiarity with multiple scripting languages.

 Ability to develop deepfake artifacts for testing.

 Strong oral and written communication skills.

Application Instructions

Please upload the following with your application:

· CV/Resume

• Please limit C.V to 3 pages only and ONLY include a valid email

address for your contact info. Your resume will not be

considered if the following information is included on your

CV/resume.

· Self portraits

· Phone number

· Home address/Country

· Citizenship status

· Languages spoken

· Sex/Gender

·

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C.

§ 272(b) and (c)

Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology

(NIST) hosts the

Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is

designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial

assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor’s degree holders,

graduate students, master’s degree holders, postdocs, and

faculty.

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories

and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative

research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher

education in the following disciplines including (but may not be

limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer

science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics,

nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and

statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate

administrative functions of the PREP Program.

Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to

perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine

eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of

this information is also subject to all the published routine uses

as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1:

NIST Associates.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When

you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for

NIST to use of the information you submit for the purpose

stated.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Salary Range

The referenced salary range represents the minimum and maximum

salaries for this position and is based on Johns Hopkins

University's good faith belief at the time of posting. Not all

candidates will be eligible for the upper end of the salary range.

The actual compensation offered to the selected candidate may vary

and will ultimately depend on multiple factors, which may include

the successful candidate's geographic location, skills, work

experience, internal equity, market conditions, education/training

and other factors, as reasonably determined by the

University.

Total Rewards

Johns Hopkins offers a total rewards package that supports our

employees' health, life, career and retirement. More information

can be found here: https://hr.jhu.edu/benefits-worklife/ .

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Johns Hopkins University is committed to equal opportunity for

its faculty, staff, and students. To that end, the university does

not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, marital status,

pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age,

disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or

expression, veteran status or other legally protected

characteristic. The university is committed to providing qualified

individuals access to all academic and employment programs,

benefits and activities on the basis of demonstrated ability,

performance and merit without regard to personal factors that are

irrelevant to the program involved.

Pre-Employment Information

If you are interested in applying for employment with The Johns

Hopkins University and require special assistance or accommodation

during any part of the pre-employment process, please contact the

HR Business Services Office at jhurecruitment@jhu.edu. For TTY

users, call via Maryland Relay or dial 711. For more information

about workplace accommodations or accessibility at Johns Hopkins

University, please visit accessibility.jhu.edu .

Background Checks

The successful candidate(s) for this position will be subject to a

pre-employment background check including education

verification.

EEO is the Law:

https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22

088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12ScreenRdr.pdf

Vaccine Requirements

Johns Hopkins University strongly encourages, but no longer

requires, at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19

vaccine does not apply to positions located in the State of

Florida. We still require all faculty, staff, and students to

receive the seasonal flu vaccine . Exceptions to the COVID

and flu vaccine requirements may be provided to individuals for

religious beliefs or medical reasons. Requests for an exception

must be submitted to the JHU vaccination registry. This change

does not apply to the School of Medicine (SOM). SOM hires must be

fully vaccinated with an FDA COVID-19 vaccination and provide proof

of vaccination status. For additional information, applicants

for SOM positions should visit https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/

and all other JHU applicants should visit https://covidinfo.jhu.edu/health-safety/covid-vaccination-information/

.

The following additional vaccine requirements may apply,

depending upon your campus. Please contact the hiring department

for more information.

The pre-employment physical for positions in clinical areas,

laboratories, working with research subjects, or involving

community contact requires documentation of immune status against

Rubella (German measles), Rubeola (Measles), Mumps, Varicella

(chickenpox), Hepatitis B and documentation of having received the

Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccination. This may include

documentation of having two (2) MMR vaccines; two (2) Varicella

vaccines; or antibody status to these diseases from laboratory

testing. Blood tests for immunities to these diseases are

ordinarily included in the pre-employment physical exam except for

those employees who provide results of blood tests or immunization

documentation from their own health care providers. Any

vaccinations required for these diseases will be given at no cost

in our Occupational Health office.