CSSE Students and Faculty Publish on Cybersecurity Defense Systems

Students and faculty in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering recently presented research at the 14th International Symposium on Digital Forensics and Security (ISDFS 2026) in Boston, MA, held March 19-20. Their corresponding paper was published by IEEE Xplore.

The article, "Porting and Evaluating Return-Oriented Programming Defenses Implemented by the OpenBSD Operating System," finds that software defenses designed to block a common cyberattack technique may not be as effective as previously believed. The research was conducted through the Monmouth University Cybersecurity Research Center by computer science graduate students Jenna Esposito '25 and Aaila Arif '25 and senior computer science student Raul Cortinas, alongside Brian Callahan, Ph.D., specialist professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering.

The study examined protections from the OpenBSD operating system aimed at blocking return-oriented programming (ROP), a method attackers use to exploit existing code in software. After testing two of these defenses in the FreeBSD operating system, the researchers found only modest results. The techniques reduced exploitable code fragments by up to about 3.6% and caused only small increases in program size, with little impact on performance. However, the protections did not stop automated tools from successfully creating attack chains.

The researchers concluded that while the defenses add some protection, they are not effective on their own and should be combined with other security measures, especially for older systems lacking modern hardware protections.

"Working on boundary-pushing projects like these prepares our graduates to lead the 21st century cybersecurity workforce," said Callahan. "The depth and variety of our research speaks both to Monmouth's ability to bring the best and brightest students here and to the University's support of the Cybersecurity Research Center as we work to make Monmouth the best place in New Jersey to study cybersecurity."

The ISDFS conference offers a platform for researchers and professionals from academia, industry, and government to exchange ideas and recent advancements in digital forensics, cybersecurity, and computer science more broadly. The 14th ISDFS conference featured a diverse program including special sessions, workshops, tutorials, keynote speeches, panel discussions, posters, and oral presentations.