{"id":2223,"date":"2026-03-21T16:22:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T16:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/?page_id=2223"},"modified":"2026-04-20T19:57:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:57:23","slug":"milestone-projects","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/milestone-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Milestone Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This page highlights my most significant academic projects completed throughout my Cybersecurity degree at Old Dominion University (ODU). Each project reflects hands-on application of core security principles \u2014 spanning programming, network infrastructure, Linux administration, and research analysis. Use the links and resources below to explore source code, full technical reports, and supporting documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83d\udd2c <\/strong>COVA CCI Undergraduate Cybersecurity Research<\/strong> <\/span>(Coastal Virginia Center for Cyber Innovation \u2014 Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, ODU Node)<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Role: Researcher | Mentor-Guided Independent Study | Spring 202<\/em>6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competitively selected to participate in the COVA CCI Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Program \u2014 an independent study where students complete original, mentor-guided research on a cybersecurity topic of their choosing. The program is funded through the Commonwealth of Virginia and concludes with a formal Research Showcase presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udccc Publication Status:<\/strong> This research has been archived as a preprint on arXiv and is currently under double-blind peer review<\/strong> at IEEE CNS 2026. The preprint is publicly available at arxiv.org\/abs\/2604.11752<\/a>. This is paper’s findings were presented at the COVA CCI Undergraduate Research Showcase (April 17, 2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u23f3 Anticipated Release:<\/strong> Full peer-reviewed publication and GitHub repository release is anticipated by July 31, 2026 (subject to review timeline).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\ud83d\udd2c COVA Research Paper \u2014 arXiv Preprint Published<\/strong> April 2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paper:<\/strong> A Synthetic Conversational Smishing Dataset for Social Engineering Detection<\/em> Carl Lochstampfor & Dr. Ayan Roy (Christopher Newport University) arxiv.org\/abs\/2604.11752<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dataset consists of 3,201 synthetic multi-turn scam conversations across 8 categories. Best detection model: XGBoost + TF-IDF at 72.5% accuracy \u2014 more than double the random baseline. A 10,000-conversation expansion is currently underway for a follow-on second paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long-term vision is an autonomous AI agent that can identify, engage, and neutralize scam calls in real time \u2014 whether the threat is a human caller running a script or an AI-driven bot doing it at scale. That agent would protect vulnerable people before harm is done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udd17\u00a0Archived preprinted version of the paper on arXiv<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udd17 Learn more about the COVA CCI Undergraduate Research Program<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83e\uddea Secure File Sharing System <\/span>(CYSE 250)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Technologies: Python, Socket Programming, CLI, Encryption (Caesar Cipher)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developed a secure file sharing system using Python, implementing core cybersecurity principles through a TCP-based client-server architecture. The system integrates encryption, authentication, and file isolation to ensure secure data handling and controlled user access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udd0d Project Highlights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n