NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
Summer 2010 - Computer Vision and Multi-Agent Systems
Department of Computer Science, Utah State University

Joseph Montgomery

  Name:

  Joseph Montgomery

  Major:

  Computer Science & Computer Engineering

  School:

  Utah State University

  Home Town:

  North Ogden, Utah

About Me

My name is Joseph Montgomery, but I go by J.J. I was born and raised in North Ogden, Utah and I am a student at Utah State University. I have 2 years left until I graduate. While going to school, I also work part time providing technical support for a local webhosting company. So, needless to say, I spend a lot of time on computers. Despite that, I love being outside. Whether it's on the back of a motorcycle, beside a campfire, on a pair of skis, or just on a seculded trail, I'm there when I'm not at a computer.

The REU program appealed to me because I was looking for experience in academic research. To add to that, I got to stay in beautiful Cache Valley for the summer. The computer science department at USU is full of very qualified faculty that were excellent resources of knowledge. They also planned several activities for us to make sure our entire summer wasn't spent in front of a monitor. Cache Valley is a wonderful place for the outdoors as it's surrounded by mountains, rivers, rock faces and forests.

Project

My research this summer was in the field of botnets. The researched focussed on how botnets could impact a new type of peer to peer network that is also being researched now. The Voronoi-overlay network can greatly improve networked virtual environments and massively mulitplayer online games. If botnets were to use this type of network, they could not only severely impact the networks they infect, but anybody else that uses the internet.

Results

I worked on modifying an existing Voronoi-overlay network simulator so that it could be used to study the effects of a botnet infestation on the new type of network. This type of work can be used to make sure the new network will be secure against botnets when it is used in production. For more details, please view my final presentation or final project.

Feel free to write me at: jj (dot) montgomery (dot) 86 (at) gmail (dot) com