Undergrads research cybersecurity, sport horses through ISU’s FIREbird program

Alex Clark had a busy summer. Between preparing for his wedding, working in IT for the College of Education, taking four classes, and serving in the National Guard, Clark found time to survey small businesses about how prepared they were to fend off cyberattacks.

Clark was one of 10 students who spent at least a portion of summer 2024 learning new skills through hands-on research projects as part of the Office of Student Research’s FIREbird (Faculty-mentored Independent Research Experiences) summer grant program. These undergraduates conducted research in the field and in the laboratory, examining topics in biology, education, information technology (IT), music, and psychology. One student even studied online auction sales of sport horses (see below).

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Redbird Scholar: Spring 2025

The grant program, in its fifth year, pays recipients up to $3,000 to focus on their research throughout the theoretically less busy summer months.

“These grants are important because they allow students to spend a significant amount of time on a research project,” said Dr. Gina Hunter, director of the Office of Student Research. “That time on task really accelerates the learning process. Students have to learn quickly to manage their time, to work independently, and to persevere through obstacles. The whole experience gives students confidence.”

Clark, a senior computer systems technology major, and Ryan Bredesen, a senior computer systems technology major and business administration minor, both researched under faculty mentor Dr. Stephen Mujeye Sr., an assistant professor in the Department of Technology.

Mujeye, who researches cybersecurity, encourages students in his classes to participate in the FIREbird program because they learn about the research process: They study academic literature, identify a problem, formulate survey questions, conduct the research, and refine their results.

“I’m hoping they’ll have a better appreciation of the research process, and then, of course, also have a better understanding of IT principles,” Mujeye said. “That’s something that they can take into the job market because not only have they studied here, but have also done some practical things that can be helpful to employers.”

Clark definitely learned how to manage his time better last summer while conducting research for his project, “A Critical Analysis of SME Cybersecurity Policies and Practices.” Beyond his other responsibilities, he contacted more than 100 businesses across Central Illinois requesting them to fill out a survey analyzing what cyberattack detection systems and protective measures they had in place to deter those threats. He also reviewed previous research to compare those findings with what his survey uncovered.

Clark confirmed that small companies (under 250 employees) and medium-size businesses (250-1,000 employees) were unprepared to deal with cyber threats, despite an increase in cyberattacks on those enterprises over the last several years.

The problem is small businesses don’t always have the resources to protect themselves. The cost of an IT staff member and cyber defense software and hardware can exceed $100,000 a year, Mujeye said. And there isn’t one solution for every business, Clark explained. For example, protection for an automobile repair service might not suit a company in the food industry, he said.

“There are mechanisms in place to handle these threats, but it’s not necessarily attractive to those businesses, because they’re either expensive or highly complex, to the point where they would need to put forward a substantial investment to handle these challenges,” said Clark, a native of Farmington who transferred from Illinois Central College. “They don’t have nearly as many resources to work with in most cases.

“Based on the survey results, most businesses felt that they were not prepared, or that they may not have known about these systems in the first place or could take advantage of them, or maybe they just didn’t know the threats were so significant that they could potentially collapse their business model if they didn’t respond properly.”

Mujeye said the main threat facing smaller businesses is ransomware, a cyberattack in which a company loses access to its data or computer system until a fee is paid. “(For example), say it’s a pizza place, the attackers might demand $5,000 to get access back to your system and not share your database with the rest of the world,” Mujeye said.

Bredesen also examined cybersecurity but from the standpoint of measuring the effectiveness of network segmentation through a project titled “Network Segmentation Security with the Implementation of Threats‎‎‎‎.” 

“An unsegmented network means all of the IPs (internet protocols) are on the same subnet, which is the pathway to communicate with other computers,” said Bredesen, of Plainfield. “Which means if you were to get a virus on one of those computers, it can easily communicate and get the other computers because there are not any roadblocks.

“And then the other network was a segmented network, which you change that subnet within the IP settings to a different number each time for each computer. So it’s way harder for that virus or malware to go across the other computers.”

Bredesen set up the networks on five virtual machines and then simulated malware attacks against them. His research confirmed that a segmented network offered better protection because the malware did not detect any of the virtual machines in the network. However, all virtual machines in the unsegmented network were compromised.

Bredesen was also surveying 10 businesses to find out common practices around network security. He has published a paper on his research and presented it at the International Conference on Software Engineering and Information Management in Singapore. Clark plans to publish a paper in an information technology journal and present his research at an international conference. Clark said the research project helped him hone his professional writing and learn how to create concise but useful survey questions.

“Just financially, the grant has helped me out a lot,” Clark said. “Having the extra money for learning how research works gave me the flexibility to still live my life.”

Bredesen said he participated in the project to boost his resume and acquire practical knowledge of networks. “I have gained a little bit more experience in networking, which is something I want to do later in life,” he said. “And I decided to give it a shot, keep myself busy over the summer, and the bonus is I got paid for it.”

Clark and Bredesen credited Mujeye with helping them last summer by structuring the research process, placing milestones along the way, and assisting them when challenges inevitably came up. The mentoring relationships are an important aspect of the FIREbird program, according to Hunter.

“In mentored-research, students learn more than the specific skills or methods related to the project. They learn how to think like scholars and talk like scholars, and how to behave in research settings and among other researchers,” Hunter said.

Sport horse auctions

In the world of sport horses, understanding what drives their market value is a complex endeavor. Last summer through FIREbird summer grant program, student Whitney Stiverson and faculty mentor Dr. Michelle Kibler dove into this niche yet impactful field through the former’s research project, “Buyer Valuation of Sport Horses Sold Through Online Auctions.” They aimed to identify the physical characteristics that affect how much buyers are willing to spend on sport horses, which are horses used in disciplines such as eventing, jumping, and dressage.

“We’ve done similar studies for other types of horses, like thoroughbreds and stock horses, but sport horses are relatively unexplored,” said Kibler, an associate professor of agribusiness. “This research fills a crucial gap.”

Stiverson, a senior studying animal industry management, brings a unique blend of practical knowledge and academic insight to the project. The horse enthusiast has been gathering data from online auction results and analyzing this information. “It’s been a lot of data crunching, but seeing patterns emerge has been really rewarding,” she said.

Preliminary findings from the current dataset, which spans over a decade, indicate that breed, color, discipline, and sex preferences impact the final selling price. Geldings (castrated males) held a premium over all others, with mares (females) bringing a discounted price. Warmblood breeds demand a high premium when compared to quarter horses, which is not entirely surprising considering European breeds are anecdotally popular in the sport horse industry. Other breeds were noted along with the color chestnut being discounted when compared to bay.

The project is still in progress, with the team planning to publish later this year. They anticipate that their ongoing research will contribute significantly to the understanding of sport horse valuation. Stiverson will present their findings at the University Research Symposium this April and at the Equine Science Symposium in Colorado at the beginning of June.”

This work will also better align horse buyer and seller expectations for valuing sport horses, improve marketing strategies for online auctions sales advertising, and provide comparison between sport horses and other sectors of the equine industry. In 2023, the American Horse Council estimated that the equine industry added a total value of approximately $177 billion to the U.S. economy with 2.2 million jobs.

“The horse industry has a much larger economic impact than many realize,” Kibler said. “Our research will provide valuable benchmarks and insights for the industry.”

The FIREbird summer grant provided Stiverson with essential funding to access comprehensive data sources and analytical tools needed to study sport horse market values in depth. This support enabled the researchers to dedicate significant time and resources to a project that was yet to be explored deeply, facilitating their analysis of auction results and emerging market trends.

This story has been updated for the spring 2025 issue of Redbird Scholar magazine.