Call for Submissions

ACSAC is an internationally recognized forum where practitioners, researchers, and developers in information system security meet to learn and to exchange practical ideas and experiences.

If you are developing practical solutions to problems relating to protecting commercial enterprises' or countries' information infrastructures, consider submitting your work to the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference.

We solicit submissions that address the application of security technology, the implementation of systems, and lessons learned. While we are interested in a variety of topics, we especially encourage submissions in the area of our Hard Topic Theme for 2016, Security and Privacy in the Internet of Things.

Format	Description	Deadline	Notification (tentative)
Technical Track	peer-reviewed papers on new work	June 8, 2016 11:59pm ET	Aug. 18, 2016
Case Studies	real-world security application reports	June 8, 2016	Aug. 15, 2016
Panels	interactive expert panels	June 8, 2016	Aug. 15, 2016
Professional Development Courses	in-depth courses on current security topics	June 8, 2016	July 19, 2016
Workshops	1-2 day sessions on hot topics	June 8, 2016	Aug. 15, 2016
Posters	new and innovative preliminary work	Aug. 1 to Sept. 8, 2016	rolling
Works in Progress	short works-in-progress reports	Sept. 8, 2016	Sept. 14, 2016
Conferenceships	student grant requests	Sept. 8, 2016	Oct. 15, 2016

Submission Formats:

Technical Track Paper Submissions (contact Program Chair)

Wil Robertson, Northeastern University (Program Chair)
Davide Balzarotti, Eurecom (Program Co-Chair)

We solicit papers offering novel contributions in any aspect of applied security. Papers are encouraged on results that have been demonstrated to be useful for improving information systems security and that address lessons learned from actual application.

This year, ACSAC especially encourages submissions in the area of Security and Privacy in the Internet of Things (IoTs). The proliferation of connected devices in homes and offices poses significant novel threats to both security and privacy. While particular systems (thermostats, baby monitors, coffee makers, etc.) have received individual study, new perspectives are needed to develop more robust and versatile defenses for protecting devices and networks as the IoT expands. Selected submissions will be featured in a special track at the conference. All submissions seeking consideration for this theme should prepend "IOT:" to their titles.

Submitted papers must not substantially overlap papers that have been published or that are simultaneously submitted to a journal or a conference with proceedings. Please ensure that your submission is a PDF file of a maximum of 10 pages, excluding well-marked references and appendices limited to 5 pages. Submissions must be generated according to the ACM instructions at http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates, using the template Option 2 "WITH permission block". Committee members are not required to read the appendices.

All submissions must be anonymous (i.e., papers should not contain author names or affiliations, or obvious citations). In the rare case that citing previous work in the 3rd person is impossible, blind the reference and notify the PC Chair.

Submissions are to be made using the OpenConf system on this site. Only PDF files will be accepted. Papers must be received by the deadline above. Authors of accepted papers must guarantee that their papers will be presented at the conference.

Papers will be reviewed in multiple rounds, and those that receive strongly negative reviews may be subject to early rejection. Appeals based on factual disagreements may be submitted to the PC chairs, who may appoint an independent reviewer to decide the appeal. Papers cannot be resubmitted elsewhere until the authors are notified of acceptance or rejection, early or otherwise.

These constraints are hard constraints. Submissions not meeting these guidelines risk rejection without consideration of their merits.

More info

Case Studies in Applied Security (contact Case Studies Chair)

Larry Wagoner, NSA (Case Studies Chair)

The Case Studies in Applied Security Track is a critical part of the technical conference. It is an opportunity for professionals to share information that is current without writing a detailed technical paper, but enables attendees to learn about the next generation of products and solutions. It is open to anyone in the community such as vendors, network providers, systems integrators, government civil/federal/military programs or users across the spectrum of computer security applications. Potentially this is where attendees can learn about client needs and vendors solutions. This year we are especially interested in automated solutions based on existing knowledge. While the Case Studies will not be included in the Proceedings, the presentations will be posted to the ACSAC site following the conference.

More info

Professional Development Courses (contact Professional Development Chair)

Daniel Faigin, The Aerospace Corporation, USA. (Professional Development Chair)

Courses (formerly known as Tutorials) are full (6 hour) or half (3 hour) day classes on how to apply or use a particular technology to address a security need. A typical course submission includes an abstract of the course, a brief (1-2 page) outline, an instructor bio, an indication of length, and notes on prerequisites and textbooks. Course instructors receive an honorarium and expenses. If you would like to indicate a topic you would like to see, you may do that as well; please suggest an instructor if you can.

More info

Panels (contact Panels Chair)

Hassan Takabi, University of Pittsburgh (Panels Co-Chair)
Suzanne McIntosh, Cloudera and NYU (Panels Co-Chair)

Panels are encouraged on the topics listed above. Panels may frame a debate on a controversial question or summarize interesting results, but they must encourage audience participation. A typical submission will include a proposed moderator, panel members (usually 3-5) and an abstract of the proposed topic.

More info

Workshops (contact Workshops Chair)

Harvey Rubinovitz, The MITRE Corporation (Workshops Chair)

ACSAC workshops are on up to date topics that attendees usually rate to provide a useful and exciting forum for information technology professionals (e.g., standards developers, software developers, security engineers, security officers) to exchange ideas, concerns, and opinions.

More info

Posters (contact Posters Chair)

Thomas Moyer, MIT Lincoln Laboratory (Posters Chair)

The poster session provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to present their new and innovative preliminary work in an informal, interactive setting. Conference attendees can learn about novel on-going research projects that might not yet be complete, but whose preliminary results are already interesting. Poster presenters will have an opportunity to discuss their work and get invaluable feedback from knowledgeable sources at an early stage of their research.

More info

Works In Progress (contact WIP Chair)

Thomas Moyer, MIT Lincoln Laboratory (WiP Chair)

The Works in Progress (WiP) session offers short presentations (5 minutes maximum) of ongoing work. These presentations highlight the most current work in both business and academia, emphasizing goals and value added, accomplishments to date, and future plans. Special consideration is given to topics that discuss real life security experience, including system implementation, deployment, and lessons learned.

More info

Conferenceship Grants

ACSAC offers conferenceships to enable students to attend the conference. This program will help pay for some of the cost to attend ACSAC. Additional information about this program is available on the Student Awards page.

Additional Information

ACSAC does not accept "speaking proposals" per se, however; you are encouraged to submit suggestions in the form of a one paragraph description of a topic and a biography of the proposed presenter. Depending on a proposal's technical content, it may be acceptable as a case study. If a full paper is available, it may be acceptable as a technical paper. If a presentation by a group of related speakers is contemplated, a proposal for this session may be acceptable as a panel or forum. If a proposal for a half day or full day seminar is appropriate, it may be acceptable as a tutorial. If a one or two page technical writeup is available that describes work that is not yet completed, it may be acceptable as a poster. Finally, if your have an interest in a full day interactive dialogue, exchanging ideas, opinions and concerns between multiple presenters and attendees, consider being a workshop presenter.

For More Information

For general conference information, see the menu at left
For refereed papers information: see our paper submission page
For case studies information: see our case studies page
For publicity information: contact the Publicity Chair
For student paper/award information: see our student awards page
For courses information: see our courses page
For posters information: see our posters page
For works in progress information: see our works in progress page
For workshops: see our workshops page

About the Sponsor

Applied Computer Security Associates (ACSA) had its genesis in the first Aerospace Computer Security Applications Conference in 1985. That conference was a success and evolved into the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). Several years ago the word "Aerospace" was dropped from the name to promote a wider range of government and commercial applications. ACSA was incorporated in 1987 as a non-profit association of computer security professionals who have a common goal of improving the understanding, theory, and practice of computer security. ACSA continues to be the primary sponsor of the annual conference.

In 1989, ACSA began the Distinguished Lecture Series at the annual conference. Each year, an outstanding computer security professional is invited to present a lecture of current topical interest to the security community. In 1991, ACSA began a Best-Paper by a Student Award, presented at the Annual conference. This award is intended to encourage active student participation in the annual conference. The award winning student author receives an honorarium and all expenses to the conference.

ACSA continues to be committed to serving the security community by finding additional approaches for encouraging and facilitating dialogue and technical interchange. ACSA is always interested in suggestions from interested professionals and computer security professional organizations on how to achieve these goals.