Fake News DB – IT Living Lab

A University course has a new Fake News project, where a system is being developed to automatically identify fake news articles. As a part of this project, a database server needs to be configured to store news articles that will be captured by a web scraper. The solution is a machine running a database software called MongoDB.

MongoDB is a scalable document based NoSQL database which is to be used as a fake news article repository. The project team installed and configured users, authentication, and roles on the database server. They also conducted server hardening on the server to reduce the attack surface. The project team then deployed the Fake News database on the campus network.

Project Team: Connor Piper & Jacob Day

Testimonials

Before Living Lab, I had no work experience related to my IT career. I am grateful to my teachers for their support and encouragement on my projects. I experienced projects hands-on and improved my soft and technical skills. I learned how to work independently and also with a team as needed. I recommend students learn by direct practice and experience the Living Lab. It will introduce you to your prospective career! Ibrahim Issakha Doude

The Living Lab has given me vital insight into what a career in the IT field could potentially look like. From learning to manage my time, deal with unforseen problems, and work with others, to completing group projects and meeting deadlines, the Living Lab has provided me an opportunity to learn and grow as a future IT professional. Matthew Smerdel

Living Lab has been a great experience for me to learn daily obligations to maintain a healthy network. I’ve learned independent research is a very important process before network testing is conducted. I’ve also learned that you must have a process to monitor packets flowing in and out of the network. Working with packet sniffing programs has been helpful. In a team environment, I’ve also learned to install network cables, mount and install switches, and test networks. Charles Alan Stone

The Living Lab is like having an IT job in the field. You are pushed and pulled in many different directions with many different projects. You are thrown into situations that need to be figured out. The guidance is there, but nothing beats that feeling of figuring it out by yourself. Aaron Hook

The Living Lab experience has helped me see what it can be like in the real world. David C. Bryant

The Living Lab helped me gain experience, knowledge, motivation, and communication skills in the networking systems field. I learned about configuring switches, from the beginning to the end, to run a secured and productive networking environment. Khaled Salh Alwasel

The Living Lab experience has helped me better understand my abilities and what I need to work on. I worked with others in a team and also learned to lead others when my project needed help. In a previous IT job, I did similar tasks to those in the Living Lab, and it shows just how good an experience this can be to help others be better prepared when they graduate. Justin Tanner Andrew

My time in Living Lab was really beneficial because the software we learned about is used in the real world. I learned additional skills, such as being disciplined on arrival time, trying different methods to solve problems, and asking help from peers. I really enjoyed working with Snort, and using it to solve problems will help me with future projects. I look forward to what the future holds after adding this class to my resume! Mohammed S. Iftikhar

Throughout this class, I have learned a great deal of information. It gave me an idea of how how the IT world runs and prepared us for it. Abdulrahman Jassem M. Alzaman

The Living Lab has been an enjoyable experience. It has provided new skills while strengthening old ones and has given me insight into the technical workplace. Wendell Matthew Klene

Clay Hampton