Forwarded From: CERIAS Director <spaf@purdue.edu>
Posted To: coastwatch@cs.purdue.edu
Status: public release
On May 7, 1998, Purdue University unveiled a new University Center
devoted to education and research into protection of critical
information resources: CERIAS. The Purdue CERIAS (pronounced
"serious") is the:
Center for
Education and
Research in
Information
Assurance and
Security
The mission of the CERIAS is to provide innovation and leadership in
technology for the protection of information and information
resources, and in the development and enhancement of expertise in
information assurance and security.
The Center is multidisciplinary in nature and will address the
problems of information protection from a variety of different
perspectives. This includes research, development, and education in:
computer and network security
communications security
public policy regarding information security
information management and policy development
social, legal and ethical aspects of information use and abuse
the economics of information assurance
electronic commerce security
risk management for computing systems and networks
awareness and training methods for infosec professionals
computer crime investigation and response
information warfare issues
The May 7th announcement was made by Purdue's Executive Vice President
and Provost, Dr. Robert Ringel, during the annual meeting of the COAST
Laboratory's external advisory board. His comments summarized the
history and importance of Purdue efforts in information technologies,
and restated the support at every level of the University for efforts
embodied in the new CERIAS. His announcement culminated many months
of planning and deliberation, and also included a major commitment of
resources to the Center's establishment and operation. This support
includes funding for supplies and administrative staff, and the
renovation of substantial, dedicated office and laboratory space in
Recitation Hall on the West Lafayette campus.
This new Center is a logical expansion of several leading-edge,
world-renowned programs currently in place at Purdue, and in
particular, an extension and enhancement of the COAST
Laboratory. Professor Eugene Spafford of the Department of Computer
Sciences and Director of the COAST Laboratory was named as the interim
director of the CERIAS; once the administrative structure of the
Center is finalized, Professor Spafford is expected to be named as the
on-going Director of the CERIAS.
The CERIAS will draw from personnel throughout Purdue's many schools,
centers, and departments, as well as working cooperatively with
researchers in industry, government, and other academic institutions
around the world. Because of the inclusion of COAST resources and
faculty, along with the initial involvement of faculty across campus,
the CERIAS comes into being with 18 faculty in six departments and
over two dozen graduate students as its initial personnel. As befits
a world-class research group, this staff includes a stellar cast of
research faculty, including two distinguished chaired professors, a
member of the National Academy of Engineering, three Fellows of the
ACM, three Fellows of the IEEE, a Fellow of the IIE, and a Fellow of
the AAAS. Over the next few months, these researchers, will be joined
by other faculty, staff and students at Purdue committed to the
mission and goals of CERIAS.
CERIAS will develop an external sponsorship program similar in nature
to the very successful sponsor program of the COAST Laboratory. This
mechanism encourages outside participation with and feedback to the
researchers, provides current commercial technology and viewpoints to
the students, and provides early access to technology and to graduates
by the sponsors. Most of the current COAST Laboratory sponsors are
expected to transition to this new Center, and many other corporate
entities and government agencies have expressed interest in
participating in the CERIAS sponsor program.
More information on the CERIAS will shortly be available at the Center
WWW site: <http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/>. (It may be a while for
this to propagate throughout the DNS systems on campus; if you are
unable to reach the site directly, a temporary link is also available
via <http://www.cs.purdue.edu/coast/cerias/>.)
Other inquiries may be e-mailed to the Director, <spaf@purdue.edu>.
-o-
Subscribe: mail majordomo@sekurity.org with "subscribe isn".
Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
Received on Wed May 13 14:33:09 1998