Clarkson may receive funds to study cyber security

POTSDAM — Clarkson University researchers hope to use funding that was recently included in a Senate defense appropriations bill to develop programs to protect the nation's computer systems from cyber attacks.

"All the infrastructure in this country is computer controlled, and so if you can hack into these systems, the impact on human life and industry certainly can be devastating," college President Anthony G. Collins said. "If there ever was a breach, it could be catastrophic, whether from a financial or a national security standpoint."

U.S. Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-N.Y., announced Thursday that they supported an earmark in the Department of Defense appropriations bill to give Clarkson and ITT Advanced Engineering and Sciences of Rome $5 million to study cyber security. The legislation has yet to go to the floor for a full vote by the Senate.

"With more and more people around the world using computers to try to infiltrate American computer systems, the threat of a cyber attack has become more real," Sen. Schumer said in a statement. "This project would make significant strides toward enhancing our country's cybersecurity and keep our computer networks at places like the Pentagon, and companies that help maintain our infrastructure, secure."

Rep. John M. McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, backed the same funding for the college and defense contractor in the House defense bill passed in June.

Joseph D. Skufca, a retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and an assistant professor of math and computer science at Clarkson, said that the project's main goal will be to determine what future threats there could be to networks and information systems.

"All those things that we know technology will be able to do great things for will also be opening up vulnerabilities to do things that are bad," he said. "We can't wait for bad things to happen before developing the technology to mitigate those vulnerabilities. The research is going to allow us to identify and mitigate the risk 10, 20 years out into the future."

Just as computers and technology have advanced rapidly in recent years, so have cyber attacks.

"When people hear cybersecurity, they think about the security of computers. But we're also looking at the physical end of things, in terms of structures. Computers control everything now," said Stephanie A. Schuckers, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Looking to the future, there are more opportunities for attacks — and for the U.S. to undertake both defensive and offensive cyber measures, researchers said.

"The idea of the project is to move to another level, where we're able to coordinate, just as we do with other areas of defense, in the cyber world. So just like you have command and control of physical things of airplanes and tanks, we also have all kinds of tools that defend us in cyberspace," Ms. Schuckers said. "This would have a huge impact on Clarkson both for the fundamental research side, but also for the training of our next generation of students."

Mr. Skufca said the research would produce methods to influence an adversary remotely by interfering with their systems just as they might try to interfere with ours.

"If we could do that without dropping bombs on somebody, so much the better," he said.

Mr. Collins said that cybersecurity represents a growth area both in research and in the economy. Jobs could be created to produce the software and hardware developed through the proposed program.

"Cybersecurity is a top priority for our national security. These federal dollars will help Clarkson University develop the technologies we need to protect our networks, our infrastructure and families across America," Sen. Gillibrand said in a statement.