Norwich University is on front lines of cyber defense
|
|
Sen. Patrick Leahy and Norwich University president Gen. Richard Schneider announce funding for a pair of U. S. Department of Homeland Security contracts for Norwich aimed at developing defenses for cyber attacks. JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR/TIMES ARGUS |
Toolbox
By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: July 18, 2009
NORTHFIELD – A research arm of Norwich University is manning the frontlines of the nation's cyber-defense system.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy on Friday announced two grants totaling $7.7 million for the Norwich University Applied Research Institutes. The money, he said, will fund the development of cyber-defense initiatives to ward off one of the country's most imposing national-security threats.
"(Computers) run our power grids, they run large dams which, if attacked could flood whole communities," Leahy said during an afternoon press conference at the university's Northfield campus. "All of these things, if they're attacked, could do far more damage than someone sitting there with a couple bombs somewhere in the United States."
A series of high-profile cyber attacks this month has underscored the threat posed by computer-savvy criminals. The Federal Trade Commission, Secret Services and Treasury Department all suffered temporarily crippling attacks. The files of major financial institutions also have proven vulnerable to cyber attack.
"You can imagine trillions of dollars that move every day across computer networks," Leahy said. "This can be really bad."
The Norwich University Applied Research Institutes is no stranger to cyber defense. Since it was chartered in 2002 by a Leahy-sponsored act of Congress, NUARI has developed anti-hacking software and training programs. With the grants announced Friday, the work of engineers and computer scientists at NUARI will expand further into the public and private sectors.
One grant establishes a training program for the nation's first responders, wherein fire fighters, police and other emergency personnel will develop the information-technology skills needed to prevent or respond to cyber attacks.
A separate grant will see NUARI develop programs so that large private-sector corporations can identify vulnerabilities before hackers strike.
"You work on things here that will help us defend against attacks thousands of miles away," Leahy told Norwich President Richard Schneider. "You defend us from those who want to harm the United States of America and harm us badly. And because of you they won't be able to."
Phil Sussman, president of NUARI, said the organization will immediately begin developing a first-year curriculum for first-responders slated to receive the cyber-defense training. He said the effort will involve emergency personnel across the nation.
The other grant-funded initiative seeks to collaborate defense preparations among leading private-sector institutions that, due to concerns about protecting their own proprietary information, might be otherwise disinclined to work together.
Since a single online financial transaction generally involves numerous corporate entities, Sussman said, it's important that each institution understand how an attack on one system would affect the others.
Leahy said he's learned the scope of the cyber-security threat in his twice-weekly briefings from the CIA, FBI and Justice Department.
"The Department of Defense has thousands of attacks. The CIA has thousands of attacks on its computers," Leahy said. "Some of them are just hackers trying to demonstrate how good they are. Others, we have to assume, are far more sinister."
Norwich, he said, will help lead the nation's evolving cyber-defense system
3