The U.S. Department of Homeland Security granted Dartmouth $11.7 million to fund its Cyber Security Collaboration and Information Sharing Project as part of a national counterterrorism effort. The Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection, or I3P, will receive $8.7 million, while the Institute for Security Technology Studies, which represents Dartmouth in the I3P, will receive $3 million.
I3P is a national consortium of higher education institutions, national laboratories and non-profit organizations that acts as a research body independent of government, industry, and, to some extent, the academic world. The consortium, led by Dartmouth, brings together top security researchers in an effort to work on problems of cyber security.
"I think Dartmouth is in a very privileged position to be a leader of this national consortium. In some ways, it fits into the legacy Dartmouth has in information technology," said Martin Wybourne, I3P chair and Dartmouth's vice provost for research.
One of the project's primary concerns is the infrastructure of the country's oil and gas supply system. The consortium will focus on the security of the control systems that allow oil and gas to be transported through pipelines as well as that of oil refinery systems.
The cyber security project also affects information technology issues at Dartmouth. One of the ongoing projects that will benefit from the grant is the Dartmouth Internet Security Test Bed, according to David Kotz, a professor in the computer science department who serves as the director of the ISTS.
"A big part of it is wireless network security. One of our concerns is that there are increasing signs that hackers may find it interesting to attack these wireless networks," Kotz said.
He emphasized the campus focus of ISTS, describing the group's work on a type of software that can "monitor the wireless network and tell managers when we see the attack happening and where."
Kotz also noted the importance of undergraduate participation on the project. The program offers selected undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to work with national labs, non-profits and other institutions through internships and other research experiences. The project seeks to involve students from all disciplines, including government and public policy, as well as the social sciences.
The idea for the I3P consortium was conceived in 1998 by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The Department of Justice gave project funding to Dartmouth in September 2001, and formal operations at the College were underway by early 2002.
"I'm not sure undergraduates know about the national consortium," Kotz said. "It's certainly very important to me to bring undergrads into it."
