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New IT security center at the ETH Zurich |
Zurich, September 24, 2003—The Zurich Information Security
Center (ZISC) is taking shape at the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, in collaboration with an
industry consortium currently comprised of Credit Suisse, IBM Research - Zurich, and Sun Microsystems Laboratories. The
ZISC initiators aim to forge closer links between fundamental research
and practical applications and thus lay the groundwork for the secure
systems that are essential to a functioning information society.
Much of business, political and social life has come to depend
on sophisticated communication media and reliably functioning IT
infrastructure. Viruses, hacker attacks and weak privacy protection
repeatedly undermine consumer confidence. Terrorist attacks and
the dangers posed by organized crime present a growing threat to
corporate and government systems—and by extension to society
as a whole. Countermeasures are necessary if the information society
is to continue evolving. However, all too often, the building blocks
of successful countermeasures—expertise and effective security
technologies—remain in short supply.
Broad commitment by industry
Fundamental research, especially in the field of information security,
is necessary for finding solutions to these problems. The founders
of the ZISC have recognized this. By joining forces with counterparts
at Credit Suisse, IBM Research - Zurich and Sun Microsystems
Laboratories, ETH Zurich researchers seek to coordinate their activities
and establish a platform for intensive dialog on information security
issues. The ZISC was inaugurated in early September with a mission
to pursue leading-edge fundamental research side by side with applied
research into information security, thus establishing the groundwork
to develop increasingly effective security technologies. Secure
document distribution, novel encryption systems and intrusion detection
management are just a few examples of state-of-the-art research
underway at the ZISC. Zurich is the ideal location for such a center,
being home to a high concentration of banks and insurance companies
with a keen interest in secure systems, as well as high-profile
information security companies, and the ETH, a leading institution
for academic research into information security. The industry partners'
commitment extends beyond financing the new center; they seek an
intensive exchange of knowledge and experience on the research,
education and training fronts.
Training for highly-qualified security engineers
Information security currently suffers from a shortage of qualified
specialists. Training is therefore one focus of the new center.
The ZISC offers first-class academic education and practical training,
underscored by the fact that the ETH Zurich has established a professorship
for information security. Master's and postgraduate courses in information
security are planned, with a curriculum oriented towards current
and future security engineering demands. The ZISC offers a growing
program of public events, starting with public colloquia for interested
parties from research and industry during the term, and a one-week
"ZISC Fall School" featuring prominent lecturers. The
first ZISC Fall School began in September with a public talk by
internationally renowned US information security expert Whitfield
Diffie.
ETH partners of ZISC
ETH Zurich is represented in ZISC through a research center consisting
of three groups: Information
Security researches and develops methods, techniques, and tools
to improve the reliability and security of complex systems. These
lead to more trustworthy approaches for modeling, testing, and formally
certifying the security of IT systems. The Communication
Systems group conducts both applied and interdisciplinary research
(for example the development of intrusion-detection management systems
or damage models). It deals with computer networks and distributed
systems and, in particular, with their security. The Cryptography
and Information Security group pursues basic research on the
mathematical, information theoretical, and quantum physical levels.
This provides the foundation for the development of new cryptographic
algorithms, protocols, and systems and for the assessment of existing
ones.
Industry partners
Credit Suisse
Financial Services is a leading provider of comprehensive financial
services in Europe and other selected markets. Under the brands
Credit Suisse and Winterthur, it offers investment products, private
banking and financial advisory services, including insurance and
pension solutions, for private and corporate clients. Credit Suisse
Financial Services is a business unit of Credit Suisse Group, which
employs around 64,000 staff worldwide and assets under management
amounting to CHF 710.2 billion (at the end of the second quarter
2003). Around 2,800 employees develop and operate IT platforms for
banking activities in Switzerland. IT security is a major priority
for this financial services company. Credit Suisse cooperates with
top research and training institutions. Its involvement with the
ZISC will aid the timely recognition of trends and risks in this
area, as well as the active engagement in know-how transfers.
A considerable proportion of IBM research into IT
security is concentrated at IBM Research - Zurich.
Research programs cover such topics as cryptographic theory and
applied network security as well as privacy, which comes under the
remit of the Zurich-based IBM Privacy
Research Institute. The IBM Zurch Laboratory has also earned
a leading reputation in the area of intrusion detection. In IT security,
the IBM Zurich Laboratory has longstanding collaborative ties with
the ETH Zurich. For years, students and doctoral candidates have
complemented their academic training with work on real-world problems
at its site. IBM scientists find the ETH a steady magnet for keeping
up with the pulse of academic research. The ZISC makes an ideal
nexus where industrial and academic researchers can interact at
a mutually enriching level. Most importantly, it strengthens Zurich
as a center for further urgently needed developments in IT security.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision—The Network
Is the Computer—has propelled Sun
Microsystems, Inc. its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength
hardware, software, and services that make the Net work. Sun started
in the academic community and has always fostered a close relationship
with researchers in academia, national labs, and nonprofit organizations.
Since 1990, Sun Microsystems Laboratories' America and Europe charter
has been to transform brilliant ideas into tangible technologies.
Here, significant technical interactions with the research community
are paramount. The excellent reputation of the ETH and the importance
of the location Zurich with its liberal research environment led
Sun to expect that this collaboration of researchers will be an
investment in the future as well as of value to all ZISC partners.
To maintain a functioning society in light of current technological
changes, research in the field of IT security is unavoidable. Sun
expects that the ZISC will play a considerable role in this arena.
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| Press inquiries |
Nicole Herfurth
Media Relations
IBM Research GmbH
IBM Research - Zurich
Säumerstrasse 4
8803 Rüschlikon
Switzerland
Tel +41 44 724 8445
Fax +41 44 724 8952
e-mail: nih@zurich.ibm.com
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