Why TRUST? Why this team? Ken Birman TRUST TRUST:Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technologies September 13th 2004 NSF STC Review

Why should NSF do TRUST Arguments against? –NSF presumably gets many strong STC proposals –The country has fretted about cybersecurity for ages, yet has never had an actual “Internet 9/11” –Maybe a nationwide multi-participant center is more than we need. Perhaps just one or two small centers, or per-industry centers would do the job just as well (and cheaper!) TRUST September 13th 2004 NSF STC Review 2

The 9/11 Analogy In fact, for at least a decade the US intelligence community warned about the emergence of small, religiously-motivated, terrorist organizations –We knew we were being complacent –The fact is that 9/11 was predicted, many times, by many teams. Even the details were among scenarios that had been floated Are we in the same situation on TRUST? TRUST September 13th 2004 NSF STC Review 3

The mundane threat Actually, terrorists are just part of the story Consider the 2003 East Coast blackout –Tremendous economic cost –Many lives lost Bottom line: if the industry had better technologies to monitor and control the grid, it wouldn’t have happened! TRUST September 13th 2004 NSF STC Review 4

2004 GAO Report to Congress Finds a serious (and growing) threat –Explosion of critical infrastructure dependence on cyber solutions, standard platforms –Exposures up and down the stack, to disruptions of every imaginable kind –Growing range of concerns (accident, malicious insider, intruders of other kinds, terrorists) We’ve been trying to respond for years. And yet we seem to be losing ground! TRUST September 13th 2004 NSF STC Review 5

A parable Ken’s neighbor’s house was in a gully Flash flood threatened the house last week –We rushed to sandbag the local creek –Raging waters, huge logs rocketing past… And then someone discovered that a half mile up the hill, a different creek had become dammed and overflowed its banks We tackled that dam… and the downstream problem was quickly under control TRUST September 13th 2004 NSF STC Review 6

TRUST is an upstream solution The GAO cites TRUST (uniquely so) in its “what can we do?” discussion (p. 117) By tackling the cybersecurity challenge in a top- rate national undertaking, we’ll –Solve the core technical problems, show industry how to embed solutions in their platforms –Educate new generations of students both ourselves, and by showing how to do so –Help the guys in the trench with their problems The alternative is a thousand “ad hoc” patches TRUST September 13th 2004 NSF STC Review 7

Where are we going wrong? The real issue is the tendency of industry to bet on standards that enshrine mediocre decisions –Researchers need to focus on high-value opportunities – such high value that industry will clamor for them –They must demonstrate real innovation in thinking –Close the gap by showing that our innovations can co- exist with standard platforms –And help critical infrastructure stake-holders that our solutions can change their lives Ultimately, we need a sea change in the way reliability and security are taught and perceived TRUST September 13th 2004 NSF STC Review 8

A “dream team” The United States couldn’t assemble a better team if it hand-picked the players –We already include many of the most visible researchers in the field (and were limited by money: with more funds we’ll expand to include more players) –We’re geographically (and otherwise) diverse –And we have the depth and breadth to tackle the problem more broadly than any previous effort in the history of computing TRUST September 13th 2004 NSF STC Review 9

The questions to ask Does the nation face a serious problem? –The GAO report is just the latest in a long series Can we do anything about it? –We think we can win this battle. But it will take a concerted national response. –We have great ideas that can change the game –TRUST is a unique response to a pressing issue Does this outweigh other NSF priorities? –We need your help to make that case! TRUST September 13th 2004 NSF STC Review 10