FBI selects NCSA as host of new cybersecurity center
Bureau provides Fighting Illini cuber security center with $2 million to launch new National Center for Digital Intrusion Response
The FBI has chosen the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to host a new law enforcement cybersecurity research center. The bureau would contribute $3 million to support the creation and the first two years’ operation of a new center within NCSA — the National Center for Digital Intrusion Response (NCDR). NCDR is an expansion of the FBI’s existing work with the university, which also receives funds from other federal agencies to carry out cybersecurity research and development. GCN’s Wilson Dizard quotes NCSA Director Thom Dunning to say that “This effort will benefit the scientists, engineers and other researchers who use cyber-resources at NCSA and other federal centers by protecting the cyberinfrastructure they rely on…. NCSA and the University of Illinois have been and continue to be at the forefront of developing, deploying and safeguarding advanced computing resources.” The FBI cybersecurity specialists want to understand what new capabilities are required to better detect and investigate cyberattacks and develop new tools and ensure that FBI agents in the field can use them effectively.
The bureau said that the expansion of its work with the university team reflects changes in the patterns of crime and national security threats: “While cyberattacks were once considered a specialized niche in law enforcement, today there are digital aspects to many crimes and national security threats; all investigators must be able to pursue criminals operating in cyberspace,” the FBI said. “NCDIR will provide training, including intensive summer workshops, so all FBI agents have the opportunity to use these new tools in the field.” NCSA has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other federal agencies to develop IT security tools and projects, among them:
* MyProxy, a tool for grid credential management
* Framework for Log Anonymization and Information Management, an application which facilitates sharing of log data among secure systems
* GridShib, at tool that supports identity federation for grids
* Trustworthy Cyberinfrastructure for the Power Grid
* Illinois Terrorism Task Force’s First Responder’s Credentialing
