From spaf@cerias.purdue.edu Tue May 12 17:09:34 1998 Received: from dorsai.cs.purdue.edu (142@dorsai.cs.purdue.edu [128.10.2.20]) by arthur.cs.purdue.edu (8.8.7/8.8.7/PURDUE_CS-2.0) with ESMTP id RAA07720 for ; Tue, 12 May 1998 17:09:34 -0500 (EST) Received: (from spaf@localhost) by dorsai.cs.purdue.edu (8.8.7/8.8.7/PURDUE_CS-2.0) id RAA09135; Tue, 12 May 1998 17:09:32 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199805122209.RAA09135@dorsai.cs.purdue.edu> To: coastwatch@cs.purdue.edu From: CERIAS Director Subject: Official Public Announcement Date: Tue May 12 16:48:30 EST 1998 Approved: spaf@cs.purdue.edu Status: public release On May 7, 1998, Purdue University unveiled a new University Center devoted to education and research into protection of critical information resources: CERIAS. The Purdue CERIAS (pronounced "serious") is the: Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security The mission of the CERIAS is to provide innovation and leadership in technology for the protection of information and information resources, and in the development and enhancement of expertise in information assurance and security. The Center is multidisciplinary in nature and will address the problems of information protection from a variety of different perspectives. This includes research, development, and education in: computer and network security communications security public policy regarding information security information management and policy development social, legal and ethical aspects of information use and abuse the economics of information assurance electronic commerce security risk management for computing systems and networks awareness and training methods for infosec professionals computer crime investigation and response information warfare issues The May 7th announcement was made by Purdue's Executive Vice President and Provost, Dr. Robert Ringel, during the annual meeting of the COAST Laboratory's external advisory board. His comments summarized the history and importance of Purdue efforts in information technologies, and restated the support at every level of the University for efforts embodied in the new CERIAS. His announcement culminated many months of planning and deliberation, and also included a major commitment of resources to the Center's establishment and operation. This support includes funding for supplies and administrative staff, and the renovation of substantial, dedicated office and laboratory space in Recitation Hall on the West Lafayette campus. This new Center is a logical expansion of several leading-edge, world-renowned programs currently in place at Purdue, and in particular, an extension and enhancement of the COAST Laboratory. Professor Eugene Spafford of the Department of Computer Sciences and Director of the COAST Laboratory was named as the interim director of the CERIAS; once the administrative structure of the Center is finalized, Professor Spafford is expected to be named as the on-going Director of the CERIAS. The CERIAS will draw from personnel throughout Purdue's many schools, centers, and departments, as well as working cooperatively with researchers in industry, government, and other academic institutions around the world. Because of the inclusion of COAST resources and faculty, along with the initial involvement of faculty across campus, the CERIAS comes into being with 18 faculty in six departments and over two dozen graduate students as its initial personnel. As befits a world-class research group, this staff includes a stellar cast of research faculty, including two distinguished chaired professors, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, three Fellows of the ACM, three Fellows of the IEEE, a Fellow of the IIE, and a Fellow of the AAAS. Over the next few months, these researchers, will be joined by other faculty, staff and students at Purdue committed to the mission and goals of CERIAS. CERIAS will develop an external sponsorship program similar in nature to the very successful sponsor program of the COAST Laboratory. This mechanism encourages outside participation with and feedback to the researchers, provides current commercial technology and viewpoints to the students, and provides early access to technology and to graduates by the sponsors. Most of the current COAST Laboratory sponsors are expected to transition to this new Center, and many other corporate entities and government agencies have expressed interest in participating in the CERIAS sponsor program. More information on the CERIAS will shortly be available at the Center WWW site: . (It may be a while for this to propagate throughout the DNS systems on campus; if you are unable to reach the site directly, a temporary link is also available via .) Other inquiries may be e-mailed to the Director, .