The\nproject, which is actually two separate projects, includes half a dozen researchers,\nas well as several graduate and undergraduate students. It highlights the\nnecessity of diversity computing to improve cybersecurity. The multi-faceted\nteam of physicists, engineers and data scientists is looking for engineering\nsolutions to cybersecurity problems\u2014problems that can negatively affect both\nindividuals and society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis investment by the U.S. Air Force in an NAU-led research partnership cements this positive relationship and expands our capacity to provide research solutions for critical problems in cybersecurity,\u201d said Ben Ruddell<\/strong>, director of the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This\ncollaboration started as a call from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for\nradical ideas on addressing cybersecurity issues. The current methods of\ncybersecurity include encryption of information, or at least the doorway to the\ninformation, as well as putting up firewalls and virus detection software and\ntraining people to use caution. We have learned too many times that these\nmethods are not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Current\ncryptographic techniques will become vulnerable in 2022 and will be replaced by\na new form of cryptography that will run on quantum computers. Years ago, when\nthis became apparent, Cambou and others worked with AFRL to develop a cryptographic\nprotocol and hardware prototype demonstrating the new highly resilient\narchitecture. This research is the next step in that process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe strategic plan for the coming years includes significant investment in critical cybersecurity research and programs; this growing industry continues to be one of NAU\u2019s strengths,\u201d said President Rita Cheng<\/strong>. \u201cI\u2019m pleased that the Air Force recognizes our faculty\u2019s innovative approach to identifying and solving the difficult problems facing the world today.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cambou\nwill lead a highly interdisciplinary team to develop key technology modules\nthat will enable new forms of protection across the landscape of cybersecurity\nneeds, including physical unclonable functions, cryptography, blockchain and\nkey distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The core research team consists of physicists Ines Monta\u00f1o<\/strong> and Ryan Behunin<\/strong>, nanomaterials scientist Gabe Monta\u00f1o<\/strong>, Fatemeh Afghah<\/strong>, an expert on wireless communications and errors in computing, computer scientists Michael Gowanlock<\/strong> and Toby Hocking<\/strong>, and Tolga Yalcin<\/strong>, an expert in hardware security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\npotential benefit of these breakthroughs is bigger than corporate breaches and\nstolen data, as vitally important as defending against such break-ins are. Cambou\npointed to pacemakers, self-driving cars, airplanes and other devices that can\nbe hacked, threatening personal and public safety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are\nvery much interested in protecting the Internet of Things in a post-quantum\ncomputing environment,\u201d Cambou said. \u201cThat\u2019s essentially the prime focus here.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hardware\nand software are often identical, or very close to it, on computers throughout\nthe world; there are vast populations of identical machines. This makes the\nimpact of a successful malware or virus attack potentially widespread and\ncatastrophic, since one program can affect millions of machines. This project directly\naddresses technological solutions that can stop epidemics of computer hacking\ncaused by these nearly identical copies of computers and software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is\nsimilar to flu in humans: because people are all of the same species, once a\nflu virus evolves to make humans sick, it can affect millions,\u201d Flikkema said.\n\u201cOur approach is to use new hardware technologies to create computer\nelectronics that are difficult to learn by bad actors, like a new species of\nanimal that is invulnerable to a human flu virus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flikkema\u2019s\ngoal, in collaboration with Cambou and associate professor James Palmer, is to\ndevelop and combine several new technologies, including innovations in\nmicroelectronics and the design of computer hardware, to improve the ability of\ncomputers to fend off cyberattacks. They\u2019ll do this through implementing new\nforms of computational diversity, which will radically shrink the attack\nsurface of any global network of devices while increasing each machine\u2019s ability\nto detect and defeat attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUp to\nthis point, computers have revolutionized society and provided many new\nbenefits and services for people,\u201d Flikkema said. \u201cBut they are highly\nvulnerable to cyberattacks by hackers all over the globe. Only now are we\nlearning the grave threat attackers pose to our computerized society and how to\ndefend computers from these threats. This work aims to rethink how to design\ncomputers so they are inherently resistant to cyberattacks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nNanotechnologies\nand technology modules for computing diversity (PI Cambou)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Architecture\ndevelopment for computing diversity (PI Flikkema)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"NAU](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/NAU_primary-281_3514-1-e1536853679171.png\")
<\/figure>
Heidi Toth | NAU Communications
(928) 523-8737 | heidi.toth@nau.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"