The following is a guest blog post from CCC Council Member and Cybersecurity Task Force Chair Kevin Fu from the University of Michigan. “From pacemakers to autonomous vehicles, national computing research and education initiatives for embedded security will lay a crucial foundation for the Internet of Everything era,” says Fu. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the first major recall of a medical device because of a cybersecurity risk. Nearly half a million pacemakers were recalled for a software update that clinicians will apply during a patient’s in-clinic visit. Our team has spent a decade analyzing security problems and solutions in pacemakers and other medical devices. While […]

The following is a letter to the community from James Kurose, Assistant Director, and Erwin Gianchandani, Deputy Assistant Director, of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE).  Dear CISE Community, Our thoughts are with all those affected by Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath.  We want to take this opportunity to share important information posted by NSF, which includes a notice announcing NSF’s intent to extend proposal submission and other administrative deadlines for those affected (also included below), as well as a Dear Colleague Letter calling for research to address the challenges related to this storm. For those affected by Harvey, we in CISE want to assure you that we are […]

The organizers from the MForesight and Computing Community Consortium (CCC) workshop on Cyber Security for Manufacturers will be releasing their workshop report at a Launch Event hosted by the House Manufacturing Caucus on September 22 from 2:00-3:30PM ET in the Rayburn House Office Building, in Washington, DC. The scale and variety of cyber-threats to manufacturers have grown considerably in recent years, and they now range from rare and sophisticated Stuxnet-style attacks to the relatively frequent ransomware risks. In addition to malware attacks on industrial firms, cyber-attacks on manufacturers can include efforts to corrupt data, steal intellectual property (IP), sabotage equipment, and disable networks. The purposes and effects of attacks vary widely — but all such incidents […]

The Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS) within the National Science Foundation‘s (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) supports research and education activities that develop a better understanding of the fundamental properties of computer and network systems and to create better abstractions and tools for designing, building, analyzing, and measuring future systems. NSF and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) of Japan have agreed to embark on a collaborative research program to address compelling research challenges associated with enabling trustworthy networks supporting the Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical systems (CPS). This NSF Japan-US Network Opportunity (JUNO2) solicitation parallels an equivalent NICT solicitation. […]

The following blog was written by CCC Vice Chair Mark D. Hill, with contributions from Sarita Adve and Alvin Lebeck.  As readers of the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) blog know, CCC seeks to promote information technology research by exposing and developing synergies among researchers, research beneficiaries, and research funders. CCC does this through visioning activities, white papers, a blog, etc. CCC is pleased to see some of its efforts amplified by specific research communities, e.g., artificial intelligence. Here I highlight my own computer architecture community to encourage you to emulate this amplification in your community. Over the years, CCC has conducted a number of visioning activities related to computer architecture including 2012’s 21st Century Computer Architecture, 2016’s Arch2030: A Vision of Computer Architecture […]

The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded $38.5 million to 33 research and development (R&D) projects aimed at advancing broadband communications technologies for first responders. The multiyear grants are intended to help modernize public safety communications and operations by supporting the migration of data, video and voice communications from mobile radio to a nationwide public safety broadband network, as well as accelerating critical technologies related to indoor location tracking and public safety analytics. NIST reviewed 162 proposals from a diverse pool of national and international applicants across industry, academia and public safety organizations. The 33 selected projects span five key technology areas that have […]