About the workshop
About the Workshop
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Homeland Security hosted a two-day workshop between technical representatives from Japan and the United States in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). The purpose of this workshop was to discuss research initiatives and joint concerns in the area of protection of critical information infrastructures.This workshop was held as one of the activities agreed at the 1st Japan - U.S. Workshop on Sceince and Technology for a Secure and Safe Society, held February 12-13, 2004, in Japan.
Dr. Rick Schlichting of AT&T Labs-Research co-chaired the meeting with Professor Norihisa Doi of Chuo University.
The topics addressed in this two-day workshop included the following:
1. Secure Control Systems. Elements of the critical infrastructures, including electrical power grids, waste treatment systems, and hydro-electrical systems, rely on increasingly complex information infrastructures for control and data acquisition. Many of the control systems use or are integrated with internet protocol technologies. Additionally, the technologies are being implemented to control elements of the networks themselves. This workshop provided a forum for examining the technical approaches for assuring the dependability, reliability, and security of both current and future integrated communications and control networks.
2. Cyber Security. The pervasive weaknesses in contemporary computing systems results from both inherent flaws in the underlying components and from flaws in the human-computer interactions. Both technical users, such as system administrators, and end-product users, such as accountants, may contribute to the vulnerability of a system through failure of action (such as installing patches) or through risky practices (such as choosing a weak password or executing untrusted software). This workshop provided a forum for examining the technical means for mitigating, containing, and reducing both technical flaws and human behavior weaknesses in large-scale computing environments.
3. Confidentiality and CIIP. The information that is stored, displayed, processed, and communicated using computers and networks increasingly contains information that is sensitive in nature. This set of information may include passwords, identification numbers, account information, system operating data, or other data that potentially could be misused. However, infrastructure administrators and providers require the capability to monitor the flow of information in order to assure the correct behavior of the system itself; monitoring system performance may inadvertently reveal confidential information. Additionally, there are circumstances when law enforcement agencies or other social structures may require legitimate access to monitoring the flow of information pursuant to the laws and controls in place in societies. This workshop provided a forum for discussing the technical approaches that can be applied to monitoring capabilities that negotiate the tensions between protection of sensitive information while supporting the legitimate monitoring needs of the communities.
There is a rich heritage of US-Japan cooperation in research and development in high technology areas. This workshop was a direct outcome of the following meeting:
1st Japan - U.S. Workshop on Science and Technology for a Secure and Safe Society, Feb 12-13, 2004 in Japan
A recent similar event includes the following:
Japan-U.S. High Level Committee on Science and Technology, April 21, 2003, Japan
This website is maintained by Dr. Julie Ryan, whose email is jjchryan@gwu.edu. It was last updated 2 November 2004.
The views and opinions expressed on these pages are those of the author. The content of this page has not been reviewed or approved by the George Washington University.
