White House cybersecurity chief helps launch new IU research center CACR

By Kevin MacDonald

Cate

Howard Schmidt, chairman of the White House National Infrastructure Protection Board, was the keynote speaker at the event. Schmidt, who was appointed by President George W. Bush as a special assistant to the president and vice chair of the President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board in December 2001, has been acting chair since February.

“Indiana University has placed considerable importance on cybersecurity and has recently taken on a very important role in this area in higher education with the announcement of its Research and Education Networking Information Sharing and Analysis Center that provides cybersecurity support to Internet2,” Schmidt said. “Hence, I am delighted that IU is further expanding its research activities in this vital area of national security through the formation of its new Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research.” Prior to his White House appointment, Schmidt was the chief security officer for the Microsoft Corporation. He also worked for the FBI, heading the computer exploitation team for the National Drug Intelligence Center.

“A vital feature of the new center is that it will bring together staff at IU who have day-to-day responsibility for IU’s cybersecurity from areas as diverse as information technology, legal counsel, audit and law enforcement, with faculty pursuing cybersecurity research in a wide variety of areas such as computer science, law, business and engineering” said Michael McRobbie, vice president for information technology and CIO, and vice president for research designate (see today’s center section).

“The center will provide an environment, possibly unique in higher education, where research and practice in this vital area will be intimately intertwined. This will maximize the speed with which new cyber research is applied and new cyber threats become the subject of research,” McRobbie said.

CACR is based at both IU Bloomington and IUPUI. Its inaugural director is Fred Cate, IU Distinguished Professor of law at the School of Law-Bloomington. Cate specializes in information law issues, particularly in the context of digital networks. He is a frequent speaker and has testified before Congress, directed the Electronic Information Privacy and Commerce Study for the Brookings Institution, and chaired many academic and professional committees relating to these issues.

“The Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research will link IU’s operational and academic resources to not only enhance our teaching, research, and internal operations in this critical area, but also to cultivate partnerships with the business sector and federal and state government agencies,” Cate said.

Reality-based teaching will be one of the primary goals of the CACR, as it brings together information technology (IT) academics, research, practitioners in the private sector and officials in government offices. Another effort by the CACR is securing scholarship and funding monies for students and researchers interested in IT.