Associated Faculty: M. Atallah, D. E. Comer, A. Hosking, J. T. Korb, A. Mathur, V. Russo, H. J. Siegel (Electrical Engineering), S. Wagstaff, M. Young
Research Assistants: I. Krsul, S. Kumar, C. Schuba, M. Crosbie, T. Aslam, S. W. Lodin, B. Dole
Sponsors: Hewlett-Packard, Information Security Division of the Department of Defense, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Trident Data Systems, U. S. Air Force
Donors: Enigma Logic Inc., Freedman Sharp and Associates Inc., Hughes Research Laboratories/Hughes Aircraft Company, InternetOne, Raxco Inc., Schlumberger, Security Dynamics Inc.
Computer and network security is a critical area for safe and effective use of computing technology. If our use of networks and computers is to grow beyond mere research support and technical fad, we will need to find ways of protecting the privacy of computer users, the integrity of important data, and the continued op eration of essential services. Complicating the situation is the vast installed base of existing systems and pro tocols, few of which were designed with security as even a secondary goal. Effective security will need to be interoperable with the installed base of computing resources, and cost-effective to employ.
COAST is an "umbrella" for research into practical, applied security methods that make sense in existing, everyday computing environments. Our work involves multi-disciplinary efforts to find new tools and tech nologies to make computing and networks more trustworthy. We are working with our sponsors to investigate approaches that can be applied immediately and cost-effectively, and that will work in a wide variety of com mercial legacy systems. Our sponsors provide feedback and direction, as well as beta sites for testing proto types and gathering research data.
Our current projects include design of static audit tools, intrusion detection systems, integrity monitors, software forensics, firewall technology, tracking and classifying security flaws, and penetration testing meth ods; recent tools have included the Tripwire integrity monitor system, and the IDIOT system (Intrusion Detec tion In Our Time). The COAST Laboratory provides a set of common resources for the research efforts, and also provides a home for the single largest ftp archive of security-related material on the Internet: