Ordering Copies of PITAC Reports

This report is published by the National Coordination Office for Information

Technology Research and Development. To request additional copies or copies of

other PITAC reports, please contact:

National Coordination Office

for Information Technology Research and Development

4201 Wilson Blvd., Suite II-405

Arlington, Virginia 22230

(703) 292-4873

Fax: (703) 292-9097

Email: nco@nitrd.gov

PITAC documents are also available on the NCO Web site:

http://www.nitrd.gov
REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT

Cyber Security:

A Crisis of Prioritization

President’s Information Technology 

Advisory Committee

FEBRUARY 2005

February 28, 2005

The Honorable George W. Bush

President of the United States

The White House

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We submit to you the enclosed report entitled Cyber

Security: A Crisis of Prioritization. For nearly a year, the

President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee

(PITAC) has studied the security of the information

technology (IT) infrastructure of the United States, which is

essential to national and homeland security as well as

everyday life.

The IT infrastructure is highly vulnerable to premeditated

attacks with potentially catastrophic effects. Thus, it is a

prime target for cyber terrorism as well as criminal acts. The

IT infrastructure encompasses not only the best-known uses

of the public Internet – e-commerce, communication, and

Web services – but also the less visible systems and

connections of the Nation’s critical infrastructures such as

power grids, air traffic control systems, financial systems,

and military and intelligence systems. The growing

dependence of these critical infrastructures on the IT

infrastructure means that the former cannot be secure if the

latter is not.

Although current technical approaches address some of our

immediate needs, they do not provide adequate computer

and network security. Fundamentally different architectures

and technologies are needed so that the IT infrastructure as a

whole can become secure.

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PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Page 2

February 28, 2005

Historically, the Federal government has played a vital, irreplaceable role

in providing support for fundamental, long-term IT R&D, generating

technologies that gave rise to the multibillion-dollar IT industry. The

PITAC’s review of current Federally supported R&D in cyber security

finds an imbalance, however, in the current cyber security R&D portfolio:

most support is for short-term, defense-oriented research; there is relatively

little support for fundamental research to address the larger security

vulnerabilities of the civilian IT infrastructure, which supports defense

systems as well. Therefore, PITAC urges changes in the Federal

government’s cyber security R&D portfolio to:

• Increase Federal support for fundamental research in civilian cyber

security by $90 million annually at NSF and by substantial amounts at

agencies such as DARPA and DHS to support work in 10 high-priority

areas identified by PITAC.

• Intensify Federal efforts to promote recruitment and retention of cyber

security researchers and students at research universities, with an aim of

doubling this profession’s numbers by the end of the decade.

• Provide increased support for the rapid transfer of Federally developed

cutting-edge cyber security technologies to the private sector.

• Strengthen the coordination of the Interagency Working Group on

Critical Information Infrastructure Protection and integrate it under the

Networking and Information Technology Research and Development

(NITRD) Program.

These actions will lead the way toward improving the Nation’s cyber

security, thereby promoting the security and prosperity of our citizens. We

would be pleased to discuss this report with you and members of your

Administration.

Sincerely,

Marc R. Benioff Edward D. Lazowska

PITAC Co-Chair PITAC Co-Chair
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CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

CO-CHAIRS

MEMBERS

President’s Information Technology

Advisory Committee

Marc R. Benioff

Chairman and CEO

Salesforce.com, Inc.

Edward D. Lazowska, Ph.D.

Bill & Melinda Gates Chair

Department of Computer Science 

& Engineering

University of Washington

Ruzena Bajcsy, Ph.D.

Director, Center for Information

Technology Research in the Interest of

Society (CITRIS) and Professor

University of California, Berkeley

J. Carter Beese, Jr.

President

Riggs Capital Partners

Pedro Celis, Ph.D.

Software Architect

Microsoft Corporation

Patricia Thomas Evans

President and CEO

Global Systems Consulting Corporation

Manuel A. Fernandez

Managing Director

SI Ventures/Gartner

Luis E. Fiallo

President

Fiallo and Associates, LLC

José-Marie Griffiths, Ph.D.

Professor and Dean

School of Information and Library

Science

University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill

William J. Hannigan

President

AT&T

Jonathan C. Javitt, M.D., M.P.H.

Senior Fellow

Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

Judith L. Klavans, Ph.D.

Director of Research, Center for the

Advanced Study of Language and

Research Professor

College of Library and Information

Science

University of Maryland

F. Thomson Leighton, Ph.D.

Chief Scientist

Akamai Technologies, and

Professor of Applied Mathematics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Harold Mortazavian, Ph.D.

President and CEO

Advanced Scientific Research, Inc.

Randall D. Mott

Senior Vice President and CIO

Dell Computer Corporation

Peter M. Neupert

Consultant
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PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

CYBER SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE

CHAIR

F. Thomson Leighton

MEMBERS

J. Carter Beese, Jr.

Patricia Thomas Evans

Luis E. Fiallo

Harold Mortazavian

David A. Patterson

Alice G. Quintanilla

Eugene H. Spafford

Peter S. Tippett

Geoffrey Yang

Eli M. Noam, Ph.D.

Professor and Director of the Columbia

Institute for Tele-Information

Columbia University

David A. Patterson, Ph.D.

Professor and E.H. and M.E. Pardee

Chair of Computer Science

University of California, Berkeley

Alice G. Quintanilla

President and CEO

Information Assets Management, Inc.

Daniel A. Reed, Ph.D.

Chancellor’s Eminent Professor, Vice

Chancellor for Information Technology

and CIO, and Director, Institute for

Renaissance Computing

University of North Carolina 

at Chapel Hill

Eugene H. Spafford, Ph.D.

Professor and Director, Center for

Education and Research in

Information Assurance and Security

(CERIAS)

Purdue University

David H. Staelin, Sc.D.

Professor of Electrical Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Peter S. Tippett, M.D., Ph.D.

CTO and Vice-Chairman

TruSecure Corporation

Geoffrey Yang

Managing Director

Redpoint Ventures
vii

CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

About PITAC and This Report

The President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC)

is appointed by the President to provide independent expert advice on

maintaining America’s preeminence in advanced information technology

(IT). PITAC members are IT leaders in industry and academia with

expertise relevant to critical elements of the national IT infrastructure such

as high-performance computing, large-scale networking, and high-assurance

software and systems design. The Committee’s studies help guide the

Administration’s efforts to accelerate the development and adoption of

information technologies vital for American prosperity in the 21st century.

Chartered by Congress under the High-Performance Computing Act of

1991 (Public Law 102-194) and the Next Generation Internet Act of 1998

(Public Law 105-305) and formally renewed through Presidential Executive

Orders, PITAC is a Federally chartered advisory committee operating

under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (Public Law 92-463)

and other Federal laws governing such activities.

The PITAC chose cyber security as one of three topics for evaluation.

The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy then provided

a formal charge, asking PITAC members to concentrate their efforts on the

focus, balance, and effectiveness of current Federal cyber security research

and development (R&D) activities (see Appendix A). To conduct this

examination, PITAC established the Subcommittee on Cyber Security,

whose work culminated in this report, Cyber Security: A Crisis of

Prioritization.

PITAC found that the Nation’s IT infrastructure – integral to national

and homeland security and everyday life – is highly vulnerable to attack.

While existing technologies can address some vulnerabilities, fundamentally

new architectures and technologies are needed to address the larger

structural insecurities of an infrastructure developed in a more trusting time

when mass cyber attacks were not foreseen. PITAC offers four findings and

recommendations on how the Federal government can foster the

development of new architectures and technologies to secure the Nation’s

IT infrastructure for the 21st century.
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PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Outlined in the Executive Summary and discussed in detail in Chapter 4,

the report’s findings and recommendations were developed by PITAC over

almost a year of study. The Subcommittee was briefed by cyber security

experts in the Federal government, academia, and industry; reviewed the

current literature; and obtained public input at PITAC meetings and a town

hall meeting and through written submissions (see Appendix B for the Cyber

Security Subcommittee Fact-Finding Process). The Subcommittee’s draft

findings and recommendations were reviewed by the PITAC on November 19,

2004 and the final report was approved at its January 12, 2005 meeting.
ix

CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

Table of Contents

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ADVISORY COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v

ABOUT PITAC AND THIS REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Summary of Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

2 CYBER SECURITY: A PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE .5

Trusting Systems in a Dangerous World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

The Information Technology Infrastructure Is ‘Critical’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Ubiquitous Interconnectivity = Widespread Vulnerability . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Software Is a Major Vulnerability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Attacks and Vulnerabilities Are Growing Rapidly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Endless Patching Is Not the Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Fundamentally New Security Models, Methods Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Central Role for Federal R&D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Figure 1: Role of Federal R&D in Creating IT Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

A Note on Non-Technology Aspects of Cyber Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

3 FEDERAL CYBER SECURITY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT:

CURRENT PRIORITIES, FUTURE IMPACTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Cyber Security R&D in the Military and Intelligence Sectors . . . . . . . . .19

Federal Investments in Civilian Cyber Security R&D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

The Relationship Between Military/Intelligence 

and Civilian Cyber Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

An Assessment of Current Federal Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

4 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

A Crisis of Prioritization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Finding and Recommendation 1: Federal Funding 

for Fundamental Research in Civilian Cyber Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
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PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Finding and Recommendation 2: Cyber Security Research Community . .30

Finding and Recommendation 3: Technology Transfer Efforts . . . . . . . . . .32

Finding and Recommendation 4: Coordination and Oversight of Federal

Cyber Security R&D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Cyber Security Research Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

1. Authentication Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

2. Secure Fundamental Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

3. Secure Software Engineering and Software Assurance . . . . . . . . . . .39

4. Holistic System Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

5. Monitoring and Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

6. Mitigation and Recovery Methodologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

7. Cyber Forensics: Catching Criminals 

and Deterring Criminal Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

8. Modeling and Testbeds for New Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

9. Metrics, Benchmarks, and Best Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

10. Non-Technology Issues That Can Compromise Cyber Security . . .46

APPENDIX A: CHARGE TO PITAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

APPENDIX B: CYBER SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE 

FACT-FINDING PROCESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

APPENDIX C: SELECTED MAJOR REPORTS 

ON CYBER SECURITY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT . . . . . .52

APPENDIX D: ACRONYMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
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CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

Executive Summary

The information technology (IT) infrastructure of the United States,

which is now vital for communication, commerce, and control of our physical

infrastructure, is highly vulnerable to terrorist and criminal attacks. The

private sector has an important role in securing the Nation’s IT infrastructure

by deploying sound security products and adopting good security practices.

But the Federal government also has a key role to play by supporting the

discovery and development of cyber security technologies that underpin these

products and practices. The PITAC finds that the Federal government needs

to fundamentally improve its approach to cyber security to fulfill its

responsibilities in this regard.

Background

The Nation’s IT infrastructure has undergone a dramatic transformation

over the last decade. Explosive growth in the use of networks to connect

various IT systems has made it relatively easy to obtain information, to

communicate, and to control these systems across great distances. Because of

the tremendous productivity gains and new capabilities enabled by these

networked systems, they have been incorporated into a vast number of civilian

applications, including education, commerce, science and engineering, and

entertainment. They have also been incorporated into virtually every sector of

the Nation’s critical infrastructure – including communications, utilities,

finance, transportation, law enforcement, and defense. Indeed, these sectors

are now critically reliant on the underlying IT infrastructure.

At the same time, this revolution in connectivity has also increased the

potential of those who would do harm, giving them the capability to do so

from afar while armed with only a computer and the knowledge needed to

identify and exploit vulnerabilities. Today, it is possible for a malicious agent

to penetrate millions of computers around the world in a matter of minutes,

exploiting those machines to attack the Nation’s critical infrastructure,

penetrate sensitive systems, or steal valuable data. The growth in the number

of attacks matches the tremendous growth in connectivity, and dealing with

these attacks now costs the Nation billions of dollars annually. Moreover, we

are rapidly losing ground to those who do harm, as is indicated by the steadily

mounting numbers of compromised networks and resulting financial losses. 

Beyond economic repercussions, the risks to our Nation’s security are clear.

In addition to the potential for attacks on critical targets within our borders,

1
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PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

our national defense systems are at risk as well, because the military

increasingly relies on ubiquitous communication and the networks that

support it. The Global Information Grid (GIG), which is projected to cost as

much as $100 billion and is intended to improve military communications by

linking weapons, intelligence, and military personnel to each other, represents

one such critical network. Since military networks interconnect with those in

the civilian sector or use similar hardware or software, they are susceptible to

any vulnerability in these other networks or technologies. Thus cyber security

in the civilian and military sectors is intrinsically linked. 

Although the large costs associated with cyber insecurity have only recently

become manifest, the Nation’s cyber security problems have been building for

many years and will plague us for many years to come. They derive from a

decades-long failure to develop the security protocols and practices needed to

protect the Nation’s IT infrastructure, and to adequately train and grow the

numbers of experts needed to employ those mechanisms effectively. The shortterm patches and fixes that are deployed today can be useful in response to

isolated vulnerabilities, but they do not adequately address the core problems.

Rather, fundamental, long-term research is required to develop entirely new

approaches to cyber security. It is imperative that we take action before the

situation worsens and the cost of inaction becomes even greater.

Summary of Findings and Recommendations

The PITAC’s recommendations on cyber security, and the findings upon

which those recommendations are based, are summarized below.

Issue 1: Federal Funding Levels for Fundamental Research

in Civilian Cyber Security

Long-term, fundamental research in cyber security requires a significant

investment by the Federal government because market forces direct private

sector investment away from research and toward the application of existing

technologies to develop marketable products. However, Federal funding for

cyber security research has shifted from long-term, fundamental research

toward shorter-term research and development, and from civilian research

toward military and intelligence applications. Research in these domains is

often classified and the results are thus unavailable for use in securing civilian

IT infrastructure and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products in

widespread use by both government and the civilian sector. These changes

have been particularly dramatic at the Defense Advanced Research Projects

Agency (DARPA) and the National Security Agency (NSA); other agencies,

such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of

Homeland Security (DHS), have not stepped in to fill the gaps that have been
3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

created. As a result, investment in fundamental research in civilian cyber

security is decreasing at the time when it is most desperately needed.

The PITAC finds that the Federal R&D budget provides inadequate funding

for fundamental research in civilian cyber security, and recommends that the NSF

budget in this area be increased by $90 million annually. Funding for

fundamental research in civilian cyber security should also be substantially

increased at other agencies, most notably DHS and DARPA. Funding should be

allocated so that at least the ten specific areas listed in the “Cyber Security Research

Priorities” section beginning on page 37 of Chapter 4 are appropriately addressed.

Further increases in funding may be necessary depending on the Nation’s future

cyber security posture.

Issue 2: The Cyber Security Fundamental Research Community

Improving the Nation’s cyber security posture requires highly trained

people to develop, deploy, and incorporate new cyber security products and

practices. The number of such highly trained people in the U.S. is too small

given the magnitude of the challenge. At U.S. academic institutions today, the

PITAC estimates, there are fewer than 250 active cyber security or cyber

assurance specialists, many of whom lack either formal training or extensive

professional experience in the field. In part, this situation exists because cyber

security has historically been the focus of a small segment of the computer

science and engineering research community. The situation has been

exacerbated by the insufficient and unstable funding levels for long-term,

civilian cyber security research, which universities depend upon to attract and

retain faculty.

The PITAC finds that the Nation’s cyber security research community is too

small to adequately support the cyber security research and education programs

necessary to protect the United States. The PITAC recommends that the Federal

government intensify its efforts to promote recruitment and retention of cyber

security researchers and students at research universities, with a goal of at least

doubling the size of the civilian cyber security fundamental research community by

the end of the decade. In particular, the Federal government should increase and

stabilize funding for fundamental research in civilian cyber security, and should

support programs that enable researchers to move into cyber security research from

other fields.

Issue 3: Translating Research into Effective Cyber Security 

for the Nation

Technology transfer enables the results of Federally supported R&D to be

incorporated into products that are available for general use. There has been a

long and successful history of Federally funded IT R&D being transferred into
4

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

products and best practices that are widely adopted in the private sector, in

many cases spawning entirely new billion-dollar industries. Technology

transfer has been particularly challenging in the area of cyber security,

however, because the value of a good cyber security product to the consumer

lies in the reduced incidence of successful attacks – a factor difficult to

quantify in the short term as a return on investment.

The PITAC finds that current cyber security technology transfer efforts are not

adequate to successfully transition Federal research investments into civilian sector

best practices and products. As a result, the PITAC recommends that the Federal

government strengthen its cyber security technology transfer partnership with the

private sector. Specifically, the Federal government should place greater emphasis on

the development of metrics, models, datasets, and testbeds so that new products and

best practices can be evaluated; jointly sponsor with the private sector an annual

interagency conference at which new cyber security R&D results are showcased;

fund technology transfer efforts (in cooperation with industry) by researchers who

have developed promising ideas or technologies; and encourage Federally supported

graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to gain experience in industry as

researchers, interns, or consultants.

Issue 4: Coordination and Oversight for Federal Cyber Security R&D

One of the key problems with the Federal government’s current approach

to cyber security is that the government-wide coordination of cyber security

R&D is ineffective. Research agendas and programs are not systematically

coordinated across agencies and, as a result, misconceptions among agencies

regarding each others’ programs and responsibilities have been allowed to

develop, causing important priorities to be overlooked. In the absence of

coordination, individual agencies focus on their individual missions and can

lose sight of overarching national needs. Initiatives to strengthen and enlarge

the cyber security research community and efforts to implement the results of

R&D would be more effective and efficient with significantly stronger

coordination across the Federal government. 

The PITAC finds that the overall Federal cyber security R&D effort is currently

unfocused and inefficient because of inadequate coordination and oversight. To

remedy this situation, PITAC recommends that the Interagency Working Group on

Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP) become the focal point for

coordinating Federal cyber security R&D efforts. This working group should be

strengthened and integrated under the Networking and Information Technology

Research and Development (NITRD) Program.
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CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

Trusting Systems in a Dangerous World

The Nation’s information technology (IT) infrastructure, still evolving

from U.S. technological innovations such as the personal computer and the

Internet, today is a vast fabric of computers – from supercomputers to

handheld devices – and interconnected networks enabling high-speed

communications, information access, advanced computation, transactions, and

automated processes relied upon in every sector of society. Because much of

this infrastructure connects one way or another to the Internet, it embodies

the Internet’s original structural attributes of openness, inventiveness, and the

assumption of good will.

These signature attributes have made the U.S. IT infrastructure an

irresistible target for vandals and criminals worldwide. The PITAC believes

that terrorists will inevitably follow suit, taking advantage of vulnerabilities

including some that the Nation has not yet clearly recognized or addressed.

The computers that manage critical U.S. facilities, infrastructures, and essential

services can be targeted to set off systemwide failures, and these computers

frequently are accessible from virtually anywhere in the world via the Internet.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Is ‘Critical’

Most Americans see and use the components of the IT infrastructure –

mainly desktop computers connected to the Internet – that enable e-mail,

instant messaging, exchange and downloading

of sound and images, online shopping,

information searches, interactive games, and

even telephony. Americans also work with the

information technologies that drive day-to-day

operations in industry and government and

are relied upon by organizations large and

small for a range of functions including design, manufacturing, inventory,

sales, payroll, information storage and retrieval, education and training, and

research and development. In fact, economists credit successful applications of

information technologies throughout the economy for the spectacular gains in

U.S. productivity over the last decade.

Less visible, and certainly less well understood, is the fact that these

technologies – computers, mass storage devices, high-speed networks and

Cyber Security: 

A Problem of National Importance

The IT infrastructure of the

United States is highly

vulnerable to terrorist and

criminal attacks.

2
6

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

network components such as routers and switches, systems and applications

software, embedded and wireless devices, and the Internet itself – are now also

essential to virtually all of the Nation’s critical infrastructures. Computing

systems control the management of power plants, dams, the North American

power grid, air traffic control systems, food and energy distribution, and the

financial system, to name only some. The reliance of these sensitive physical

installations and processes on the IT infrastructure makes that infrastructure

itself critical and in the national interest to safeguard.

The electric power generation industry, for example, relies on a range of IT

systems and capabilities. As in other industries, power companies implement

business management systems for administrative and information services. But

the power industry uses much more information technology. It relies on

supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems to collect

information about system operation, help regulate and control power

generation, optimize power

production, respond to changing

power demands and system

parameters, control distribution, and

coordinate among the various

generation and storage facilities within

a power company system. Increasingly,

SCADA systems are also used to

integrate electric companies into regional or national power grids to optimize

power production, minimize production and distribution costs, and provide

backup services. This requires a private network that often includes links to

the Internet. A cyber attack that disables key Internet nodes could disrupt the

power network’s communications. And if an entity within the private network

is compromised, an attacker could gain direct control of the SCADA systems

and their data and operation. 

Today, the Internet also is used to manage essential services provided by

business and government, such as electronic financial transactions, law

enforcement dispatch and support, emergency response and community alerts,

and military communications. Banks, for example, rely on extensive

distributed Internet and information services, both for customer interaction

and in interbank operations. To assure reliability and security of its most

sensitive systems, the banking industry, like the power industry, uses private

networks and is vulnerable to cyber attacks that cripple Internet nodes and/or

result in unauthorized access to data and services. Such shared Internet links,

Computers, networks, and

network components are now

essential to virtually all of the

Nation’s critical infrastructures.
7

CYBER SECURITY: A PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE

for example, enabled the “Slammer” worm to disable a major bank’s ATM

system and an airline’s computer system, even though they were not directly

connected to the Internet.

During a national emergency, it is imperative that the Nation’s

communications infrastructure be available for emergency response

coordination. Today, that vital infrastructure is vulnerable to a variety of denial

of service attacks, including the release of simple viruses and worms that can

disrupt Internet communications as well as more sophisticated attacks in

which modems from compromised servers are used to flood key parts of the

telephone network (such as 911 services). The latter example demonstrates

how a vulnerability in one system (e.g., the Internet) can be exploited to attack

a totally separate system (e.g., the telephone network).

These examples illustrate how computing and computer communications

have become integral to virtually every domain of activity in the U.S. today.

Those systems are interconnected and interdependent in highly complex ways,

which are often surprisingly fragile.

Ubiquitous Interconnectivity = Widespread Vulnerability

The Internet – now a global network of networks linking more than 300

million computers worldwide – was designed in a spirit of trust. Neither the

protocols for network communication nor the software governing computing

systems (nodes) connected to the network were architected to operate in an

environment in which they are under attack.

Indeed, the protocols used by the Internet

today are derived from the protocols that

were developed in the 1960s for the Federal

government’s experimental ARPANET. Only

a few researchers used ARPANET and they

were trusted to do no harm. The civilian

networks, such as NSFNET, that developed

from ARPANET into the Internet likewise did not incorporate security

technologies at the system software or network protocol levels.

Ubiquitous interconnectedness – first exhibited by the Internet and further

extended in local area networks, wide area networks, and wireless and hybrid

networks – has generated whole new industries, rejuvenated productivity in

older ones, and opened new avenues for discourse and education and an

unprecedented era of collaborative science and engineering discovery

Ubiquitous interconnectivity

is the primary conduit for

exploiting vulnerabilities on

a widespread basis.
8

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

worldwide. That is indeed good news. The bad news is that ubiquitous

interconnectivity provides the primary conduit for exploiting vulnerabilities on

a widespread basis. Despite efforts in recent years

to add security components to computing systems,

networks, and software, the acts of a hostile party

– whether a terrorist, an adversary nation,

organized crime, or a mischievous hacker – can

propagate far and wide, with damaging effects on a national or international

scale. For example:

• In the past several years, worms such as Code Red,1 which defaces World

Wide Web sites and/or launches distributed denial of service (DDoS)

attacks,2 and Slammer, which severely degraded the Bank of America’s ATM

network in January 2003, have caused damage estimated in the billions of

dollars.

• The Department of Defense responded to the Code Red worm by

disconnecting its unclassified network (NIPRnet) from the Internet to

protect it from infection. This protective measure disabled the Army Corps of

Engineers’ control of the locks on the Mississippi River, since the NIPRnet

was used to transmit commands to the locks through the Internet. 

• By using a laptop computer and radio transmitter, a former contractor for an

overseas wastewater system was able to assume command of hundreds of

control systems that manage sewage and drinking water. Over a period of two

months, hundreds of thousands of gallons of putrid sludge were intentionally

released from the wastewater system.

• Many businesses are now being attacked by cyber extortionists who demand

payment in return for not attacking the businesses’ Web presence. Seventeen

percent of the 100 companies surveyed in a 2004 poll by Carnegie Mellon

University-Information Week reported being the target of some form of cyber

extortion.

Acts of a hostile party

can propagate far

and wide.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

1 Most network worms spread by scanning the Internet, identifying vulnerable systems, and

infecting those systems by installing themselves. Also see “Impact of Malicious Code” –

September 2004, at http://www.computereconomics.com/.

2 A denial of service attack floods a target with artificial requests for service, thus rendering it

unable to service legitimate ones. A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack distributes

the source of the artificial requests among many computers, thus greatly complicating the

task of blocking a connection to eliminate a specific source of the artificial requests. The

computers involved in a DDoS attack are generally the unwitting agents of the real

attacker.
9

CYBER SECURITY: A PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE

• Identity theft is a rapidly increasing problem for Internet users. One of the

simplest methods of stealing a user’s identity is known as “phishing,” a

technique that uses fake e-mail messages and fraudulent Web sites to fool

recipients into divulging personal financial data. Consumers Union estimates

that 1 percent of U.S. households fell victim to such attacks at a cost of 

$400 million in the first half of 2004.

Software Is a Major Vulnerability

Network connectivity provides “door-to-door” transportation for attackers,

but vulnerabilities in the software residing in computers substantially

compound the cyber security problem. As the PITAC noted in a 1999 report,3

the software development methods that have been the norm fail to provide the

high-quality, reliable, and secure software that the IT infrastructure requires.

Software development is not yet a science or a rigorous discipline, and the

development process by and large is not controlled to minimize the

vulnerabilities that attackers exploit. Today, as with cancer, vulnerable software

can be invaded and modified to cause damage to previously healthy software,

and infected software can replicate itself and be carried across networks to

cause damage in other systems. Like cancer, these damaging processes may be

invisible to the lay person even though experts recognize that their threat is

growing. And as in cancer, both preventive actions and research are critical,

the former to minimize damage today and the latter to establish a foundation

of knowledge and capabilities that will assist the cyber security professionals of

tomorrow reduce risk and minimize damage for the long term.

Vulnerabilities in software that are introduced by mistake or poor practices

are a serious problem today. In the future, the Nation may face an even more

challenging problem as adversaries – both foreign and domestic – become

increasingly sophisticated in their ability to insert malicious code into critical

software.

Attacks and Vulnerabilities Are Growing Rapidly

Today, the threat clearly is growing. Most indicators and studies of the

frequency, impact, scope, and cost of cyber security incidents – among both

organizations and individuals – point to continuously increasing levels and

varieties of attacks. The data show that the total number of attacks – including

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

3 Information Technology Research: Investing in Our Future. President’s Information

Technology Advisory Committee, February 1999.
10

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

viruses, worms, cyber fraud, and insider attacks in corporations – is rising by

over 20 percent annually, with many types of attacks doubling in number. For

example, according to Deloitte’s “2004 Global Security Survey,” 83 percent of

financial service organizations

experienced compromised systems in

2003, more than double the

percentage in 2001. Moreover, the

reported level of security incidents

almost certainly understates the

actual level. There are few incentives

– but strong disincentives – for large

organizations to report incidents in a public forum. Targets of cyber attacks

typically are concerned that widespread disclosure of their victimization could

shake public confidence in their operations, not to mention attract other

attackers.

Technology-oriented indicators clearly reflect the rapid growth in the rate

of cyber attacks. For example, ICSA Labs reports that the monthly percentage

of personal computers infected by a virus has grown from 1 percent in 1996 to

over 10 percent in 2003. From January to June of 2004, the rate at which new

hosts were compromised and incorporated into “bot armies” rose from well

under 2,000 a day to more than 30,000 a day, according to the Symantec

Internet Security Threat Report.4 When compromised hosts are incorporated

into bot armies, they can be used as platforms for launching denial of service

attacks against a given target or to distribute “spam” e-mail without the

knowledge or consent of the owners or operators.

Trends within large organizations are also disturbing. For example, the

percentage of organizations that experienced virus disasters (defined as those

with more than 25 simultaneous infections or with major impact from

infection) has grown nearly every year over the last decade, with 92 percent of

organizations reporting such incidents during 2003. Symantec reports that 40

percent of the networks controlled by the Fortune 100 companies were

exploited to originate hostile worm traffic, despite the fact that these

companies have taken a variety of protective measures. The cost, downtime,

and days to recover from significant virus events have also trended upward for

each of the past nine years, according to ICSA Labs data. 

Meanwhile, the number of identified system and network vulnerabilities

has also risen. The Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination

Technology indicators and trends

within large organizations

clearly reflect rapid growth in the

rate of cyber attacks.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

4 http://enterprisesecurity.symantec.com/content.cfm?articleid=1539
11

CYBER SECURITY: A PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE

Center (CERT/CC) at Carnegie Mellon University reports that 3,780 new

electronic vulnerabilities were published in 2004, more than a 20-fold increase

from 1995. Once published, most of the details of vulnerabilities are available

for miscreants to begin attacking or developing attack tools and techniques,

thus forcing users and organizations to scramble to assure that their defenses

are adequate. The Symantec security threat report notes that in the first half of

2004, for example, the average time between the public disclosure of a

vulnerability and the release of an associated exploit was 5.8 days, substantially

reduced from the months estimated in prior years. 

In fact, many IT system designs continue to incorporate characteristics

that make these systems vulnerable to attack. In some instances, system

designs may be pushing the state of the art, so their vulnerabilities may not be

understood until they are deployed. In other instances, vulnerabilities may be

designed into systems because the developers lack technical knowledge or fail

to execute best practices. In this brief report, PITAC can point to only a few

examples to provide the reader with a sense of the vulnerabilities of IT

systems. But it is clear that that without action, IT vulnerabilities will become

more severe, as computers, cell phones, and embedded systems proliferate

globally and as expanding “always-on” high-speed or broadband connections

enable attacks to propagate more rapidly and with more force than the

occasionally connected low-bandwidth modems that were the norm until

recently.

Endless Patching Is Not the Answer

A broad consensus among computer scientists is emerging that the

approach of patching and retrofitting networks, computing systems, and

software to “add” security and reliability may be necessary in the short run but

is inadequate for addressing the Nation’s cyber security needs. As computer

security expert and PITAC member Eugene Spafford testified before the

House Science Committee:

Security cannot be easily or adequately added on after the fact and this

greatly complicates our overall mission. The software and hardware being

deployed today have been designed by individuals with little or no

security training, using unsafe methods, and then poorly tested. This is

being added to the fault-ridden infrastructure already in place and

operated by personnel with insufficient awareness of the risks. Therefore,
12

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

none of us should be surprised if we continue to see a rise in break-ins,

defacements, and viruses in the years to come.5

Granted, our IT infrastructure may be less secure right now than it could

be if all known security best practices were applied everywhere. But Professor

Spafford’s comment suggests that, even if all best practices were fully in place,

in the absence of any fundamental new approaches we would still endlessly be

patching and “plugging holes in the dike.” 

Fundamentally New Security Models, Methods Needed

We urgently need to expand our focus on short-term patching to also

include longer-term development of new methods for designing and

engineering secure systems. Addressing cyber security for the longer term

requires a vigorous ongoing program of fundamental research to explore the

science and develop the technologies necessary to design security into

computing and networking systems and software from the ground up.

Fundamental research is characterized by its potential for broad, rather than

specific, application and includes farsighted, high-payoff research that provides

the basis for technological progress.6

The vast majority of cyber security research conducted to date has been

based on the concept of perimeter defense. In this model, what is “inside” an

information system or network is protected from

an “outside” attacker who tries to penetrate it to

gain access to or control its data and system

resources. However, once the perimeter is

breached (whether by virtue of a technical

weakness such as a software vulnerability or an

operational weakness such as an employee being

bribed or tricked to reveal a password), the attacker has entirely free rein and

can compromise every system connected in a network with not much more

effort than is required to compromise only one.

This weakness of the perimeter defense strategy has become painfully clear.

But it is not the only problem with the model. The distinction between

“outside” and “inside” breaks down amid the proliferation of wireless and

The weakness of the

perimeter defense

strategy has become

painfully clear.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

5 http://www.house.gov/science/hearings/full/oct10/spafford.htm

6 Adapted from National Research Council, Assessment of Department of Defense Basic Research,

National Academies Press, 2005.
13

CYBER SECURITY: A PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE

embedded technologies connected to networks and the increasing complexity

of networked “systems of systems.” 

One element of a more realistic model for cyber security may be a principle

of mutual suspicion: Every component of a system or network is always

suspicious of every other component, and access to data and other resources

must be constantly reauthorized. More generally, cyber security would be an

integral part of the design process for any large, complex system or network.

Security add-ons will always be necessary to fix some security problems, but

ultimately there is no substitute for systemwide end-to-end security that is

minimally intrusive.

Central Role for Federal R&D

“The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace” states that the private sector

has the most important role to play in cyber security. The PITAC agrees with

this conclusion as it pertains to relatively short-term

efforts to improve the security of today’s systems

and networks. But the Federal government has a

vital, irreplaceable role to play as well. As at earlier

stages of the digital revolution, Federal investment

in fundamental research is required to fill the

pipeline with new concepts, technologies,

infrastructure prototypes, and trained personnel

needed for the private sector to accomplish its cyber

security mission. The Government can also promote

technology transfer mechanisms that accelerate

adoption of these new technologies by industry, in

part by supporting the development of performance

metrics, models, datasets, and testbeds so that new products and best practices

can be evaluated.

Federally sponsored fundamental research is a unique national investment

in the production of new knowledge that can be broadly used across all sectors

of society for the common good. Such research takes place primarily in

universities and national laboratories. As for-profit entities, companies

typically focus on short-term results or proprietary research that can provide

Federally sponsored

fundamental research

is a unique national

investment in the

production of new

knowledge that can

be used across all

sectors of society for

the common good.
14

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

near-term competitive advantage. It is the mission of research universities to

take the long-term view of a problem. Unclassified research performed in

universities and national laboratories has the added benefit of creating trained

talent in the field, as university graduates obtain employment in industry,

universities, and government. University graduates who pursue advanced

degrees in IT become the new generation of research leaders; other graduates

frequently become involved in start-up companies, which have historically

played critical roles in the IT industry. Research at universities also accelerates

changes in the education of new college graduates, as researchers rapidly move

new ideas into undergraduate courses and textbooks.

Fundamental research focuses on problems of extraordinary difficulty and

complexity that often require a number of years to solve. As Figure 1 on pages

16 and 17 demonstrates, the Federal government has long played a central role

in supporting fundamental research in information technology. The results of

this research lie at the heart of many of today’s billion-dollar information

technology industries – industries that are transforming our lives, driving our

economy, and enhancing our security. Fundamental research is a “public good”

– hence the role of the Federal government in supporting it. The result of a

highly effective interplay of Federally supported fundamental research,

industry-supported applied research, and industry product development: The

United States today is the world leader in information technology. 

An expanded portfolio of Federal cyber security R&D efforts is required

because today we simply do not know how to model, design, and build

systems incorporating integral security

attributes such as mutual suspicion –

or any other fundamental security

innovations. In addition, we face

substantial new challenges from the

constant stream of emerging

technologies. For example, we do not

fully understand the security

ramifications of networks of embedded

devices. In that context, a principle of

mutual suspicion would have to

consider controlled access to the

subnetworks, the information stores, the devices that are interconnected, and

the computing and communication resources of a given network. In our

An expanded portfolio of

Federal cyber security R&D

efforts is required because

today we simply do not know

how to model, design, and

build systems incorporating

integral security attributes.
15

CYBER SECURITY: A PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE

current methods of software development, security is simply one more

incremental requirement further burdening an already cumbersome, slow, and

expensive process. The add-on approach will not address our fundamental

need for far-sighted advances in systems and software technologies that

provide innovative new approaches to the problem of security.

In the findings and recommendations in Chapter 4 of this report, we urge

a rethinking of the Federal investment balance between military/intelligence

and civilian cyber security R&D. In part, this is because the military and

intelligence communities rely on the commercial Internet and commercial

providers of computing systems and software for the bulk of their own

operations.7 It is only through fundamental research in civilian cyber security

that we can hope to address the strategic and pervasive vulnerabilities of our

national IT infrastructure.

We also underscore the importance of technology transfer because new

concepts do not appear in products automatically. For this to happen, IT

vendors must build into their products and services new security

functionalities. But vendors respond to what users

demand, and it is only recently that most users –

corporations, government agencies, and individual

users – have begun to care about cyber security. In

the absence of significant demand for cyber

security, IT vendors have mostly chosen to add new

features for which customers are willing to pay.

(Ironically, the addition of new features and added

complexity often leads to the introduction of more

security vulnerabilities.) This market-driven bias

away from cyber security is the “valley of death”

for cyber security noted by many analysts. R&D

may provide the knowledge and the proof of

operational feasibility, but in the absence of

customer demand for the security that may be provided, vendors have little

incentive to include new security technologies in their products. 

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

7 Two examples from Operation Iraqi Freedom illustrate this reality: (1) more than 80

percent of the bandwidth used by the U.S. military was supplied by commercial providers,

and (2) a large fraction of the IT systems deployed were shipped directly from commercial

vendors. “U.S. Weaponization of Space: Implications for International Security,” Theresa

Hitchens, September 29, 2003.

http://www.cdi.org/friendlyversion/printversion.cfm?documentID=1745.

In the findings and

recommendations of

this report, we urge a

rethinking of the

Federal investment

balance between

military/intelligence

and civilian cyber

security R&D.
16

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

LANs

Rings, Hubnet

Ethernet, Datakit, Autonet

LANs, switched Ethernet

Graphical user interfaces 

Workstations

Graphics Sketchpad, Utah

GM/IBM, Xerox, Microsoft

E&S, SGI, ATI, Adobe

Lisp machine, Stanford

Xerox Alto

Xerox Star, Apollo, Sun

Engelbart / Rochester

Alto, Smalltalk

Star, Mac, Microsoft

Timesharing CTSS, Multics / BSD

Unix

SDS 940, 360/67, VMS

Internet

ARPANET, Aloha, Internet

Pup

DECnet, TCP/IP

RISC processors Berkeley, Stanford

IBM 801

SUN, SGI, IBM, HP

VLSI design Berkeley, Caltech, MOSIS

many

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Client/server computing

Berkeley, CMU, CERN

PARC, DEC, IBM

Novell, EMC, Sun, Oracle

Entertainment

Spacewar (MIT), Trek (Rochester)

Atari, Nintendo, SGI, Pixar

	

	

	

	 
	 
	 
 

!!!

The role played by Federally sponsored fundamental research in information

technology in creating billion-dollar segments of the IT industry. Reprinted

with permission from Innovation in Information Technology (c) (2003) by the

National Academy of Sciences, courtesy of the National Academies Press,

Washington, D.C. 

Historic Role of Federally Supported Fundamental R&D

Figure 1
17

CYBER SECURITY: A PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE

RAID /disk servers

Relational databases

Berkeley, Wisconsin

IBM

Oracle, IBM, Sybase

Berkeley

Striping/Datamesh, Petal

many

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

World Wide Web

Alta Vista

Netscape, Yahoo, Google

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Speech recognition CMU, SRI, MIT

Bell, IBM, Dragon

Dragon, IBM

Broadband lin last mile

Bellcore (Telcordia)

Amati, Alcatel, Broadcom

Stanford, UCLA

Portable communication

Linkabit, Hughes

Qualcomm

Berkeley, Purdue (CDMA)

Parallel databases

Tokyo, Wisconsin, UCLA

IBM, ICL

ICL, Teradata, Tandem

Parallel computing Illiac 4, CMU, Caltech, HPC

IBM, Intel

CM-5, Teradata, Cray T3D

Data mining Wisconsin, Stanford

IBM, Arbor

IRI, Arbor, Plato

CERN, Illinois (Mosaic)

	

	

	

	 
	 
	 
 



in Creating Billion-Dollar Segments of the IT Industry
18

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

PITAC recognizes that the development of technologies to counteract

vulnerabilities or – better yet – designs that avoid vulnerabilities in the first

place, constitute only one component, although arguably the most important

component, of effective cyber security. We briefly point here to several facets

of cyber security that require societal attention but are not addressed in this

report:

Domestic and international law enforcement. A hostile party using an

Internet-connected computer thousands of miles away can attack an Internetconnected computer in the United States as easily as if he or she were next

door. It is often difficult to identify the perpetrator of such an attack, and even

when a perpetrator is identified, criminal prosecution across national

boundaries is problematic. 

Education. We need to educate citizens that if they are going to use the

Internet, they need to continually maintain and update the security on their

systems so that they cannot be compromised, for example, to become agents

in a DDoS attack or for “spam” distribution. We also need to educate

corporations and organizations in best practices for effective security

management. For example, some large organizations now have a policy that all

systems in their purview must meet strict security guidelines. Automated

updates are sent to all computers and servers on the internal network, and no

new system is allowed online until it conforms to the security policy.

Information security. Information security refers to measures taken to

protect or preserve information on a network as well as the network itself.

Thus it also involves physical security, personnel security, criminal law and

investigation, economics, and other issues. These factors need to be included

in the curriculum for cyber security practitioners, and supporting law and

technologies need to be made available.

Sociological issues. There are several areas relating to cyber security in

which there may be conflicting interests and needs, and such tensions will

need to be addressed as part on any comprehensive approach to cyber security.

For example, as part of the effort to prevent attacks or to track down cyber

criminals, it may be necessary to know the origin of data packets on the

Internet, but such knowledge may be perceived by some to conflict with an

individual’s right to privacy or anonymity. To cite another example, what some

nations or individuals may perceive as a necessary filtering of data may be

perceived by others as unwanted censorship. Such issues involve ethics, law,

and societal concerns as much as they do technology, and these nontechnology issues make the cyber security problem even more challenging.

A Note on Non-Technology Aspects of Cyber Security
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

8 At the time, it was called the Advanced Research Projects Agency.

19

To assess how well the Federal government is fulfilling its important role in

providing support for cyber security R&D, the PITAC examined the current

Federal cyber security R&D portfolio. As expected, Federal support for cyber

security R&D is provided by the military, the intelligence community, and the

civilian research sector. The Committee’s analysis of agency investments found

that the Federal government’s historical focus on fundamental, unclassified

R&D has changed in ways that place our long-term physical and economic

security at risk.

Cyber Security R&D in the Military and Intelligence Sectors

Recognition of the potential benefits of communication between

geographically distributed computing systems led the Defense Advanced

Research Projects Agency (DARPA)8 to develop the ARPANET, the

forerunner of today’s Internet. Today, the military’s vision of ubiquitous

connectivity has been dramatically realized.

The Armed Forces now critically depend on the networked IT systems that

have amplified battlefield effectiveness and permanently transformed military

strategy. However, the architecture of these networks and systems was defined

in a different environment – an environment of trust. Today, ill-intended

individuals, organizations, and governments can become armed with the

knowledge and tools needed to compromise IT networks. As a result, the

security of these networks of systems has become of paramount importance to

the military.

The R&D budgets of the defense agencies reflect this urgency. The most

sizable investment within the Department of Defense’s cyber security

programs is found at DARPA, though the research agencies of the Armed

Forces have smaller but valuable cyber security programs as well. The

Department of Defense’s Office of the Director, Defense Research and

Engineering provides coordination and oversight, in addition to supporting

some cyber security research activities directly.

DARPA historically used a large portion of its budget to fund unclassified

long-term fundamental research – in general, activities with a time horizon

Federal Cyber Security 

Research and Development: 

Current Priorities, Future Impacts

CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

3
20

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

that exceeds five years. This provided DARPA with access to talented

researchers in the Nation’s finest research institutions and helped cultivate a

community of scholars and

professionals who developed the field.

By FY 2004, however, very little, if

any, of DARPA’s substantial cyber

security R&D investment9 was

directed towards fundamental research.

Instead, DARPA now depends on

NSF-supported researchers for the

fundamental advances needed to

develop new cyber security

technologies to benefit the military.

Additionally, the emergence of cyber

warfare as a tool of the warfighter has

led DARPA to classify more of its

programs. The combined result is an overall shift in DARPA’s portfolio

towards classified and short-term research and development and away from its

traditional support of unclassified longer-term R&D.

Major support for cyber security research and development programs

within the intelligence agencies is provided by the National Security Agency

(NSA) and the Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA). NSA

cyber security research – what the agency terms information assurance – is

supported by its Information Assurance Research Group (R2). NSA allocates

approximately $50 million to this work, with roughly 20 percent directed to

fundamental research. Academic research accounts for only about six percent

($3 million), a level much reduced from prior years. While the majority of this

research is unclassified, it is largely short-term.

Created by the intelligence community, ARDA supports the development

of technologies to improve this community’s information systems and

networks. ARDA’s cyber security research amounts to about $17 million, one

third of which supports academic research and is mostly unclassified. However,

ARDA typically classifies the results of this research once it is mature enough

to incorporate into tools for the intelligence community.

The Department of Energy also invests in cyber security R&D, with

virtually all of its work directed towards short-term and/or military and

The Committee’s analysis of

agency investments found

that the Federal government’s

historical focus on

fundamental, unclassified

R&D has changed in ways

that place our long-term

physical and economic

security at risk.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

9 The data supplied to the PITAC by the Federal government indicate that the FY 2004

DARPA investment in cyber security is between $40 million and $150 million.
21

FEDERAL CYBER SECURITY R&D

intelligence applications. This work is conducted principally at its national

laboratories.

Federal Investments in Civilian Cyber Security R&D

Agencies supporting R&D that is not focused on military or intelligence

applications – “civilian” research in this report – play a key role in the

evolution of the Nation’s IT infrastructure, including cyber security. These

agencies include the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of

Homeland Security (DHS), the National Institute of Standards and

Technology (NIST), and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

NSF has the only substantial Federal civilian cyber security research

program, an activity it has supported for many years. The majority of the work

is undertaken at academic institutions and all of it is unclassified. Much of the

research is considered fundamental, but the PITAC has noted a subtle change

toward shorter-term activities.

In FY 2004, the agency’s funding for cyber security programmatic activities

totaled $76 million, of which support for research projects was approximately

$58 million. The cornerstone of NSF’s cyber security research activities is its

Cyber Trust program; established in FY 2004, the program supports both

individual cyber security researchers and research centers at academic

institutions.

DHS plays a dual role, including both operational responsibilities – such as

securing the Nation’s borders, property, economy, and critical infrastructure –

and R&D activities. R&D efforts are aimed at countering threats to the

homeland by making evolutionary improvements to current capabilities and by

developing revolutionary new capabilities. The

varied and complex mission of the agency’s

Science and Technology Directorate, where its

Cyber Security R&D program resides, includes

responsibility for developing technologies to

combat weapons of mass destruction such as

radiological, nuclear, chemical, and biological

threats. Most of DHS’s approximately $1-billion science and technology

budget is directed towards research, development, and demonstration projects

in technologies to counter these threats. The Cyber Security R&D program

was funded at only $18 million in FY 2004. DHS’s cyber security R&D

activities are largely unclassified and short-term (only about $1.5 million is

NSF has the only

substantial Federal

program in civilian

cyber security research.
22

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

dedicated to long-term research), and some work is funded in partnership with

NSF.

NIST’s mission involves the development of measurements and standards –

activities that play a key role in facilitating technology transfer – and its role in

cyber security is focused on this type of work. NIST’s FY 2004 budget for

cyber security was $9.7 million. In the recently approved FY 2005 budget,

cyber security funding for NIST’s Computer Security Division was increased

by $10 million. NIST also receives some funding from Federal agencies such

as DHS and has partnered with others such as NSA. The Institute has

historically collaborated closely with industry and has been increasing its

involvement with academia. NIST’s cyber security research program is

primarily short-term in focus.

The DOJ’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has a $7-million budget

aimed at fighting electronic crime.

The Relationship Between Military/Intelligence

and Civilian Cyber Space

Historically, the military and intelligence communities have derived

enormous benefit from research funds invested in the civilian sector, primarily

via strong support of long-term academic research by DARPA and NSA.

However, the shift within both agencies towards support for short-term,

classified research, and the concomitant reduction in support for the civilian

research community, is leading to the

erosion of that community’s strength.

Because many of the ideas, solutions,

and talent in cyber security have

traditionally come from the civilian

research community, both the civilian

and military sectors stand to lose from

this new trend – an issue that the

military and intelligence agencies

themselves recognize. However, those agencies do not appear inclined to shift

away from their current, more short-term mission-focused approach, and while

the gap in support for the civilian cyber security R&D community could in

theory be filled by other agencies, to date it has not.

The Department of Defense’s Global Information Grid (GIG), one of the

most ambitious IT projects ever undertaken by the Federal government,

illustrates the negative impacts of reduced R&D in civilian cyber security. To

The military and intelligence

communities have derived

enormous benefit from

research funds invested in

the civilian sector.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

10 http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04858.pdf

23

FEDERAL CYBER SECURITY R&D

improve U.S. military communications, the Pentagon plans to deploy the

GIG, a multilayered network to link weapons, intelligence, and military

personnel for “network-enhanced” warfare. While the cost of developing and

deploying the GIG is not a matter of public record, a recent GAO report

estimates that it will cost at least $21 billion through 2010, with significant

additional expenditures beyond that date.10

The Defense Department intends the most sensitive portions of the GIG

to be self-contained, reducing the military’s potential exposure to the

insecurities associated with the public IT infrastructure. However, some less

sensitive portions of the GIG are expected to connect to the Internet, at least

part of the time. Vulnerabilities are introduced

whenever highly sensitive defense networks and

civilian networks intersect, giving both

communities a significant stake in cooperating to

improve the security of the civilian IT

infrastructure. Also, economic realities dictate that

today’s military networks and tomorrow’s GIG use

civilian commercial hardware and software,

exposing those networks to the security

vulnerabilities of such products. Thus, the success

of the GIG as a secure IT infrastructure of the

future – and the near-term success of today’s

military networks – depends in part on improvements in the security of the

civilian IT infrastructure. Yet because the civilian R&D community has access

only to the results of unclassified research, reduced support for this

community will have a harmful impact on its ability to generate the

fundamental discoveries upon which future generations of security products

and practices will be based.

An Assessment of Current Federal Efforts

The Committee’s examination of the Federal cyber security R&D portfolio

has revealed two disturbing trends: 1) a pronounced shift in favor of

classifying military and intelligence R&D, rendering it unavailable to the

civilian sector; and 2) an equally pronounced shift in both the

military/intelligence and civilian sectors favoring short-term research over

long-term fundamental research. These trends should concern policymakers

because they threaten to constrict the pipeline of fundamental cyber security

research that, as outlined in the previous chapter, is vital to securing the

Nation’s IT infrastructure.

The Committee’s

examination revealed

pronounced shifts in

favor of classifying

military/intelligence

cyber security R&D and

in favor of short-term

research.
24

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

If research in the civilian sector is allowed to stagnate – the likely scenario

if current trends are allowed to continue – the security of the IT infrastructure

upon which our Nation depends will

erode further. Because any

interconnected system is open to attack

via its weakest link, even the Nation’s

military systems, which are expected to

continue to be linked to civilian systems,

will continue to be vulnerable. Yet of the

agencies providing major support for

cyber security R&D, only NSF, NIST,

and to some extent DHS operate

primarily in the civilian sector. Of these,

only NSF provides significant support for fundamental research in civilian

cyber security.

Just as alarming is the increased emphasis in all agencies on funding shortterm R&D to address immediate mission requirements. The Committee’s

analysis shows that funding for long-term fundamental research – a necessary

precursor to developing leading edge solutions to more complex problems –

has significantly fallen behind. In total, the Federal investment in

fundamental research in civilian cyber security is a small fraction11 of the

overall Federal investment in cyber security R&D.

The PITAC believes that the Federal budget for fundamental research in

civilian cyber security must be dramatically increased or the Nation’s security

and technological edge will be seriously jeopardized. The next chapter

provides PITAC’s recommendations for addressing this and related issues.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

11 After substantial and lengthy efforts to determine specific budget numbers, the PITAC

estimates that this fraction is between 10 percent and 25 percent.

These trends should concern

policymakers because they

threaten to constrict the

pipeline of fundamental

research that is vital to

securing the Nation’s IT

infrastructure.
25

CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

Findings and Recommendations

A Crisis of Prioritization

The information technology (IT) infrastructure of the United States,

which is now vital for communication, commerce, and control of our physical

infrastructure, is highly vulnerable to

terrorist and criminal attacks. The private

sector has an important role in securing

the Nation’s IT infrastructure by

deploying sound security products and

adopting good security practices. But the

Federal government also has a key role to

play by supporting the discovery and

development of cyber security technologies that underpin these products and

practices. The PITAC finds that the Federal government needs to

fundamentally improve its approach to cyber security to fulfill its

responsibilities in this regard.

Finding 1

The Federal R&D budget provides inadequate funding for fundamental

research in civilian cyber security.

Recommendation 1

The NSF budget for fundamental research in civilian cyber security should be

increased by $90 million annually. Funding for fundamental research in

civilian cyber security should also be substantially increased at other agencies,

most notably DHS and DARPA. Funding should be allocated so that at least

the ten specific areas listed in the “Cyber Security Research Priorities” section

of this chapter are appropriately addressed. Further increases in funding may

be necessary depending on the Nation’s future cyber security posture.

Discussion

The Snare of Short-term Fixes

Most private-sector cyber security funding today addresses immediate

needs, such as augmenting existing defenses and installing patches in poorly

designed or defective systems. Such needs have a legitimate and important

claim on budget resources. However, addressing these needs is akin to

plugging holes in a dike.

4

The PITAC finds that the

Federal government needs to

fundamentally improve its

approach to cyber security.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

12 http://www.house.gov/science/hearings/full/oct10/wulf.htm

26

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Federal cyber security R&D also has a short-term focus. As discussed in

Chapter 3, many agencies expect to benefit within several years from their

recent cyber security R&D investments. Insufficient long-term cyber security

fundamental research today means that we will not be prepared for tomorrow’s

vulnerabilities and that we are not designing intrinsically more secure systems

for the future.

The October 2001 Congressional testimony of Wm. A. Wulf, President of

the National Academy of Engineering and a computer systems researcher, is as

true today as it was then:

We have virtually no research base on which to build truly secure systems...

When funds are scarce, researchers become very conservative and bold

challenges to the conventional wisdom are not likely to pass peer review.

As a result, incrementalism has become the norm.12

Today’s urgent problems require that we continue to address immediate

needs and conduct short-term research. However, significant progress in cyber

security cannot be achieved as long as the focus is only reactive. Longer-range

fundamental research in cyber security needs to be substantially strengthened

to make future cyber security efforts proactive instead.

The Importance of Civilian Cyber Security Research

“Civilian” cyber security R&D refers to unclassified R&D associated with

computing systems, networks, and software used by civilian Federal agencies,

universities, corporations, and the population at large. One beneficiary of the

results of research in civilian cyber security is the vast IT marketplace, which

includes the commercial Internet and networks connected to it, as well as most

private computing systems. Less well known is the key role civilian research

plays in homeland and national security; fundamental research in civilian

cyber security lays the foundation upon which their systems are built. This

includes, for example, the systems, networks, and software that control key

infrastructure for utilities, that support the transportation and financial

sectors, and that underlie military networks. Thus, unclassified research in

civilian cyber security plays an important and fundamental role across the

Nation’s entire cyber security portfolio.

Civilian research is distinct from research targeted to military and

intelligence applications, which is often classified. Classified research is usually

undertaken when its public disclosure could damage national security (such as

by disclosing U.S. intelligence about adversary capabilities or revealing our
27

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

military’s information warfare capabilities). Thus, there are good reasons to

pursue classified research, but there are also disadvantages if it is done at the

expense of unclassified research. For example, the results of classified research

often cannot be used commercially, because

to do so would subject their inner workings

to public scrutiny. Therefore, classified

cyber security research largely cannot be

applied to the general-purpose cyber

security marketplace, and it cannot have a

direct impact on the commercial Internet

and its underlying technologies or on the IT infrastructure broadly, which

together underpin much of the Nation’s critical infrastructure. By contrast,

unclassified research in civilian cyber security often benefits classified systems,

because rarely is a fundamental security problem faced only in the classified

world.

Moreover, funding for classified cyber security research is not as effective as

funding for unclassified research in increasing the number of professionals

who are knowledgeable in cyber security, a critical problem identified in

Finding 2 (page 30) of this report. Finally, public policy review and oversight

of classified research are difficult at best, which means that research dollars

may not be as effectively spent as with unclassified research.

Research Directions

As suggested by Dr. Wulf’s testimony, today there are many fundamental

questions about cyber security that cannot be answered satisfactorily:

• How can we build complex software-intensive systems that are secure and

reliable when first deployed?

• How can we build large, distributed systems that can continue to operate

reliably during hostile or natural disturbances? 

• How can we verify that software obtained from a third party correctly

implements stated functionality, and only that functionality?

• How can we guarantee the privacy of an individual’s identity, information, or

lawful transactions when stored in distributed systems or transmitted over

networks?

• How can we build systems that authenticate the identities of large numbers

of users in many organizations and locations?

Classified cyber security

research largely cannot be

applied to the civilian cyber

security marketplace.
28

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

• How can we easily determine the origin of a message transmitted over the

Internet?

• How can we automatically determine whether a message transmitted over the

Internet is malicious or benign?

The Committee analyzed more than 30 reports on cyber security R&D

(see Appendix C) to identify 10 priority areas for funding (see “Cyber Security

Research Priorities,” beginning on page 37). These areas are of paramount

importance. Without significant advances in research in these areas, the

Nation will not be able to secure its IT infrastructure. Some may view this list

as overly broad in terms of setting funding priorities, while others will find

omissions they consider critical. The Committee believes the list strikes a

balance between these viewpoints. Cyber security is a complex and

multifaceted problem. There is no silver bullet.

Federal Cyber Security R&D Funding Programs

The National Science Foundation (NSF), with its key role in supporting

fundamental research across the entire scientific and engineering enterprise, is

the primary funding agency for fundamental research in civilian cyber security.

The Committee believes that the cyber security research investments of NSF’s

Computer and Information Science and

Engineering (CISE) Directorate, and its

Cyber Trust program in particular, which

account for most of the Federal funding

for fundamental research in civilian cyber

security, are seriously under-funded

relative to the need for cyber security research for the Nation. In FY 2004, the

Cyber Trust program received 390 research proposals and made 32 awards

totaling $31 million. This success rate of 8 percent of the proposals (and 6

percent of requested funds) is a factor of three lower than the NSF-wide

numbers. In scientific peer review, at least 25 percent of the proposals were

judged worthy of support. Further, the majority of the proposals supported

were funded at levels significantly below those requested.

The Cyber Trust program’s experience suggests that a quadrupling of its

budget could be employed on high-quality research that would lay the

foundation for critical improvements in the Nation’s cyber security. In dollar

Cyber security is a complex

and multifaceted problem.

There is no silver bullet.
29

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

terms, this increase would add approximately $90 million in new funding to

the NSF budget for fundamental research in civilian cyber security.

The PITAC estimates between 10 percent and 25 percent of FY 2004

Federal support for cyber security R&D was devoted to fundamental research

in civilian cyber security. Given the

central role that civilian cyber

security plays across the Nation’s

entire critical infrastructure, the

Committee believes that the

funding for civilian research should

be increased so that it is a much

larger fraction of the overall cyber security research budget.

While NSF should continue to be the major funding agency for civilian

cyber security research, the Committee suggests that NSF should not be the

entire focus of increased investment in fundamental research in civilian cyber

security. Different agencies provide different motivations for fundamental

research, thus increasing the opportunities to apply the research to their

missions and more generally.

The Committee believes that both DARPA and DHS should increase their

support of fundamental research in civilian cyber security. Increased support

would benefit each agency (as DARPA has experienced in the past) as well as

the Nation as a whole.

PITAC recommends that the increase in the NSF CISE budget for civilian

cyber security fundamental research not be funded at the expense of other

parts of the CISE Directorate. The proposal success rate for CISE is 16

percent (14 percent for research grants), which is already only two-thirds of

the NSF-wide average. Significant shifts of funding within CISE towards cyber

security would exacerbate the strain on these other programs without

addressing the existing disparity between CISE and other directorates.

Moreover, much work in “other” CISE areas is beneficial to cyber security and

thus reductions in those other areas would be counterproductive.13

Funding for civilian research

should be increased so that it is a

much larger fraction of the overall

cyber security research budget.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

13 Some examples: Theoretical computer science underpins much encryption research, both in

identifying weaknesses and in advancing the state of the art. Algorithms research helps

ensure that protocols designed for security can be efficiently implemented. Programming

language research can help address security at a higher level of abstraction and can add

functionalities such as security assurances to software. Software engineering can help

eliminate software bugs that are often exploited as security holes. And new computer

architectures might enforce protection faster and at finer granularity.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

14 For example, see the Computing Research Association’s Information Security Grand

Challenges at http://www.cra.org/grand.challenges.

30

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Finally, Federal program managers must not be penalized for some level of

“failures.” Fundamental research is conducted with long time horizons and

moderate to high risk for payoff. If the incentive structures within Federal

grant-making agencies encourage failure avoidance, then research that favors

incremental work – grants that are likely to yield definite, projected results –

will become the norm. However, many expert evaluations of cyber security

research challenges make the case that incremental work is unlikely to lead to

solutions for some of the most difficult problems.14

Finding 2

The Nation’s cyber security research community is too small to adequately

support the cyber security research and education programs necessary to

protect the United States.

Recommendation 2

The Federal government should intensify its efforts to promote recruitment

and retention of cyber security researchers and students at research universities,

with a goal of at least doubling the size of the civilian cyber security

fundamental research community by the end of the decade. In particular, the

Federal government should increase and stabilize the funding for fundamental

research in civilian cyber security, and should support programs that enable

researchers to move into cyber security research from other fields.

Discussion

Cyber security has been the focus of a small segment of the computer

science and engineering research community. In the testimony cited above, 

Dr. Wulf noted that the Nation has “only a tiny cadre of academic, long-term,

basic researchers who are thinking deeply about ... problems [in cyber

security].” The Committee concurs with this assessment and estimates that

U.S. academic institutions employ fewer than 250 active cyber security or

cyber assurance specialists, many of whom lack either formal training or

extensive professional experience in the field.
31

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Consequences of the existing community’s

small size include limitations on the amount of

research that can be undertaken over all and on the

number of research topics that can be investigated

effectively, because productive work in a topic

commonly requires a critical mass of researchers.

The supporting infrastructure for research – such

as technical conferences and journals – is also less

developed for such small research communities.

Finally, the community’s small size prevents it from

preparing larger numbers of bachelor’s and master’s

candidates to work in the profession. This disconnect exists even as demand

for cyber security practitioners in the United States grows.

Recommendations 1 and 2 go hand-in-hand. To strengthen and enlarge

the cyber security fundamental research community, the Federal government

should:

• Increase Federal funding for cyber security fundamental research. Substantially

increasing funding levels, as in Recommendation 1, is essential to building a

larger cyber security fundamental research community.

• Provide stable Federal funding for cyber security fundamental research. Stable

funding levels – an issue separate from the absolute levels of funding – are

critical for achieving growth in a field, because those who are interested in

entering the field know that they can have a viable future in that field.

• Support programs that enable researchers to move into cyber security research from

other fields. Researchers attempting to change fields need funding to pursue

new lines of work but face hurdles because they have no track record in the

new field. Sabbaticals and similar programs would enable prospective cyber

security researchers to gain knowledge and experience, thereby enabling them

to contribute to the field more quickly.

• Emphasize unclassified cyber security research. The vast majority of the Nation’s

academic researchers do not hold the security clearances needed to undertake

The Federal

government should

intensify its efforts to

promote recruitment

and retention of cyber

security researchers

and students at

research universities.
32

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

classified work. Further, many research universities regard classified research

as incompatible with their role as producers of knowledge benefiting society

as a whole.15 The trend towards increased classification of cyber security

research has had a negative impact on developing the community of cyber

security fundamental researchers in universities and should be reversed.

Nurturing a larger, more robust cyber security fundamental research

community will help ensure that revolutionary new ideas – as opposed to

incremental advances – are generated. The Committee believes that doubling

the size of the cyber security fundamental research community by the end of

the decade is possible and would help advance the Nation’s cyber security

efforts.

Finding 3

Current cyber security technology transfer efforts are not adequate to

successfully transition Federal research investments into civilian sector best

practices and products.

Recommendation 3

The Federal government should strengthen its cyber security technology

transfer partnership with the private sector. Specifically, the Federal

government should place greater emphasis on the development of metrics,

models, datasets, and testbeds so that new products and best practices can be

evaluated; jointly sponsor with the private sector an annual interagency

conference at which new cyber security R&D results are showcased; fund

technology transfer efforts (in cooperation with industry) by researchers who

have developed promising ideas or technologies; and encourage Federally

supported graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to gain experience in

industry as researchers, interns, or consultants.

Discussion

Technology transfer enables the results of Federally supported R&D to be

incorporated into products that are available for general use. There has been a

long and successful history of Federally funded IT R&D being transferred into

products and best practices that are widely adopted in the private sector.

Figure 1 (see pages 16-17) highlights 19 examples of Federally sponsored

fundamental research in IT that led to the creation of new billion-dollar

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

15 Similar problems arise when the Federal government places restrictions on the work that

foreign graduate students can perform or the courses they can take, because graduate

students are an essential element of university research programs.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

16 See Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers, Computer Science

and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council, 1994.

17 Prior to 2001, the annual National Information Systems Security Conference, jointly

sponsored by NIST and NSA, performed these functions. It was the one event that most

security professionals attended. The conference featured invited speakers, presentation of

the National Information Systems Security Award (generally considered the top award in

the field) and the Vendor and Program awards, and a large vendor exhibition to showcase

current technologies.

33

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

industries. This demonstrates the synergy that is possible when academia,

industry, and government work together.

The diffusion of Federally supported IT R&D into products and practices

benefits both consumers and developers:

• Consumers have benefited from faster hardware, faster networks, better

software that is easier to use, and more frequent time- and labor-saving

upgrades.

• IT research often results in new ideas and prototypes16 that can rapidly be

developed into new or improved commercial products. The developers of

such innovations are free to carry their innovative ideas into the marketplace,

benefiting all consumers.

Unlike other IT products, cyber security’s benefits are measured by the

absence of problems in IT systems. Because the market for these benefits has

historically been small, interest is limited among both start-ups and large

companies.

The Committee believes that, given the

value and difficulty of technology transfer,

the Federal government should support

programs to transform existing and future

cyber security research results into

commercial products or operational best

practices. Specifically, the Federal

government should:

• Strengthen the development of metrics, models, datasets, and testbeds so that

new products and best practices can be evaluated.

• Jointly sponsor with the private sector an annual interagency conference at

which new cyber security R&D results, especially those conducted or

sponsored by the Federal government, are showcased.17

Unlike other IT products,

cyber security’s benefits are

measured by the absence

of system problems.
34

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

• Require grant proposals to describe the potential practical utility of their

research results and have the coordinating body identified in

Recommendation 4 collect and publish these descriptions. While

fundamental research is usually undertaken without any direct transition path

envisioned, cyber security research is often undertaken in the context of

recognized problems, and documenting logical connections with real world

problems is worthwhile.

• Establish a fund to support technology transfer efforts by researchers who

have developed promising ideas or technologies. This fund could also help

researchers cooperate with industry to bring products or enhancements

rapidly to market.

• Establish and maintain a national database of results from Federally funded

cyber security research, allowing vendors to identify ideas that can be

incorporated into commercial products.

• Encourage Federally supported graduate students and postdoctoral

researchers to gain experience in industry as researchers, interns, or

consultants.

• Encourage agency investment in technology transfer of cyber security R&D

results through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small

Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) programs of the Federal government.

The Federal government and the private sector, by working together, can

effectively and efficiently transfer Federally funded cyber security research

results into commercial products and build an innovative cyber security

workforce, and by doing so can help our society realize the potential benefits

of this research.

Finding 4

The overall Federal cyber security R&D effort is currently unfocused and

inefficient because of inadequate coordination and oversight.

Recommendation 4

The Interagency Working Group on Critical Information Infrastructure

Protection should become the focal point for coordinating Federal cyber

security R&D efforts. This working group should be strengthened and

integrated under the Networking and Information Technology Research and

Development (NITRD) Program.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

18 http://www.nitrd.gov/iwg/hcss.html

19 http://www.nitrd.gov/iwg/lsn.html

35

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Discussion

Within the Federal government, there are several coordinating bodies

whose domains include various aspects of cyber security R&D. They include

the:

• Interagency Working Group on Critical Information Infrastructure

Protection (IWG/CIIP), which is part of the National Science and

Technology Council (NSTC)

• Subcommittee on Networking and Information Technology Research and

Development, which coordinates the NITRD Program and which is also part

of the NSTC, and the Subcommittee’s Coordinating Groups, especially the:

° High Confidence Software and Systems Coordinating Group18

° Large Scale Networking Coordinating Group19

• Infosec Research Council (IRC)

These coordinating bodies hold regular (often monthly) meetings, provide

opportunities for agency representatives to share information, sponsor

multiagency workshops, facilitate joint or coordinated funding of programs

and studies, and serve as a means for academic experts and industry

representatives to provide input.

Yet a key component – effective government-wide coordination of the

agencies’ cyber security research programs and agendas – has largely been

missing. The Committee notes that the IWG/CIIP has recently begun a crossagency effort to prioritize cyber security research areas, with the intent of

developing a Federal agenda for cyber security R&D that cuts across agencies

and is focused on the highest priority needs. This preliminary work is

encouraging and will be critical to the efficiency and effectiveness of the

Federal investment in cyber security R&D, because in the absence of such

coordination, agencies understandably focus on their individual missions,

rather than on the priorities of the Federal government as a whole. In

addition, as the level of funding for cyber security R&D increases, greater

coordination is needed to ensure that the new funding is invested wisely.

Therefore, the role of the IWG/CIIP in coordinating cyber security R&D

across the Federal government should be further strengthened and integrated
36

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

into the NITRD Program. Objectives to be achieved by strengthened

coordination include:

• Coordination of research agendas across Federal agencies, enabling the most

important topics to receive priority, avoiding duplication of effort, and

encouraging jointly supported work where appropriate.

• Improved communication between the Federal government and the private

sector. Effective decision making about Federal cyber security R&D

investments requires improved Government understanding of the activities

and trends of private sector R&D and operational realities in the private

sector.

• Convening forums at which participants from government, university, and

industrial settings exchange information about high-level strategies and issues

(for example, long-term architectural design issues) to better meet the

growing cyber security challenge. Without such forums, competitive and

antitrust constraints on key vendors make such dialogue difficult. 

• Systematic collection of data on cyber security R&D efforts throughout the

Federal government. Obtaining cyber security budget data proved a challenge

for the PITAC. To track progress in cyber security R&D and give it greater

visibility in budget discussions, accurate up-to-date data must be readily

available.

• Tracking the intellectual progress of cyber security R&D programs and their

impact on cyber security acquisition and use within the Federal government.

The IWG/CIIP should issue periodic reports on the overall effectiveness of

Federal cyber security R&D investments.

The cyber security R&D programs that the IWG/CIIP coordinates should

be brought into the NITRD Program and the IWG/CIIP should report not

only to its current parent, the NSTC’s Subcommittee on Infrastructure, but

also to the NITRD Subcommittee. Advances in cyber security need to be built

into IT systems from the ground up, which requires cyber security R&D to be

an integral part of overall IT R&D. This would be enabled by bringing

IWG/CIIP under the NITRD umbrella. The IRC should continue to operate

and coordinate with other Federal cyber security R&D bodies.
37

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Cyber Security Research Priorities

The Committee analyzed more than 30 reports on cyber security

R&D (listed in Appendix C) to identify 10 priority areas for

increased emphasis. These areas are of paramount importance.

Without significant advances in research in these areas, the Nation

will not be able to secure its IT infrastructure. The ordering of the

areas below does not represent a priority ranking.

1.

Authentication Technologies

Authentication schemes for networked entities such as hardware,

software, data, and users are needed for a variety of purposes,

including identification, authorization, and integrity checking. These

schemes must be provably secure, easy to verify, supportable for use

with billions of components, and rapidly executable. Methods in

traditional cryptography have focused on security but may not be

efficient enough for widespread use in environments where, for

example, millions of data packets per second must be authenticated by

a single network router. Much useful work has been done on

cryptographic protocols. But the requirement that the protocols be

usable in an environment such as the Internet demands the

development of new protocols. Research subtopics include: 

• Research on infrastructure and protocols for large-scale public

key distribution and management and on other possible

approaches 

• Certificate and revocation management

• Integration with biometrics and physical tokens

• Decoupling authentication from identification to address

privacy issues
38

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

2.

Secure Fundamental Protocols

Few of the protocols governing the Internet’s operation have

adequate security. For example, to misdirect traffic to an alternate site,

an attacker can easily fool (or "spoof") protocols such as the Border

Gateway Protocol (BGP) (which controls the paths taken by packets

as they move through the Internet); and services such as the Domain

Name System (DNS) (which controls the destinations of packets).

Such attackers can intercept, monitor, alter, or otherwise manipulate

Internet traffic, often without detection. Secure versions of the basic

protocols that address threats such as denial of service, corruption,

and spoofing, must be developed if the Internet is to become a

reliable medium for communication. Moreover, we need to secure

basic protocols against incapacitating attacks that exploit weaknesses

in the protocols themselves. Research subtopics include:

• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and wireless, Web, and

Virtual Private Network (VPN) security, each of whose

protocols are more complex than basic Internet protocols and

none of which is adequately secured 

• Securing protocols even when they are shared with and

executed by untrusted parties

• Tradeoffs between security and performance

Cyber Security Research Priorities
39

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Cyber Security Research Priorities

3. 

Secure Software Engineering 

and Software Assurance

Commercial software engineering today lacks the scientific

underpinnings and rigorous controls needed to produce high-quality,

secure products at acceptable cost. Commonly used software

engineering practices permit dangerous errors, such as improper

handling of buffer overflows, which enable hundreds of attack

programs to compromise millions of computers every year. In the

future, the Nation may face even more challenging problems as

adversaries – both foreign and domestic – become increasingly

sophisticated in their ability to insert malicious code into critical

software. From avoiding basic programming errors to developing

massive systems that remain secure even if portions of the system

software are compromised, significant new research on secure

software engineering is needed. Research subtopics include:

• Programming languages and systems that include fundamental

security features

• Portable or reusable code that remains secure when deployed

in different environments

• Technologies to capture requirement definitions and design

specifications that address security issues

• Verification and validation technologies to ensure that

documented requirements and specifications have been

implemented

• Models for comparison and metrics to assure that required

standards have been met and to enable evaluation of

alternatives

• Technologies to efficiently and economically verify that

computer code does not contain exploitable features that are

not documented or desired
40

4.

Holistic System Security

Effective security in a complex, many-layered, global infrastructure such as

the Internet and its nodes requires more than the security of its component

parts. Establishing sound methods for authentication, secure protocols for basic

Web operations, and improved software engineering will undoubtedly become

part of an evolving solution to this problem. But most importantly, researchers

must recognize from the outset that an end-to-end architectural approach to the

security of the whole necessarily transcends the security of the individual parts.

For example, customers assume that their online banking transactions,

based on secure socket layer (SSL), are indeed secure. But by spoofing the

associated underlying protocols or end-user software, a malicious party can

make a user’s transaction appear secured by SSL while allowing the theft of

confidential data. It is also possible to compromise the security of the end

computing systems, obtaining the data even though it was secure in transit. 

Software usability itself is a legitimate and important research topic in cyber

security. Incorrectly used software or hostile or confusing user interfaces can

lead to user frustration and unauthorized workarounds that can compromise

even the most robust security schemes. Research is also needed on how to make

large and complex systems, where components can interact in unexpected

ways, secure as a whole. Ultimately, fundamental research should address the

development of entirely new, holistic security architectures including hardware,

operating systems, networks, and applications. Research subtopics include:

• Building secure systems from trusted and untrusted components, and

integrating new systems with legacy components

• Proactively reducing vulnerabilities

• Securing a system that is co-operated and/or co-owned by an adversary

• Comprehensively addressing the growing problem of insider threats

• Modeling and analyzing emergent failures in complex systems

• Human factors engineering, such as interfaces that promote security and

user awareness of its importance

• Supporting privacy in conjunction with improved security

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Cyber Security Research Priorities
41

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.

Monitoring and Detection

Regardless of progress made in the preceding research areas, unanticipated

events will still occur. When they do, tools to monitor and understand what is

happening are needed to enable the proper deployment of appropriate

defensive measures. The ability of current tools that monitor irregular network

activity to rapidly identify the underlying cause is primitive. The current

advantage that adversaries enjoy will increase as they become more

knowledgeable and as the Internet becomes larger and more complex.

Research subtopics include:

• Dynamic protection that can react when attacks are detected, possibly

by increasing monitoring activities

• Global scale monitoring and intrusion detection 

• Monitoring of systems to ensure that they meet declared security

policies

• Better tools based on improved models that characterize "normal"

behavior

• Real-time data collection, storage, mining, and analysis during a crisis

• Usable presentation interfaces that allow operators to better understand

incidents in progress

Cyber Security Research Priorities
42

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

6.

Mitigation and Recovery Methodologies

Secure systems must be designed to rapidly respond to unforeseen

events and attacks, and recover from any resultant damage – a

particularly challenging task in a system as large and complex as the

Internet and its nodes. This issue has been addressed in other systems

of extraordinary complexity such as the space shuttle, where a

substantial investment has been made to build in maximal reliability

and redundancy. No comparable effort has been invested in

developing methods to make the Internet and critical computer

systems reliable in the face of attacks. Research subtopics include:

• Rapid, automated discovery of outages and attacks from

monitoring data

• New systems architectures that enable rapid recovery from

outages and attacks

• Simplifying systems to increase the role of automated

operation to reduce errors and insider attacks by human

operators, especially when updating software and

configurations

• Fault tolerance and graceful degradation

Cyber Security Research Priorities
43

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

7.

Cyber Forensics: Catching Criminals 

and Deterring Criminal Activities

The rapid arrest and conviction of criminals is a primary goal of

law enforcement and also serves as a deterrent. When potential

criminals believe there is a strong chance that they will be caught and

convicted, they are more reluctant to commit crimes.

Current capabilities to investigate cyber crime, identify

perpetrators, gather and present evidence, and convict criminals are

woefully inadequate. Compounding the problem, we do not really

know how to deter cyber crime. Very few of the thousands of cyber

criminals active today are being caught. 

There is a pressing need to develop new tools and techniques to

investigate cyber crimes and prosecute criminals. Robust cyber

forensic methods are also needed that will prove capable of

withstanding the burden of proof in court, whether employed to

prosecute criminals or exonerate the innocent. Research subtopics

include:

• Identifying the origin of cyber attacks, including traceback of

network traffic

• Identifying attackers based on their behavior

• Collecting evidence in uncooperative network environments

• Tracing stolen information used in the growing traffic in

fraud, identity theft, and intellectual property theft, including

tools and protocols for recovering trace evidence from volatile

and incompletely-erased computing media, disks, cell phones,

PDAs, and embedded systems

• Tools and protocols to search massive data stores for specific

information and indicators, possibly while the data stores are

in use

• Fundamental research to develop forensic-friendly system

architectures that are more amenable to investigation when

incidents occur

Cyber Security Research Priorities
44

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

8.

Modeling and Testbeds for New Technologies

One of the barriers to the rapid development of new cyber

security products is the paucity of realistic models and testbeds

available for exercising the latest technologies in a real-world

environment. Some Internet modeling research has been conducted,

but it has been rudimentary and has had little impact in practice.

The problem is challenging because of the Internet’s scale and

complexity. Additionally, existing data on the Internet’s workings are

limited and typically confidential. Some Federal programs have been

established recently, but a significantly larger and more sophisticated

effort is needed if useful models and testbeds are ever to become a

reality. Research subtopics include:

• System simulation environments

• Validating simulations involving millions of nodes 

• Gathering and synthesizing very large amounts of data

• Designing a testbed that preserves the confidentiality of data

Cyber Security Research Priorities
45

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

9.

Metrics, Benchmarks, and Best Practices

Some scientific fields have established universally acknowledged

metrics and benchmarks to help evaluate new technologies or

products. However, there has been relatively little research focused on

developing metrics, benchmarks, and best practices for cyber security.

Where benchmarks or certification criteria exist, they are typically

antiquated, expensive, and even counter-productive to improving

security. Without universally accepted cyber security metrics,

separating promising developments from dead-end approaches will

prove difficult. This, in turn, will significantly increase costs and delay

time to market when transferring such technologies into the product

cycle. Research subtopics include:

• Developing security metrics and benchmarks 

• Economic impact assessment and risk analysis, including

objective measures of risk, risk reduction, and cost of defense

• Automated tools to assess compliance and/or risk

• Tools to assess vulnerability, including source code scanning

• Discovering and documenting best practices, including

auditing procedures and configuration and patch management 

Cyber Security Research Priorities
46

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

10.

Non-Technology Issues 

That Can Compromise Cyber Security

A number of non-technological factors – psychological, societal,

institutional, legal, and economic – can compromise cyber security in

ways that network and software engineering alone cannot address.

Technology deployments that fail to address these factors can aggravate

problems they are intended to solve. Cyber security research that reaches

beyond technology and into these other realms is needed. Research on

human and organizational aspects of IT infrastructures can be used to

explore solutions that factor in human behavior. Research subtopics

include:

• Strategies to change the widely held perception that greater

networked security is not worth the cost to individuals and

corporations – a perception that actively discourages needed

software development in this area

• Ways to enhance the perceived value of privacy protection and

trust in the IT infrastructure, with implications for risk

management and risk analysis

• An examination of how people interact with the IT

infrastructure, with a focus on ethics, culture, behavior, and other

factors that can lead to non-technology security lapses

• Studies of sociological and behavioral phenomena that may lead

people to commit acts of cyber crime

• Consideration of international laws and standards and the impact

of both on cyber security technologies, policies, and

implementation

• The implications of network-enabled commerce including

jurisdictional disputes in the related areas of taxation and

payment resolution, including ways to address these issues in

cyber security and networking software

• National and business security issues that arise in the creation or

transfer of cyber security technologies outside of the United States

Cyber Security Research Priorities
47

Appendix A: Charge to PITAC

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20502

March 2, 2004

Edward D. Lazowska, Ph.D.

Bill and Melinda Gates Chair

in Computer Science

University of Washington

Department of Computer Science

and Engineering

Box 252350

Seattle, WA 98195

Dear Dr. Lazowska:

I would like to take this opportunity both to thank you for your service as

co-chair of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee

(PITAC) and to outline my expectations regarding PITAC’s work on cyber

security. I look forward to PITAC’s engagement in this important issue.

As per Executive Order 13035, as amended, PITAC exists “to provide the

National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), through the Director of

the Office of Science and Technology Policy, with advice and information

on high-performance computing and communications, information

technology, and the Next Generation Internet.” With this role in mind, I

would like PITAC to address the following questions with regard to the

Networking and Information Technology Research and Development

(NITRD) Program, as well as other relevant Federally funded research and

development programs:

1. How well is the Federal government targeting the right cyber

security research areas, and how well has it balanced its priorities

among cyber security research areas? In particular, how well

balanced is Federally funded cyber security research between

shorter-term, lower-risk research and longer-term, higher-risk

research?

CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION
48

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

2. How effective have the Federal government’s cyber security

research programs been in terms of the successful outcomes of the

research and the value of the research results?

3. How useful have the research results proven as measured by

implementation to improve the security of our computing and

networking environments? What modifications to research areas,

development efforts, or technology transfer would improve utility

and encourage broader implementation of cyber security

technologies?

4 How well are current Federal research efforts and supporting

institutions able to anticipate or respond to paradigm shifts or

fundamental shifts in technology that can create unexpected cyber

security challenges?

Based on the findings of the PITAC with regard to these questions, I request

that PITAC present any recommendations you deem appropriate that would

assist us in strengthening the NITRD Program or other cyber security

research programs of the Federal government.

In addressing this charge, I ask that you consider what the roles of the

Federal government in cyber security research should be, given that other

entities are also involved in this field. I also ask that you specifically consider

the balance between Federal research aimed at improving security within the

current computing and network environment and Federal research aimed at

fundamental advances in computing and network architectures that would

improve the intrinsic security of the environment.

I request that PITAC deliver its response to this charge by December 31, 2004.

Sincerely,

John H. Marburger, III

Director

Letter also sent to: Marc R. Benioff
49

CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

Appendix B: Cyber Security Subcommittee

Fact-Finding Process

In addition to drawing upon its own expertise and experience, the Cyber

Security Subcommittee conducted an intensive review of relevant scholarly

literature and trade publications. The Subcommittee also held a series of

meetings during which government leaders and private-sector experts were

invited to provide input. These meetings included the following:

• April 13, 2004 PITAC meeting

• June 17, 2004 PITAC meeting

• July 29, 2004 Cyber Security Research and Development Town Hall

meeting at The Government Security Expo and Conference

(GOVSEC) and Cyber Security Subcommittee meeting

• November 19, 2004 PITAC meeting

• January 12, 2005 PITAC meeting

April 13, 2004 PITAC Meeting

On April 13, 2004, formal presentations by the following invited experts were

given:

• Amit Yoran, Director, National Cyber Security Division, Department

of Homeland Security

• Carl Landwehr, Ph.D., Program Director, National Science Foundation 

• David D. Clark, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Massachusetts

Institute of Technology

• Anthony Tether, Ph.D., Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects

Agency

• Simon Szykman, Ph.D., Director, Cyber Security R&D, Department

of Homeland Security

PITAC members then discussed the issues addressed in the presentations. The

public was then invited to make comments and ask questions. To view or hear

these presentations or to read meeting minutes, please visit:

http://www.itrd.gov/pitac/meetings/2004/20040413/agenda.html
50

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

June 17, 2004 PITAC Meeting

On June 17, 2004, a PITAC meeting was held in Arlington, Virginia, at which

F. Thomson Leighton, Subcommittee Chair, provided an update on the Cyber

Security Subcommittee’s activities and solicited comment from PITAC

members and the public.

July 29, 2004 Town Hall Meeting

On June 29, 2004, the PITAC Cyber Security Subcommittee held a Town

Hall meeting at the Government Security Expo and Conference (GOVSEC)

in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the Town Hall meeting was to solicit

perspectives from the public on the current state of cyber security and the

future measures needed to help ensure U.S. leadership in this area.

Subcommittee Chair Leighton provided an introduction to PITAC and its

Subcommittee on Cyber Security. This presentation can be found at:

http://www.itrd.gov/pitac/meetings/2004/20040729/agenda.html

The Subcommittee presented a list of questions to focus on particular areas of

interest. These questions can be found at:

http://www.itrd.gov/pitac/meetings/2004/20040729/questions.pdf

The initial framing discussions were presented by the following individuals: 

• Harris Miller, President, Information Technology Association of

America

• Joel Birnbaum, Chairman, National Research Council/Computer

Science and Telecommunications Board Committee on Improving

Cybersecurity Research in the United States

July 29, 2004 Cyber Security Subcommittee Meeting

On July 29, 2004, members of the PITAC Cyber Security Subcommittee met

in Arlington, Virginia. Formal presentations were given by the following

experts: 

• Brian Witten, Director for Strategic Technologies, The Sytex Group

• John Pescatore, Vice President of Intelligence and Distinguished

Analyst, Gartner Research

• André van Tilborg, Ph.D., Director, Information Systems, Office of the

Director of Defense Research and Engineering 

• Douglas Maughan, Ph.D., Program Manager, Homeland Security

Advanced Research Projects Agency

• Robert Meushaw, Technical Director, National Security Agency 
51

CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

• Richard Brackney, Thrust Manager, Advanced Research and

Development Activity 

• Edward Roback, Chief, Computer Security Division, National Institute

of Standards and Technology 

• Martin Novak, Program Manager, National Institute of Justice 

• John Morgan, Ph.D., Assistant Director, National Institute of Justice

November 19, 2004 PITAC Meeting

On November 19, 2004, Subcommittee Chair Leighton presented the draft

findings and recommendations at a PITAC meeting in Washington, D.C.

PITAC members provided guidance and specific inputs to the Subcommittee

for use in drafting the report. Members of the public also provided comments.

The Leighton presentation can be found at:

http://www.itrd.gov/pitac/meetings/2004/20041119/agenda.html

January 12, 2005 PITAC Meeting

On January 12, 2005, Subcommittee Chair Leighton presented the draft

report at a PITAC meeting in Arlington, Virginia. After receiving public

comments, the PITAC discussed the draft report and approved it for

publication. The Leighton presentation can be found on the PITAC Web site:

http://www.itrd.gov/pitac/meetings/2005/20050112/agenda.html

Agency Information

A number of agencies provided written information about their cyber security

R&D investments in response to a formal request from PITAC. Senior

officials from several agencies participated in teleconferences with PITAC and

Subcommittee leadership to provide further insight into agency policies and

practices. The Committee also conducted a detailed review of some 1,500

Federally funded projects related to cyber security R&D in an effort to inform

the development of its findings and recommendations.

Additional Comments

In addition, the PITAC studied written input and comments contributed by

concerned individuals and organizations. The PITAC took this input under

consideration in the process of drafting and revising this report.
52

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Internet Architecture Board (IAB) Concerns and Recommendations Regarding

Internet Research and Evolution. Request for Comments (RFC) 3869.

ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc3869.txt August 2004.

NIAP Certification: Proposals by CSIA for Strengthening Security

Certification. https://www.csialliance.org/news/press/pr080504.pdf July 2004.

Law Enforcement Tools and Technologies for Investigating Cyber Attacks: 

A National Research and Development Agenda. Institute for Security

Technology Studies, Dartmouth College.

http://www.ists.dartmouth.edu/TAG/randd.htm June 2004.

Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Protection. Technology Assessment,

GAO-04-321. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-321 and

http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04321high.pdf May 2004.

Accelerating Trustworthy Internetworking Workshop – Conference Report.

Atlanta, Georgia. 

http://gtisc.gatech.edu/ati2004/ATI_Report_FINAL_4-25-04.pdf April 2004.

Best Practices for Government to Enhance the Security of National Critical

Infrastructures. National Infrastructure Advisory Council. 

http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/

NIAC_BestPracticesSecurityInfrastructures_0404.pdf April 2004.

Information Security Governance: A Call to Action. Corporate Governance

Task Force. http://www.cyberpartnership.org/InfoSecGov4_04.pdf April 2004.

Department of Defense Software Assurance Initiative. Appendix G: Software

Assurance Research and Development. 2004.

Grand Research Challenges in Information Security and Assurance.

Computing Research Association.

http://www.cra.org/Activities/grand.challenges/security/grayslides.pdf

November 2003.

Security at Line Speed: Report of a Workshop. Chicago, Illinois.

http://apps.internet2.edu/sals/files/20031108-wr-sals-v1.1.pdf

November 2003.

Appendix C: Selected Major Reports on

Cyber Security Research and Development
53

CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

Biometric Research Agenda: Report of the NSF Workshop. Morgantown,

West Virginia. http://www.wvu.edu/~bknc/BiometricResearchAgenda.pdf

April/May 2003.

National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, Research and

Development Exchange Workshop. Atlanta, Georgia.

http://www.ncs.gov/nstac/rd/nstac_03_bos.html March 2003.

Workshop on Scalable Cyber-Security Challenges in Large-Scale Networks:

Deployment Obstacles. Large Scale Networking Coordinating Group,

NITRD. Landsdowne, Virginia. http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/jf/LSNreport.pdf March 2003.

National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. The White House.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/ February 2003.

Cyber Security Research and Development Agenda. I3P, Dartmouth College.

http://www.thei3p.org/documents/2003_Cyber_Security_RD_Agenda.pdf

January 2003.

Critical Information Infrastructure Protection and the Law: An Overview of

Key Issues. Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National

Research Council. http://www.cstb.org/pub_ciip.html 2003.

Information Technology for Counterterrorism. Computer Science and

Telecommunications Board, National Research Council.

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cstb/pub_counterterrorism.html 2003.

The Internet Under Crisis Conditions: Learning from September 11.

Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research

Council. http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cstb/pub_internet911.html 2003

Who Goes There? Authentication Through the Lens of Privacy. Computer

Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council.

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cstb/pub_authentication.html 2003.

IDs-Not That Easy. Questions About Nationwide Identity Systems. Computer

Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council.

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cstb/pub_nationwideidentity.html 2002.

Robust Cyber Defense. Study commissioned for DARPA ITO. Slides available

at: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/fbs/darpa.RobustCyberDefense.ppt Fall 2001.

Electronic Crime Needs Assessment for State and Local Law Enforcement.

National Institute of Justice Research Report.

http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/186276.pdf March 2001.
54

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

High Confidence Software and Systems Research Needs. High Confidence

Software and Systems Coordinating Group, Interagency Working Group on

Information Technology Research and Development.

http://www.nitrd.gov/pubs/hcss-research.pdf January 2001.

Embedded, Everywhere: A Research Agenda for Networked Systems of

Embedded Computers. Computer Science and Telecommunications Board,

National Research Council.

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cstb/pub_embedded.html 2001.

National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, Research and

Development Exchange Workshop. Tulsa, Oklahoma.

http://www.ncs.gov/nstac/reports/2001/ R&D_Exchange2000Proceedings.htm

September 2000.

National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, Protecting

Systems Task Force Report on Enhancing the Nation’s Security Efforts.

http://www.ncs.gov/nstac/reports/2001/R&D_Exchange2000Proceedings.htm

May 2000.

National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, Information

Sharing/Critical Infrastructure Protection Task Force Report.

http://www.ncs.gov/nstac/reports/2001/R&D_Exchange2000Proceedings.htm

May 2000.

Hard Problems List. Infosec Research Council. September 1999 (and draft

revision as of September 2004)

Information Technology Research for Crisis Management. Computer Science

and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council.

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cstb/pub_crisismanagement.html 1999.

Trust in Cyberspace. Computer Science and Telecommunications Board,

National Research Council. 

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cstb/pub trust.html 1999.

National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, Research and

Development Exchange Workshop. West Lafayette, Indiana.

http://www.ncs.gov/nstac/reports/1998/R&DExchange.pdf October 1998

Critical Foundations: Protecting America’s Infrastructures. President’s

Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection.

http://www.timeusa.com/CIAO/resource/pccip/PCCIP_Report.pdf

October 1997.
55

CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

Appendix D: Acronyms

ARDA

Advanced Research and

Development Activity

ARPANET

Advanced Research Projects

Agency Network

ATM

Automated teller machine

BGP

Border Gateway Protocol

BSD

Berkeley Software Distribution

CDMA

Code Division Multiple Access

CERN

European Organization for

Nuclear Research

CERT/CC

Computer Emergency Response

Team Coordination Center

CIIP

Critical Information

Infrastructure Protection

CISE

NSF’s Computer and Information

Science and Engineering

Directorate

CM

Connection Machine

CMU

Carnegie Mellon University

COTS

Commercial off-the-shelf

CTSS

Compatible Time Sharing System

DARPA

Defense Advanced Research

Projects Agency

DDoS

Distributed denial of service 

DEC

Digital Equipment Corporation

DECnet

Digital Equipment Corporation

network

DHS

Department of Homeland

Security

DNS

Domain Name System

DOE

Department of Energy

DOJ

Department of Justice

DoS

Denial of service

E&S

Evans and Sutherland

FY

Fiscal year

GAO

Government Accountability

Office

GIG

Global Information Grid
56

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

GM

General Motors

HP

Hewlett-Packard

HPC

High Performance Computing

IBM

International Business Machines

ICL

ICL High Performance Systems,

U.K.

IRC

Infosec Research Council

IRI

Information Resources

Incorporated, U.K.

IT

Information technology

IT R&D

Information Technology Research

and Development

IWG

Interagency Working Group

LAN

Local area network

MIT

Massachusetts Institute of

Technology

MOSIS

Metal oxide semiconductor

implementation service

NIJ

National Institute of Justice

NIPRNet

Non-secure Internet Protocol

Router Network

NIST

National Institute of Standards

and Technology

NITRD

Networking and Information

Technology Research and

Development

NSA

National Security Agency

NSF

National Science Foundation

NSFNET

National Science Foundation

Network

NSTC

National Science and Technology

Council

PARC

Palo Alto Research Center

PDA

Personal digital assistant

PITAC

President’s Information

Technology Advisory Committee

R&D

Research and development

RAID

Redundant array of independent

disks

RISC

Reduced instruction set computer

SBIR

Small Business Innovation

Research

SBTT

Small Business Technology

Transfer
57

CYBER SECURITY: A CRISIS OF PRIORITIZATION

SCADA

Supervisory control and data

acquisition

SDS

Scientific Data Systems

SGI

Silicon Graphics Incorporated

SRI

Stanford Research Institute

SSL

Secure Socket Layer

TCP/IP

Transmission Control

Protocol/Internet Protocol

UCLA

University of California at Los

Angeles

VLSI

Very-large-scale integration

VMS

Virtual Memory System

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol

VPN

Virtual Private Network
58

PRESIDENT’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Acknowledgements

The PITAC co-chairs would like to acknowledge the members of the

Committee’s Subcommittee on Cyber Security for their contributions. 

In particular, Subcommittee Chair F. Thomson Leighton deserves special

recognition for his strong leadership and tireless efforts in bringing this report

to completion.

The PITAC thanks the staff of the National Coordination Office for

Information Technology Research and Development for their contributions in

supporting and documenting meetings; drafting sections of this report;

critiquing, editing, and proofreading the numerous drafts; and contributing to

the substantive dialogue that led to this final report. Staff members Alan S.

Inouye, Martha Matzke, and Terry L. Ponick provided primary support in the

development of this report, under the guidance and oversight of David B.

Nelson and Sally E. Howe. Staff members Nekeia Bell, Elizabeth Kirk, Grant

Miller, Virginia Moore, Karen Skeete, and Diane Theiss provided technical

and administrative support for the Subcommittee’s work. 

NCO interns Nils Janson and Stephanie Showell contributed to the

Subcommittee’s research effort as part of their NSF-supported undergraduate

internships in the Federal Cyber Corps. The Corps is part of the Federal

Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service program, which seeks to increase the

number of qualified students entering the fields of information assurance and

computer security.

The PITAC appreciates the technical information and thoughtful advice

provided by Sharon L. Hays and Charles H. Romine of the Office of Science

and Technology Policy. Their inputs stimulated Subcommittee discussions and

led to improvements in the text.

Finally, the PITAC acknowledges Wade H. Baker, James Caras, Paul

Robertson, and John Voeller for their specialized technical support of the

Subcommittee’s work.
Ordering Copies of PITAC Reports

This report is published by the National Coordination Office for Information

Technology Research and Development. To request additional copies or copies of

other PITAC reports, please contact:

National Coordination Office

for Information Technology Research and Development

4201 Wilson Blvd., Suite II-405

Arlington, Virginia 22230

(703) 292-4873

Fax: (703) 292-9097

Email: nco@nitrd.gov

PITAC documents are also available on the NCO Web site:

http://www.nitrd.gov