If Steven Goldsmith of Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque gets his way, one day every computer on the Internet will be part of a massive, cooperative security force. The agents watch the network, looking for irregularities such as those produced by intruders gently probing security defenses over a long period of time. Upon detecting abnormal activity, the agents can swing into action by closing data ports, rejecting viruses or cutting a computer commandeered by a malicious insider off from the network. In addition, the agents can share information and form a consensus about the nature of an irregularity. The Linux-based system will be ready for use in government and businesses next year, with consumer versions available in three years.
Help is in sight.
Michael Zoltowski, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University, combines a pair of antennas with an advanced signal-processing algorithm to create a smart wireless receiver that rejects interference. The result, Zoltowski says, could be as much as a hundredfold increase in reception accuracy. Texas Instruments, which partially funded the research, is testing a two-antenna phone and hopes to incorporate Zoltowski's algorithm into cellular systems within five years. Robot Lumberjack Furniture built from rainforest hardwoods like teak or mahogany has become a mark of environmental insensitivity. But if lumber companies harvested the perfectly preserved trees left under water by dam construction, they could increase the supply of such woods without endangering tropical habitats.