UConn will partner with cable giant Comcast on a new center to study cyber security.
The university is already home to a center of excellence on hardware security. Now researchers at that facility will work with engineers from Comcast, who have expertise in Internet systems security.
"UConn right now is the national leader in hardware security in the world," said KazemKazerounian, Dean of Uconn's School of Engineering.
The aim will be to develop systems to detect malicious cyber attacks, and develop new standards for hardware components to make them more able withstand unauthorized access. This is, in effect, an extension of an already-existing partnership between Comcast at the university. The cable company was already a sponsor of UConn's existing efforts in hardware security.
Kazerounian said it's a dynamic field. "It is basically a race between the bad guys and the good guys," he said. "Our faculty, our students, and our researchers need to be thinking very fast and very intensely about what is it that the bad guys are now planning and are thinking."
The center will be located on the Storrs campus, and students and faculty will also travel to Comcast's Philadelphia headquarters to collaborate.