Research
Secure and Reliable Software Systems
The Secure and Reliable Software Systems cluster develops tools and techniques for ensuring that software systems satisfy security and/or reliability properties. Security properties include that the system cannot be compromised (integrity) and that it will not divulge information except to authorized parties (privacy). Reliability properties include that it computes the right answers (correctness) and continues to function in the presence of erroneous input or hardware failures (robustness). As more and more of our daily lives become affected by software (the cars we drive, the planes we fly, the machines that dispense anesthetics---they all contain computer software), it becomes essential that we can establish methods for constructing systems that are secure and reliable. Advances in this cluster can thus have a profound impact on society.
Faculty
Gregory Andrews
Christian Collberg
Saumya Debray
John Hartman
John Kececioglu
Richard Snodgrass
Projects
Liquid Software: Building Networked Systems
Sandmark: Software
Watermarking
TAU: Management of Time-Oriented Data
Extended Description
This cluster develops tools and techniques for ensuring that software systems satisfy security and/or reliability properties. Security properties include that the system cannot be compromised (integrity) and that it will not divulge information except to authorized parties (privacy). Reliability properties include that it computes the right answers (correctness) and continues to function in the presence of erroneous input or hardware failures (robustness).
As more and more of our daily lives become affected by software (the cars we drive, the planes we fly, the machines that dispense anesthetics—they all contain computer software), it becomes essential that we can establish methods for constructing systems that are secure and reliable. Advances in this cluster can thus have a profound impact on society. Software is increasingly used in mission-critical systems such as avionics and medical instrumentation, and improvements in software testing and debugging techniques can increase our confidence in such systems. Computers connected to the Internet are constantly under attack from malware (viruses, trojans, and worms) causing enormous financial damage. The goal of computer security research is to build operating systems and network infrastructure to mitigate such attacks. Cryptography and steganography are concerned with secret communication. Techniques developed within these areas are essential for the proper functioning of the Internet, reliable electronic commerce, secure electronic voting, and protecting the privacy of individuals in the age of pervasive electronic communication.