Cyber security: a crisis of prioritization

Original publisher: Arlington, Va. : National Coordination Office for Information Technology Research and Development, [2005] OCLC Number: (OCoLC)58794214 Subject: Computer security -- United States. Excerpt: ... 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. The Cyber Security Fundamental Research Community Issue 2: 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 re...