Backgrounder

February 8, 2008

DEVELOPING SECURITY SOLUTIONS FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS

Today’s announcement represents part of the second round of funding under the Ontario Research Fund’s Research Excellence program. In this round, the government is investing $19,505,964 to support four world-class projects at the University of Waterloo. Funding will be matched by approximately 40 industry and other partners participating in the projects.

Security and Mobility over the Global Information Transport Platform

Developing security systems for multiple communications networks

Lead researcher: Dr. Xuemin (Sherman) Shen
Total project cost: $8,731,500
Provincial funding: $2,910,500

Waterloo researchers will develop new solutions for distributing massive amounts of information over networks in a way that guarantees security without compromising flexibility and usability.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo will join partner researchers at the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University and McMaster University to investigate and develop new technologies and work with industry partners to commercialize their technologies in the marketplace. 

The result of this project will be made-in-Ontario high-tech security features that can be marketed around the world — boosting the province’s economy while tackling network privacy concerns.

Key private sector partners:
Bell Canada, RIM

Key Facts:

• The term global information transport platform (GiTP) comprises multiple wired and wireless communication networks such as the Internet, cellular networks, wireless networks, vehicle networks, etc., over which a massive amount of information is distributed everyday.
• Ensuring security across multiple networks at a low cost is essential. 
• However, with the widespread use of various networks to transmit sensitive data, such as financial and business transactions, security is very challenging.

• Data can be vulnerable to malicious attacks at any point where it is transported, and security breaches can lead to a significant financial loss and a lack of user confidence in the technology. 
• As the security of a system is only as strong as its weakest link, it is imperative that an adequate level of security is ensured everywhere the information is being transported.
• The global market for security systems like this was $57.6 billion in 2006, and is expected to reach $105.7 billion by 2010. (Source CSO Metrics).

Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence Program

This second round of funding under the Research Excellence program will invest  $114,709,614 to support 19 world-class projects at nine Ontario universities, institutes and hospitals. Funding will be matched by 107 major industry and other partners participating in the projects.

For more information about the Ontario Research Fund, please visit www.ontario.ca/innovation.

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