Dartmouth's Security Think Tank

By Jon Udell

January 7, 2002

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A Visit to the Institute for Security Technology Studies

A few months ago I learned that my home state of New Hampshire boasts a national center for cyber-terrorism research: the Institute for Security Technology Studies at Dartmouth College. Last week I visited the ISTS to learn about its mission and research agenda. Founded two years ago, and primarily supported by the National Institute of Justice, the ISTS is chartered to:

• Understand risks to information infrastructure.

• Assess law enforcement needs.

• Create better tools and training for intrusion detection and response.

• Develop technology that addresses mid- to long-term threats.

• Collaborate with counter-terrorism and cyber-security researchers nationwide.

• Provide public education on infrastructure risk and protection.

In the eyes of the general public, the urgency of the ISTS's mission was thrown into sharp relief on September 11. Soon after, on the 22nd, it published Cyber Attacks During the War on Terrorism: A Predictive Analysis. In that report, Michael Vatis—who is the director of the ISTS, and was founder and director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center—noted that there is a strong correlation between political conflict and cyber attacks. When a U.S. surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet in April 2001, for example, "conflict between the two major powers was accompanied by an online campaign of mutual cyber attacks and website defacements, with both sides receiving significant support from hackers around the globe." Four days later, in testimony to the House Committee on Government Reform, Vatis warned that "information systems associated with critical infrastructures (such as banking and financial institutions, voice communications systems, electrical power supplies, water resources, and oil and gas delivery systems) must be considered a likely target for terrorists, nation-states, and anti-U.S

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