Planning IUCRC Indiana University: Center for High-Assurance Secure Systems and IoT (CHASSI)

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

The IUCRC planning project will establish the feasibility of a multi-site Center for High-Assurance Secure Systems and Internet-of-Things (CHASSI) that will focus on areas where both security and high assurance are necessary to support operations of high mission criticality, due to safety or economic impact. Examples include medical devices, manufacturing, the energy grid, real-time financial markets, construction, and defense. Combining security and high-assurance is a difficult question, and by intentionally combining them and the collective expertise of Center members will lead to new models, techniques, designs, architectures, and systems that will be applicable across of range of important U.S. industries. CHASSI has five sites: Indiana University, University of Kansas, University of Minnesota, Syracuse University, and Case Western Reserve University. CHASSI research falls into four main thrusts: (1) Architectures, design and formal modeling for systems-level security, privacy, stability, and performance; (2) Secure communication, sensing, and devices; (3) Scalable trust; and (4) Human behavior in privacy and security. IU strengths include the internet of things in home environments (IoT), machine learning in security, applied system security, and interdisciplinary studies. Complementary expertise at the other sites includes cyber-physical systems and systems security, formal modeling, assurance of medical devices, industrial IoT, and human factors. The broader impacts are 1) the interaction between industry and researchers; 2) mentoring of students; 3) inclusive outreach; and 4) inclusion of rarely studied populations. Industry will obtain access to cutting edge research, while researchers will improve diffusion and adoption of innovations. The collaboration between the university and industry also enhance education, offering students real-world data and experiences. Researchers at IU have a tradition of working with under-represented populations in research: older adults, vulnerable populations, and diverse communities. Outreach will include under-represented populations such as retirees, mentoring will include under-represented groups, and educational activities will be created for k-12 educators. The collaborators from this multi-university-industry Center will host a single Center-wide repository at: https://chassi.ku.edu. This shared repository will include meeting materials, program information, publications, etc., and will be made available for a minimum of 5 years after conclusion of the award or until the Center transitions to the next phase. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.