U.S.
Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that
the Department of Defense appropriations bill includes $5 million for
ITT Advanced Engineering and Sciences in a partnership with Clarkson
University to expand their involvement in cybersecurity research.
“With
more and more people around the world using computers to try to
infiltrate American computer systems, the threat of a cyber attack has
become more real,” said Schumer. “This project would make significant
strides toward enhancing our country’s cybersecurity and keep our
computer networks at places like the Pentagon, and companies that help
maintain our infrastructure, secure.”
“Cybersecurity
is a top priority for our national security,” Senator Gillibrand said.
“These federal dollars will help Clarkson University develop the
technologies we need to protect our networks, our infrastructure and
families across America. I will continue working with Senator Schumer
to make sure New York gets its fair share from the federal government.”
ITT
and Clarkson University will use its funding to finance a project that
would conceptualize and demonstrate the technologies needed to
coordinate, plan, and execute active defensive cyber campaigns. The
plan will determine the effects associated with an offensive cyber
weapon and monitor and evaluate events that occur in cyberspace. The
goal of the project is to ultimately achieve situational awareness of
cyberspace and achieve dominance within that critical realm.
Today,
the Appropriations Bill for the Department of Defense passed the full
committee. The legislation will head to the floor for a full vote
before the Senate. The bill will then proceed to the House-Senate
Conference Committee, before final passage in both chambers, and sent
to the President to become law.