As a new year begins, people are increasingly dependent on digital technology, and cyber security becomes increasingly important as well.
Social security and personal privacy will be growing issues for the next few decades, said Amit Sahai, associate director of the UCLA Center for Information and Computation Security.
Hackers are becoming more sophisticated and educated about how security systems function and are able to manipulate systems that rely on people’s trust, Sahai said.
The Center for Information and Computation Security is stepping up to tackle threats to cyber security. UCLA and MIT are currently at the forefront of cyber-security research, said Rafail Ostrovsky, the center’s director and professor of computer science and mathematics.
Jens Palsberg, professor of computer science at UCLA, predicted that the new year will have “more big-headline cases of cyber terrorism, both against countries and against multinational companies,” Palsberg said.
“More and more, people will wonder whether the increasing computerization of health care will make their most personal data be one cyber-attack away from falling into the wrong hands. Pundits will call for the Obama administration to prepare the nation better for cyber-attacks,” he added.
Sahai said there has been considerable and revolutionary progress in research that has occurred in the past decade.
“There’s still a lot to be done, but there have been some really nice breakthroughs,” he said.
Cyber-security research is focused on cryptography, the basic science of hiding information. The underlying mathematics concepts are essential for security programs to function.
Cryptography helps protect important private information such as passwords, social security numbers, credit card numbers, and records of patient health, driving and employment data.
The center is developing new protective technologies which include functional encryption, biomedic-based encryptions, reliable routing of the Internet and protection of medical records.
“We’re developing new technology where you can manipulate patients’ data without invading patients’ privacy, which is a big concern in the medical community,” Ostrovsky said.
Sahai said functional encryption involves a sophisticated system in which multiple keys give access to certain data, allowing different levels of access to different people.
However, Sahai said, before major problems can be fixed, there needs to be more collaboration.
“There are just delays that are taking place in adopting the right technologies (but) when everyone gets together and agrees to do it, you can have a really major impact on the day-to-day security people have,” Sahai said.
Artificial intelligence research will also influence cyber security.
While artificial intelligence is a broad field, its most useful aspect for cyber security involves “machine learning,” when a program can “automatically recognize objects or patterns” Sahai said.
“In A.I., traditionally these programs are usually trying to understand handwriting, or speech, or seen objects like people or facial expressions. But in cyber security, some of the same ideas and algorithms can be used to identify viruses or spyware.”
Ostrovsky said UCLA will continue to defend against sophisticated attacks by taking stronger security measures.
“What the (public) can do is just use common sense. Don’t reply to phishing attacks; don’t give freely your password,” Ostrovsky said.
Phishing is a process in which hackers disguise themselves as businesses in online communication to acquire victims’ private information.
Despite ongoing concerns in the cyber world, cyber-security research keeps advancing as the new year unfolds. Ostrovsky expressed excitement for the center and its accomplishments.
“It’s very exciting that UCLA is building a very strong security standard,” Ostrovsky added.