In an effort to research and develop new and innovative cybersecurity solutions, Raytheon (
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As cybersecurity continues to be one of the major national security problems facing the United States, President Obama has made protecting the country’s digital infrastructure a top priority for his administration.
"It is impossible to defend against every conceivable threat without the great innovations of academia," said Dr. J. Smart, chief technology director for Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Systems business, in a Wednesday statement.
"By partnering with The University of Texas at Austin , Raytheon will tap into some of the best and brightest minds to help design security capabilities for business and government customers and develop new technologies to protect against high-target threats."
Raytheon will provide funding during the next 10 years for CIAS faculty working on computer security and information assurance projects.
Work on problems such as climate change, cancer and disease, genetics and DNA, safer and more fuel-efficient cars, robotics and national defense are all underway.
"Protecting our nation's computing systems that control critical cyber infrastructure is crucial," said Dr. Fred Chang , lead investigator and director of the CIAS, in the Wednesday statement.
"The partnership with Raytheon will allow us to expand our capabilities to address the rapidly changing problems in cybersecurity with a great deal of agility and flexibility."
With more than 30 years’ experience in cybersecurity, Raytheon offers solutions that can safeguard mission-critical systems against a wide range of internal and external threats.
The company can also deliver information operations and assurance that include anything from vulnerability assessments to information assurance, monitoring and traffic analysis to information operations. Raytheon’s end-to-end offensive and defensive solutions constantly monitor and protect against breach, fraud, theft and sabotage.
With sales of $23.2 billion in 2008, Raytheon Company is a technology and innovation specialist in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. The company provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services.
As citizens and government organizations throughout the world continue to rely more and more on electronic systems to hold information, conduct business, communicate, exchange commercial information, complete banking transactions and more, the need for cybersecurity solutions continues to grow.
Even as industry experts focus time, energy and expertise on keeping systems safe, the opposition is spending just as much time, money and knowledge resources to develop new ways to crack through systems and firewalls. This continues to drive the demand for focused research and development into solutions that stay one step ahead of the hackers.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Stefania Viscusi
