SMU Wins Cybersecurity Grant to Set Up Secure Mobile Centre

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean announcing at the National Security Seminar on 15 Oct 2014 the projects that were selected under the National Cybersecurity R&D Programme to develop research expertise and capabilities in cybersecurity for Singapore. SMU Secure Mobile Centre was among the seven awarded research projects.

(From left) Mr William Lau, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Research) of DSO National Laboratories, Mr George Loh, Director of Physical Sciences and Engineering at NRF, and Mr Victor Ho, Deputy Director of Strategic Plans and Resource at National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS) chairing the media briefing following the announcement made by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Photo Credit: National Research Foundation
 

SMU established the Secure Mobile Centre (SMC) on 15 October 2014 following an announcement by the National Research Foundation (NRF) on awarded projects under the National Cybersecurity R&D inaugural grant call for proposals. The Centre was among seven research projects totalling S$42 million in funding selected by the NRF to develop research expertise and capabilities in cybersecurity for Singapore.

Aimed at developing efficient and scalable technologies and solutions that strengthen the security of mobile computing systems, applications and services, the SMC is led by a team of five faculty members from SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) who specialise in information security and trust:  Professor Robert Deng (Centre Director), Professor Pang Hwee Hwa, Associate Professor Li Yingjiu, Associate Professor Ding Xuhua and Assistant Professor Gao Debin.

Through the new Centre, they will conduct R&D projects that target three key aspects of mobile computing – 1) mobility, 2) connectivity, and 3) extensibility. Primary research areas include: analysis, detection and containment of malware (malicious software), development of scalable access control of encrypted data in untrusted servers (such as cloud data storage), and creation of secure and usable authentication systems.

Funded under the National Cybersecurity R&D Programme, the Centre is partnering with leading infocomm firms such as ST Electronics (Info-Security) Pte Ltd, Gemalto Pte Ltd, StarHub, and McAfee Singapore which is part of Intel Security, to conduct and trial the R&D projects. It is also collaborating with Singapore government agencies such as the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA), and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to bridge research outcomes with practical needs. In addition, SMU will work with INTERPOL to jointly develop knowledge and expertise in secure mobile computing.

“Information security has become a paramount concern in today’s digital age. As mobile computing evolves rapidly, both emerging opportunities and risks leave much room for exploration by security experts and exploitation by hackers,” said Professor Robert Deng, SMC Director and SIS Associate Dean of Faculty.

Professor Steven Miller, SMU Vice Provost (Research) and SIS Dean added, “Not only do mobile devices and applications present a unique set of risks for individual's privacy, but also new security challenges to enterprise information systems. The purpose of SMU’s Secure Mobile Centre is to address these security needs with the aim of making Singapore a more sustainable, secure, robust and resilient nation.”

The National Cybersecurity R&D inaugural grant call was launched on 7 March 2014. Grant call proposals were guided by research themes in the areas of cybersecurity, namely scalable trustworthy systems; resilient systems; effective situation awareness and attack attribution; combating insider threats; threats detection, analysis and defence; and cyberspace governance and policy research.

The grant call closed on 2 May 2014 with more than 20 proposals received from local Institutes of Higher Learning and Research Institutes. The NRF worked closely with the NSCS, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Defence, IDA and Economic Development Board in the evaluation and selection of these research projects. All submitted proposals were evaluated by a panel of experts in the cybersecurity domain as well as representatives from government affiliated agencies.

Back to Research@SMU Issue 19 (Oct 2014)