University of Illinois and Argus Systems Group Launch Information Assurance Center of Excellence.

Business/Technology Editors

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2002

Center for Advanced Research in Information Security

(CARIS) to Focus on Emerging Security Technologies

The College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Argus Systems Group, Inc., a global leader in secure application technologies, announced today that they have jointly launched the Center for Advanced Research in Information Security (CARIS). The Center will be located in the Department of Computer Science, which was designated by the U.S. National Security Agency as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance and will focus its research on next generation infrastructure security technologies. Through its research findings, CARIS hopes to increase university and community awareness of information security issues, and will strive to influence appropriate and effective public policy in the area of information assurance.

The goals of CARIS are of particular relevance in today's climate of frequent virus and worm outbreaks, threats of cyber-terrorism and increasingly complex and costly security architectures. The Center aims to establish itself as a leader in new approaches to securing critical computing architectures for government and commercial networks. CARIS will challenge current assumptions about security architectures and methodologies and establish new areas of research related to integrated security technologies.

CARIS will initially focus its research efforts on operating system security mechanisms and technologies, including existing mechanisms in standard commercial operating systems, and third-party technologies designed to enhance the security within operating systems. CARIS also plans to research and develop wireless security technologies and products relating to PKI and Smart Card systems.

A multi-disciplinary approach will allow CARIS to perform studies related to the use of security technologies. New areas of thought in legal, educational, medical and other issues and liability concerns surrounding the protection of electronic assets will be explored in conjunction with research into solutions designed to reduce legal risk. Other industrial and academic partners are expected to join CARIS, over time, thus fostering a broad research effort in security technologies and promoting their quick adoption by industry.

"The University of Illinois College of Engineering is one of the most respected engineering schools in the nation," said Paul McNabb, chief technology officer of Argus Systems Group, Inc. and deputy director of CARIS. "The skills and know-how of its engineering faculty and student body are extremely valuable in creating this center of excellence. The ability to combine those skills with the intellectual assets of the University's other academic departments will prove to be a distinct advantage in studying the various aspects of security."

"Argus Systems Group is globally recognized for its rare expertise in the design, deployment and support of commercially viable, high-assurance information security products," said Roy Campbell, computer science professor and director of CARIS. "We are thrilled to be collaborating with them on this exciting project and look forward to combining our world-class research capabilities with Argus' exceptional expertise in the real-world market adaptation of next-generation technologies."

About the University of Illinois College of Engineering

Currently ranked 4th in the nation, the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has had a profound influence on the practice of engineering and computer science worldwide. Among the many accomplishments of its faculty and alumni are sound-on-film technology, residential air-conditioning, the transistor, modern antennas, the light-emitting diode, the betatron, the theory of superconductivity, the plasma screen, the integrated circuit, and such software as Lotus Notes, NCSA Telnet, and Mosaic, the World Wide Web's first browser.

About Argus Systems Group, Inc.

Argus Systems Group, Inc. protects vital applications by locking down the invaluable intellectual property stored on Web servers, e-mail servers and corporate databases. Argus' PitBull software is the only independently-certified, trusted e-business platform available for applications running on the world's most popular operating systems, including Sun Solaris (SPARC and Intel), IBM AIX and Linux. PitBull was the focus of eWeek Magazine's recent Open Hack III contest where it withstood more than 5.4 million hack attempts without a single penetration. PitBull LX was chosen Best Security Solution by the German ASP Konsortium and was awarded the eWeek eXcellence Award as Best Intrusion Defense and Response product of 2001.

PitBull is a registered trademark of Argus Systems Group, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries.