Dalhousie launches privacy and security lab

John Schwartz, President of Symantec, the world's number one computer security company, attends a workshop offered for the launch of the Dalhousie University Privacy and Security Lab. (Lowther Photo)

North America's leading authorities on IT security and privacy issues are gathering at Dalhousie University in Halifax today to celebrate the launch of the university's unique, multi-disciplinary Privacy and Security Lab (PSL).

The lab will draw on the breadth of academic expertise at Dalhousie to help secure the electronic assets of industries, governments, and individuals through research, education and public policy advocacy.  Symantec, the world's leading IT security company, is the PSL's primary private sector sponsor.

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"The internet has grown so rapidly in recent years that it has become increasingly difficult to describe or understand its overall operation," says Dr. John McHugh, who joins Dalhousie's Faculty of Computer Science to direct the PSL. "The new Lab will tackle this challenge head on." The scope of the Lab will take in a number of faculties and departments at the university, including law, medicine, management, public affairs and the social sciences.

In his preliminary research plan for the new lab, Dr. McHugh noted that the revolution in personal computers roared through two-and-a-half decades with minimal concern for security. Today, the gap between capacity and security is as wide as ever, with "the rapidly growing interconnection of insecure (and unsecurable) individual processors ... over an essentially unmanaged interconnect that we now know as the internet," he writes.

Today's one-day workshop at Dalhousie will focus on education, research and public policy, with keynote addresses by national and international experts, followed by panel-led open forums.

The education keynote will be delivered by Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America. The policy keynote will feature David Flaherty, a leading privacy consultant, government advisor and British Columbia's first Privacy Commissioner.  Michael Binder, Assistant Deputy Minister, Industry Canada for Information Technologies and the Telecommunications Sector, will deliver the research keynote.

John Schwarz, President and COO of Symantec, commented on how rewarding the experience of building the PSL was from his perspective as the primary sponsor. "It is so exciting to see how an idea is developed and incubated and ultimately grows into something that is alive and living today," said Mr. Schwarz, during Thursday's celebratory luncheon.

"The lab is launched - from here we now need to create bridges to include all of you and your successes as we grow this wonderful new lab," said Dr. Sam Scully, Dalhousie's Vice President, Academic.

Dr. John McHugh, the Lab's new director, adds: "This lab will demonstrate all the knowledge and skills we have to offer to address this challenge. I hope we can grow this thing to become a major influence."