Published on July 26, 2024
Reported by Emerson Drewes for the Seattle Times
The University of Washington will receive a $50 million investment over five years from the United States National Science Foundation to establish a national center for research security.
Universities, including those in Washington, have been victims of cyberattacks and hacks in attempts to access, download, alter or delete research files.
The U.S. continues to struggle with cybersecurity when it comes to protecting sensitive information, research and intellectual property from foreign entities, specifically from the Chinese government. In April, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the Chinese Communist Party remains a critical threat to U.S. cyber infrastructure.
UW was targeted by China’s Ministry of State Security hackers, who attempted to gain access to its applied physics program that was involved in maritime research and development, according to unsealed criminal documents from 2019. The hackers employed sophisticated techniques and phishing campaigns over several years.
“U. S. scientific research is the envy of the world, and we know highly skilled foreign attackers are deploying extremely sophisticated hacks to steal our innovations,” said U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. “The theft of technology, software, and trade secrets costs the U.S. up to $600 billion a year.”
Titled the Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem Center, or SECURE Center, the UW consortium aims to support and protect U.S. intuitions’ research against cyberattacks. An additional $17 million will go to Texas A&M University to establish a companion SECURE Analytics program.
Cantwell said the SECURE Center will allow scientists to remain focused on research and provide “new, state-of-the-art tools and training necessary to protect our research.”
UW will be leading five regional centers backed by six universities —Northeastern University, Emory University, University of Missouri, The University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas A&M University.
The announcement of the $67 million on Wednesday comes after the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 was signed into law. That act authorized $280 billion to go toward U.S. technology research.
Mark Haselkorn, professor of human-centered design and engineering at UW, will be the director and principal investigator at the SECURE Center.
“Funding agencies, research administrators, and researchers are all key stakeholders in the national research community,” said Haselkorn in a UW news release. “The SECURE Center will bring these diverse stakeholders together to identify and collaboratively address complex security issues.”
The University of Washington will receive a $50 million investment over five years from the United States National Science Foundation to establish a national center for research security.