Kickoff Joint Projects NL-USA: Online and Mobile Security

NWO Physical Sciences (NWO-EW), the Ministry of Security and Justice, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) Cyber Security Division (CSD) will jointly fund research in the field of cybersecurity. Three cybersecurity research projects with Dutch and American scientists will receive grants adding up to a total amount of approximately 1.3 million Euros. The Netherlands and the U.S. each pay half. Project results will increase online and mobile security. By signing agreements associated with these projects, representatives of the subsidising organisations from the Netherlands and the USA have ratified the cooperation.

Three cybersecurity research projects

Under the Dutch-American Project Arrangement about cooperative research and development on cybersecurity, the following joint cybersecurity research projects were granted:

1) Malware on smartphones: collection, analysis, and defensive measures

• Herbert Bos (VU University Amsterdam, NL)

 •Christopher Kruegel (University of California Santa Barbara, US)

2) Increasing the impact of voluntary action against cybercrime

• Michel van Eeten (Delft University of Technology, NL)

• Tyler Moore (Southern Methodist University, US)

3) In-depth defense of SCADA and Industrial Control Systems

• Sandro Etalle (University of Eindhoven, NL)

• Alfonso Valdes (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, US)

International cooperation is essential
Hackers and cyber criminals often work together worldwide. This reality makes global research cooperation and joint research a necessity and prerequisite to deal with the current cross-border challenges in cybersecurity. Recently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs computer system, located in Brussels, was hacked. Criminals succeeded in capturing files about Ukraine.

The Hague Security Delta and IIPVV

The Hague Security Delta also aims to strengthen international cooperation in the field of cyber security. Rob de Wijk, General Director of HSD, earlier this year joined representatives from the Ministry of Security and Justice and from IIPVV/NOW, the Dutch ICT platform for security and privacy, to visit the cyber security cluster in Baltimore, USA.

Source and more information

Reginald Brothers, Pieter Cloo and Louis Vertegaal