Security Framework to Exchange Data That Enhances Productivity
| Partnering
Organizations: |
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA
ILS Technology LLC, Boca Raton, FL
Oceana Sensor Technologies Inc., Virginia Beach, VA |
| Project
Duration and Cost: |
- 2002-2005
- ATP
funding amount: $4.9 M
- Industry cost-share amount: $4.8 M
|
| Project
Brief: |
00-00-4550 |
| Status
Report of the Completed Project: |
None |
The
Challenge
Firms need to be able to securely extract, transfer, and share data with their partners, but also need to do so in a way that both protects proprietary data and prevents cyber attacks. Regulatory initiatives (i.e. HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley) have presented another set of issues to address. These concerns are particularly challenging in semiconductor manufacturing, where plants cost $1-3 billion to build and hundreds of millions to operate. Advanced Micro Devices (a leading semiconductor manufacturer), ILS Technology (a leader in secure collaboration), and Oceana Sensor Technologies (a leader in secure wireless technology) came together to propose a new set of technologies (a novel security framework) that would allow manufacturers and their suppliers to share information to improve factory productivity while protecting information. This innovative approach had a high degree of technical risk, as the proposed framework needed to balance flexibility, complexity, scalability, adaptability, and interoperability in a competitive environment with low-margin for error. However, it had applications beyond semiconductor manufacturing, and ATP could enable the joint venture to create broad benefits for the United States. |
Technical
and Economic Impacts
Through the ATP project, the team was able to create a software tool, the Flexible Security Wrapper (FSW), which acts as a middleware application that can enhance the manual security controls already in place in manufacturing plants by automating the application of security policies. The novelty of the innovations developed in this project is reflected in two patent applications and has been further disseminated in numerous papers and presentations at various conferences.
The major impact to industry is that one version of the FSW application, which performs in conjunction with ILS Technology’s eCentre® product, allows the manufacturer the ability to control when and how a user or application connects to a machine on the production network to access data, and what data can be accessed. These security controls can be based on dynamic enterprise information that is not part of the data stream available from the machine. For example:
- A major equipment supplier was able to use the eCentre/FSW application to securely troubleshoot an equipment glitch in real time. This saved an international trip, reduced equipment downtime by several shifts, and resulted in savings of over $100,000 for just this one incident.
- Several leading integrated circuit (IC) manufacturers are estimating savings of $ 0.5 million per semiconductor fabrication plant, and the projected annual savings for the IC industry is between $70 – 84 million.
In addition to securing and enabling effective factory-level data, the team developed another FSW-based solution for on-line data security, which provides protection from external and internal attack. This solution, incorporated into Oceana Sensor’s Fortress Secure Interface™ and Fortress Crytographic Library™, offers ease of use while also protecting sensitive firm data (such as intellectual property, customer information, and personnel data). The flexible architecture supports protection of both static and dynamic sources, and has specialized applications that can be deployed rapidly for each industry. For example:
- A Fortune 100 media company tested the product to secure sensitive personnel and financial data. They have determined that full implementation can result in stronger security measures that also provide cost savings of over 27%.
In a more densely interconnected global environment, the need for secure applications affects all industries and sectors. The successful implementations that were highlighted have allowed the team to continue to develop the technologies from the ATP project. Furthermore, it has allowed the team to individually pursue markets in healthcare, insurance, pharmaceutical, chemical, and automotive industries, thus reflecting the broad, enabling nature of the technology developed.
Date created: March 7, 2006
Last updated:
October 30, 2006
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