"Clemson University Joins Nation's Frontline Defense against Cyberattacks on the Transportation System"
Clemson University is opening a National Center where researchers will develop new methods to bolster the transportation system security against cyberattacks. The new National Center for Transportation Cybersecurity and Resilience (TraCR) will receive a five-year grant of $20 million from the US Department of Transportation. Researchers are working to develop software and hardware that will serve as impenetrable cyber defense. Connecting cars wirelessly to each other and to the roadway infrastructure can reduce traffic congestion, accidents, fuel consumption, pollution, and social disparities. However, it also exposes the transportation system to cyber threats from hackers, criminal gangs, terrorists, and other malicious actors. With each car and piece of infrastructure that connects to the Internet, there is the potential to steal data, breach privacy, demand a ransom, deliver false information, or even bring down an entire system. The new center will place Clemson University at the frontline of the nation's defense against major infrastructure threats. Benedict College, Florida International University, Morgan State University, Purdue University, South Carolina State University, the University of Alabama, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Texas at Dallas are partner institutions. The center's researchers plan to examine multiple modes of transportation, from cars, trucks, and bicycles to passenger rail, maritime transport, and pipelines. Researchers will create an adaptive and resilient platform to help detect threats and defend against attacks that hackers have not yet invented. The team will also delve into quantum computing, looking at how to evaluate threats from quantum computers and how such computers can be used to defend against cyberattacks. This article continues to discuss the new National Center for TraCR at Clemson University, which will develop software and hardware to combat cyberattacks on the nation's transportation systems.