Expansion of Information Security

The agreement was signed yesterday by ETH President Lino Guzzella, Jörg Müller-Ganz, Chairman of the Bank Council at Zürcher Kantonalbank, and Jürgen Dormann, President of the Board of Trustees of ETH Zurich Foundation. In doing so, the partner organisations laid the foundation for the expansion of the Zurich Information Security and Privacy Center (ZISC) to form ETH-ZISC. Zürcher Kantonalbank donated a total of five million Swiss francs to the ETH Zurich Foundation specifically for the development of the new centre of excellence. The money will be invested incrementally over the next ten years.

Information security is a strategically important area of research at ETH Zurich; the Department of Computer Science in particular has been focusing intensively on this field for years. ZISC's planned expansion will strengthen research and education in this area.

According to ETH Vice President for Research and Corporate Relations Professor Detlef Günther, "Information security was already an important issue for research, business and society long before recent surveillance and spying scandals. ETH Zurich has prioritised this area for many years, and this donation will make a decisive contribution to our work  – meaning that ETH will be able to strategically expand its information security activities much more quickly."

The planned expansion of ZISC is also significant for Zürcher Kantonalbank: "The bank turns its full attention to IT system security and reliability, the guarantee of data security, and the protection of customer data from unauthorised access," says Daniel Heinzmann, Head of IT Strategy, Architecture and Security at Zürcher Kantonalbank. "We want to help develop and build on these core areas of expertise, so that the canton of Zurich's population and economy can continue to count on secure financial services." This, Heinzmann states, is why Zürcher Kantonalbank is contributing to the development of teaching and research activities relating to information security at ETH Zurich.

Focus on search for talent and exchange

ZISC Director Srdjan Capkun, professor at the Institute of Information Security, believes the donation is a sign of confidence. "This donation enables us to build on our partnerships with people from the industrial sector, as well as educate and nurture new talent in this field."

The aim, Capkun states, is to facilitate a significant increase in the number of researchers and young talent in the field of information security, which is why ETH-ZISC is planning to support talented researchers in the form of scholarships. "There is an acute shortage of security experts in the world. However, we now have the option of recruiting and educating stellar talent," the ZISC Director enthuses.

A key feature of the new ZISC is the planned ETH-ZISC Open Lab, an open platform enabling researchers and IT experts from ZISC's participating partners and companies to exchange views and opinions. Overall, this will ensure that the requirements of the economy can be met. Participants also hope that research findings can be quickly transformed into everyday applications. Workshops, seminars and conferences will be held on a regular basis. The Open Lab will host 20 students, researchers and business partners. "There has been a pressing need for a platform that facilitates exchange for quite some time now. And we can finally build it thanks to this donation," states Capkun. This type of collaborative environment, he goes on to say, is highly important for all partners involved.

The ETH-ZISC Open Lab is located in the vicinity of the Institute of Information Security within the Department of Computer Science. Participants will initially use the Institute's laboratory space, but new facilities will be built in the medium term. ETH-ZISC is affiliated with the ETH Department of Computer Science.

A large spectrum of topics

The plan is to develop both basic and applied research, which will revolve around issues stimulated by industry partners. Projects will be partially carried out in cooperation with partners. Open innovation for all to see will remain the overarching principle throughout.

ZISC's existing subject areas will be broadened. In future, researchers will focus on issues relating to the security of networks, systems, software and applications, the cloud and mobile computing. Researchers at ETH-ZISC will also continue to work on next-generation networks, cyber-physical systems and cryptography.

Security through trust

Since it was founded in 2003, ZISC has worked closely with the business world to jointly develop solutions for practical problems. ZISC offers research projects and education of the highest quality for business experts. Current and past partners include Armasuisse, Credit Suisse, Google, IBM, Kaba, NEC, Sun Microsystems. Zürcher Kantonalbank will become a founding partner of the ETH-ZISC OpenLab.

"One of my goals is for the ZISC to maintain its high quality standards and remain one of the top information security research centres globally." Capkun asserts that the donation will increase the capacity of the centre of excellence and enable it to become even more effective. "Switzerland is the right country for this project, because security is linked to trust and Switzerland enjoys a high reputation for trust around the world," says Capkun.