Computer Science Professors Ken Birman, Gun Sirer, and Fred Schneider have teamed up with Electrical and Computer Engineering Professors Lang Tong, Rajit Manohar, and Steve Wicker on a nationwide initiative to improve security and reliability in complex distributed systems, including the Internet and other elements of the nation’s critical infrastructure. Wicker is Cornell’s principal investigator in the Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technology (TRUST). Schneider, a noted cybersecurity expert, is chief scientist.
TRUST is taking a hard look at computing uses that pose huge technical challenges and have economic, legal, ethical, and social dimensions as well. In the massive computing systems needed for health care, for example, or to operate the power grid, computing services have to remain operational even when things go wrong. These systems also operate within regulatory climates, and come with social expectations.
One group within TRUST is developing new kinds of sensor hardware and software. Wicker is looking at the development of a secure network to monitor and protect infrastructure such as the power grid. Sirer is building new operating systems and tools for massive sensor networks. Manohar is building a completely new sensor chip that will become the core of the overall package. Tong’s emphasis is on the protocols that transport information from the sensors themselves to data fusion centers.
Birman is working with a group to develop systems that include Tempest, a platform for programming cluster-style supercomputers to run time-critical services in a reliable, scalable manner. Schneider’s emphasis is on security issues, which he sees in a holistic context that defines security broadly. Schneider’s team’s role in TRUST builds on what he calls the Language-Based Security project.
TRUST is a Science and Technology Center sponsored by the National Science Foundation; other participating universities include Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, and Vanderbilt.
Computer Science Professors 
TRUST is taking a hard look at computing uses that pose huge technical challenges and have economic, legal, ethical, and social dimensions as well. In the massive computing systems needed for health care, for example, or to operate the power grid, computing services have to remain operational even when things go wrong. These systems also operate within regulatory climates, and come with social expectations. 
One group within TRUST is developing new kinds of sensor hardware and software. Wicker is looking at the development of a secure network to monitor and protect infrastructure such as the power grid. Sirer is building new operating systems and tools for massive sensor networks. Manohar is building a completely new sensor chip that will become the core of the overall package. Tong’s emphasis is on the protocols that transport information from the sensors themselves to data fusion centers. 
Birman is working with a group to develop systems that include Tempest, a platform for programming cluster-style supercomputers to run time-critical services in a reliable, scalable manner. Schneider’s emphasis is on security issues, which he sees in a holistic context that defines security broadly. Schneider’s team’s role in TRUST builds on what he calls the Language-Based Security project.