Symantec Sponsors Georgia Tech

ATLANTA -- The College of Computing at Georgia Tech, a national leader in the creation of real-world computing breakthroughs that drive social and scientific progress, today announced that Symantec Corp. is sponsoring the second annual Tiger Teams Student Design Competition in Usable Security Research. The research program will collaborate with the Symantec Consumer Products Division on efforts to simplify and optimize users’ experiences with consumer-oriented security technologies.

The Tiger Teams competition, which runs throughout the entire school year, is in its second year and is hosted by the College of Computing at Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC) and the Georgia Tech Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center (GVU).

“Recent high-profile cases, as well as a rise in media exposure of online identity fraud, have increased the demand for security solutions that are intuitive for the everyday computer user,” said Keith Edwards, associate professor at the College of Computing. “The Tiger Teams competition allows the academic world to unite with industry leaders such as Symantec in an effort to create the next generation of security solutions that will impact the future of computing for everyday users.”

Acknowledging the need to help restore consumers’ confidence online, Edwards developed The Tiger Teams Student Design Competition in Usable Security Research in 2005 to spur grassroots research in the area of usable security. Starting in August 2006, students with expertise in security, human-computer interaction (HCI) and design will form two-person teams and prepare project proposals that address the challenges of creating security technologies that are intuitive to the everyday computer user. At the end of the semester, a faculty and industry panel will review and judge each of the proposals, with the winning team or teams receiving funding to further develop their proposals into solutions during the following year. For this year’s competition, Symantec, as an industry sponsor, will provide insight into the current and future challenges facing information security and mentor the students throughout each phase of the competition.

“With the breadth of technology used to combat threats facing consumers, it becomes ever more important to work together with leading-edge research efforts at the university level,” said Rowan Trollope, vice president of Engineering for Consumer Products at Symantec. “The College of Computing at Georgia Tech’s research into usable security provides a unique, multi-disciplinary approach to the issues facing everyone who uses computers. The Internet security industry must focus on innovative methods to make security easier to use, reducing technical, non-essential or repeated decision-making while maintaining optimal security.”

The College of Computing at Georgia Tech