Looking Backwards (and Forwards): NSF Secure and Trustworthy Computing 20-Year Retrospective Panel Transcription

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) celebrated the 20th anniversary of its research funding programs in cybersecurity, and more generally, secure and trustworthy computing, with a panel session at its conference held in June, 2022. The panel members, distinguished researchers in different research areas of trustworthy computing, were asked to comment on what has been learned, what perhaps should be “unlearned,” what still needs to be learned, and the status of education and training in their respective areas of expertise. Laurie Williams covered enterprise security and measuring security, Gene Tsudik commented on cryptographic security, Trent Jaeger addressed computing infrastructure security, Tadayoshi Kohno reviewed security in cyberphysical systems, and Apu Kapadia provided insights on human-centered security. Michael K. Reiter chaired the panel and moderated questions from the audience. This report provides a brief summary of NSF’s research programs in the area and an edited transcript of the panel discussion.