In the Internet of Things (IoT) era, many objects, sensors and other devices in our surroundings will be connected to networks. This allows us to enjoy convenient and smart lives; however, security countermeasures for such devices are becoming a pressing issue behind the scenes. The scope that should be covered by cybersecurity is expanding daily, such as protection from information leakage and privacy violations in the case of utilizing the big data collected by such IoT devices. We conduct Research and Development (R&D) to deal with the latest pressing concerns and upcoming issues in our information society.
Home > About NICT > Organization > Cybersecurity Research Institute
Advanced cybersecurity technologies
We conduct R&D on cyberattack monitoring, analysis supporting technologies for the increasingly sophisticated and evolved cyberattacks against the government and other important infrastructure. We also engage in research on collecting and analyzing huge amounts of data from these diversifying cyberattacks, and aim to utilize it in automatic cyberattack countermeasures. We also strive to achieve quick R&D outcome deployment through application and verification in NICT's own cyber incident response system to strengthen the technology.
Security testbed development and operations technology
We oversee R&D on technologies for emulating cyberattacks in a safe environment, the construction of a security verification platform that is indispensable for verifying newly developed protection technologies and verifying cyberattack countermeasure technologies in an emulation environment.
Cryptographic technology
We handle R&D on functional cryptographic technologies, providing new functionality to meet the new social needs accompanying the IoT evolution, security evaluation of cryptographic technologies contributing to the promotion and standardization of new cryptographic technologies, and constructing and maintaining safe and secure ICT systems. We also engage in R&D on privacy protection technologies for the practical utilization of personal data and the promotion of technical support activities for appropriate privacy measures.
Organization
- Cybersecurity Laboratory We work on R&D for cybersecurity techniques to cope with sophisticated cyberattacks and unknown and potential threats, such as ones for emerging IoT devices. We also work to automate countermeasures against cyberattacks by collecting, accumulating, and analyzing large amounts of information on diversified cyberattacks, including indiscriminate and targeted ones. Moreover, we verify the effectiveness of our research outcomes by applying them to our own cyberattack analysis, and then disseminate them to society.
- Security Fundamentals Laboratory The Security Fundamentals Laboratory conducts R&D on cryptographic primitives with new functionalities and lightweight cryptography to circumvent issues due to the development of IoT. We also evaluate the security of currently used cryptographic techniques to contribute to securing ICT systems, and the security of emerging cryptographic techniques to promote market deployment and standardization. Furthermore, we promote research on privacy enhancing technologies for personal data use and support technical countermeasures to privacy threats.
- Planning Office The Planning Office supports the research activities in the Cybersecurity Research Institute.
