IBM has announced a company-wide cybersecurity initiative to apply its research, services, software and technology expertise to help government and other key clients improve the security and resiliency of their IT and business systems.

Under this initiative, the company is establishing the IBM Institute for Advanced Security to help government and private sector clients, academics and business partners more easily understand, address and mitigate the issues associated with securing cyberspace.

Based in Washington, D.C., the Institute will provide a collaborative setting for public and private sector officials to tap IBM's vast security expertise so they can more efficiently and effectively secure and protect critical systems and information threatened by increasingly malicious and costly cyber threats.  IBM's approach will help public and private organizations avoid the trend of adding security on after the fact by providing them the education, expertise, and resources  to design security into the foundation of their infrastructures.  

IBM experts from across the company will come together within the Institute to help clients address existing and emerging cybersecurity challenges by using analytics and other advanced technologies, services, and solutions to anticipate, prevent and mitigate the growing risk and potential economic impact of cyber attacks.    

IBM's initiative will enable others to embrace a strategic approach to managing cybersecurity, building on the security rich systems and software that have earned the trust of IBM clients around the world for decades.  For instance, the U.S. Air Force recently selected IBM to design and demonstrate a highly secure cloud computing infrastructure that can support defense and intelligence networks.  The Institute also will provide a forum for clients to better understand how recent IBM Research advances, such as the fully homomorphic encryption breakthrough, can help them to operate in more intelligent ways, while protecting the privacy and security of critical information.

"There is no lack of security products and services available today, but adding security after a system is developed or implemented seldom works.  Moreover, today's rapidly-evolving threats make such 'bolt-on' approaches even less effective at a time when clients are wary of not realizing a return from their security investments," said Charles Palmer, director of the Institute for Advanced Security and chief technologist of Cybersecurity and Privacy for IBM Research. "IBM will engage with government clients and other constituents to help them comprehensively understand how to develop and integrate effective security protections into the fabric of their critical systems and services."

IBM, which holds more than 3,000 security and risk management patents and maintains one of the world's largest comprehensive threats and vulnerabilities databases, will use the IBM Institute for Advanced Security to apply the capabilities and experience of its more than 15,000 multidisciplinary global security experts to a broad range of cybersecurity and privacy challenges.  

"IBM has a long history of dealing with the most critical security issues on a global perspective," said Alan Wade, former Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Intelligence Community.  "Their initiative to establish a collaborative environment to examine how current and future technologies could lead to a more secure planet will be well received in both the public and private sector."

The Institute also will enhance and support IBM's existing work with government and private sector leaders, and serve as a focal point for new clients, policymakers, and other key constituencies to access and collaborate with the company's cybersecurity experts and resources in the U.S. and around the world.  It also will engage in public-private collaboration and policy activities to drive innovation in next-generation security models and capabilities, which are essential for progress in the cybersecurity arena.

"To their credit, government leaders have realized that the isolated, piece-part approach to IT security is no longer an adequate solution," said Todd Ramsey, general manager, IBM Federal. "These leaders seek an end-to-end strategy for securing their critical business information, processes and systems.  IBM's long-term experience in managing security challenges with both government and private industry provides unique insights that will accelerate the ongoing innovation and that must occur in this field."

IBM views cybersecurity as achieving resilience and integrity across the critical information infrastructure of the smarter planet, which requires more secure government, cities, utilities, transportation systems, water supplies and telecommunications.  Government and private sector clients are beginning to utilize smarter systems and are seeking answers for how to secure and govern these systems.  

To help clients find answers to their cybersecurity questions, IBM's Institute for Advanced Security will host the first in a series of planned workshops, entitled "A Smarter and Secure Planet," in Bethesda, Maryland on March 22-23.  The workshop will feature an exchange among technical and policy professionals, researchers, officials and practitioners on the requirements for secure, agile systems.  

For more details and information about the IBM Institute for Advanced Security and related initiatives, visit http://www.ibm.com/federal/security.