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Introduction
Security and trust have always been and will remain essential pillars on which our society is built.
The Internet and other digital networks have now become an integral part of our economy and society. They are serving more than 1 billion users all over the globe, providing them with information and content like news, music or video and a plethora of personalised online services such as e-health, e-banking, egovernment or e-commerce. They facilitate social interaction and entrepreneurial activity, fostering the growth of new industries and supporting vital parts of our business transactions.
As our dependence on digital networks and technologies increases, so does the importance of maintaining their integrity. Indeed, as they have grown and scaled up to cover the globe, so have attempts to abuse them, through viruses, malware, spam or "denial of service" attacks. As such cyber-threats increase in number, severity and sophistication, they put at risk intellectual property, business operations, infrastructure services, commercial transactions and private life. They may undermine consumers' trust in the Net, stifle innovation and retard economic growth.
In the coming years, the importance of digital networks to our economy and society is set to grow further. On the one hand, many public and private systems that are vital to our economy and welfare, such as banking and finance, healthcare, energy, transportation or other physical infrastructure systems are increasingly being connected to and migrating their control mechanisms to Internet-accessible networks. On the other hand, the Internet is gradually turning into an "Internet of Things" - a "ubiquitous network" in which billions of objects like sensors, tags and "smart" embedded artefacts are being interconnected, and are even interacting through the networks. This transformation has the potential to unleash a new wave of innovation and stimulate a wide range of new applications and services.
To build an information society that will deliver growth and prosperity, we need to tailor information and communication technologies to business and social needs, and ensure that they become useful tools for economic and social innovation. The starting point for making them useful is to foster trust and safeguard security in a networked world. This in turn entails research and technology development for: ensuring that data storage and communications are secure; preventing possible attacks on systems and infrastructures and minimising their impact; preventing and minimising disruption of service availability from any malfunction and criminal or terrorist behaviour; providing easy and secure access to the digital infrastructures and their applications and services; protecting personal data and digital business assets; minimising theft of digital identities; and, most importantly, respecting people's privacy and rights and our society's values and ideals.
This booklet describes research on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Trust and Security, showing the integrated nature of European research in this field. It profiles promising research areas, using selected project descriptions to illustrate key lines of research and technology development. Activities cover research and its interplay with policy developments in trust and security, including biometrics, identity and privacy management, authentication, secure digital assets, cyber-crime and the support of standardisation and interoperability.
The brochure is one of six in The Networked Future series, describing European funded research for Network and Communication Technologies.
| View of download the complete brochure (PDF, 598KB) |
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| Read or download the General brochure (PDF, 1.644KB) |
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This book is one of a series of six which correspond to the six strategic objectives:
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| Paper copies | A limited number of printed copies are available (the pack includes the introduction and all six specific booklets). If you wish to receive copies please send us an email mentioning the key word INFSO.D Brochure, the number of copies and the address. |