Information Technology Laboratory technical accomplishments

56 Pages·2005·3.03 MB·English

by  Mike James

C O N T E N T S
Director’s Foreword 1
ITL at a Glance 4
ITL Research Blueprint 6
Accomplishments of our
Research Program 7
Foundation Research Areas 8
Selected Cross-Cutting Themes 26
Industry and International Interactions 36
Publications 44
NISTIR 7169 Conferences 47
February 2005
Staff Recognition 50
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary
Technology Administration
Phillip J. Bond
Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology
National Institute of
Standards and Technology
Hratch G. Semerjian, Jr., Acting Director
About ITL
For more information about ITL, contact:
Information Technology Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8900
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8900
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.itl.nist.gov
I N F O R M A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y L A B O R A T O R Y
D F
I R E C T O R ’ S O R E W O R D
I
n today’s complex technology-driven world,
the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at
the National Institute of Standards and
Technology has the broad mission of
supporting U.S. industry, government, and
academia with measurements and standards that enable
new computational methods for scientific inquiry, assure
IT innovations for maintaining global leadership, and
re-engineer complex societal systems and processes
through insertion of advanced information technology.
Through its efforts, ITL seeks to enhance productivity
and public safety, facilitate trade, and improve the
Dr. Shashi Phoha,
quality of life. ITL achieves these goals in areas of
Director, Information
national priority by drawing on its core capabilities in Technology Laboratory
cyber security, software quality assurance, advanced
networking, information access, mathematical and
computational sciences, and statistical engineering.
utilizing existing and emerging IT to meet national
Information technology is the acknowledged engine for priorities that reflect the country’s broad based social,
national and regional economic growth. The push for its economic, and political values and goals. In 2004,
adoption in all sectors is overwhelming. The insertion of ITL continued to fulfill its extended charge under the
advanced technologies at national or global scales, like Federal Information Security Management Act to
biometric identification for entry into the United States develop cybersecurity standards, guidelines, and
or electronic patient records to effectively decrease associated methods and techniques. Charged under
medical errors, often disrupts established social other legislation, such as the USA PATRIOT Act and
processes and interacts with other complex societal the Help America Vote Act, ITL is addressing the major
systems in unpredictable ways. ITL researchers have challenges faced by the nation in the areas of homeland
developed detailed protocols and operational standards security and electronic voting.
that mitigate anticipated discrepancies in their
operation, and established assessment criteria and test In the past decade, advances in computing and
data sets for validation of industrial products. Specific communications technologies have unleashed the
challenges are addressed through several legislative power of the Internet and forever changed the
mandates, ITL has been charged to lead the nation in landscape for commerce and government. ITL
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I N F O R M A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y L A B O R A T O R Y
has played an important role in facilitating this forensics, Windows XP, Voice-over-Internet-Protocol
transformation. In 2004, we continued our efforts by (VOIP), smart card technology and many others. ITL
establishing test beds to formulate and evaluate first worked with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to
responder indoor localization techniques for building release test suites for XML that have become the de
safety. In collaboration with the ANSI accredited facto metric for assessing quality of the XML products
standards organization Health Level 7 (HL7), ITL also that enable electronic commerce. These efforts highlight
led the development of electronic health records and the broad influence that our software testing and
messaging standards that promote a secure and reliable security programs are having on assessment and
healthcare environment. Last year also saw ITL accreditation of new products and technologies and on
champion the successful establishment of national and making information secure throughout the Government;
international biometric consensus standards bodies. ITL helping to ensure continuity and safe operation of the
will continue to contribute in numerous other ways to national information infrastructure that underlies
enable the transition of information technologies to economic competitiveness and homeland security.
meet today’s challenges.
ITL is also engaged in preparing the nation for the next
Information is not a physical entity but, similar to the phase of the Information Revolution. Drawing on the
physical world, appropriate metrology is needed to two great revolutions of the twentieth century, Quantum
guide its broad application. Within NIST’s traditional Physics and Computer Science, NIST has formulated its
role as the overseer of the National Measurement Quantum Information Program to transform both
System, ITL is addressing the hard problems in IT computing and secure communications. In
Measurement Research. ITL formulates metrics, tests, collaboration with NIST’s Physics and Electronics and
and tools for a wide range of subjects such as Electrical Engineering Laboratories, ITL is exploiting
information complexity and comprehension (to cope quantum mechanics, the strange behavior of matter on
with information overload), high confidence software (to the atomic scale, for making cryptographic codes that
cope with information reliability), space-time are unbreakable even by the supercomputers of
coordinated mobile and wireless computing (to cope tomorrow. This technology can also be exploited to
with information availability), as well as, issues of break cryptographic codes in seconds that could not be
information quality, integrity, and usability. These hard cracked in a million years by the most powerful binary
problems are some of the Grand Challenges identified computers. The need for the U.S. to stay at the forefront
in the FY 2004 Interagency Coordination Report by the of this technology is critical to future homeland security.
National Information Technology Research and In 2004, we established quantum computing and
Development (NITRD) that seeks to accelerate progress communications test beds to demonstrate the exchange
towards national goals. In 2004, ITL made strides of sifted quantum cryptographic keys at the rate of
toward these goals by drafting public key management 3.5Mbps—two orders of magnitude faster than the
schemes and guidelines for authenticated encryption previous record, and, realized the first experiment to
modes that will improve the security of systems within reliably “teleport” quantum states between atoms as
and outside the Government. ITL also reached out to reported in the June 17, 2004 issue of Nature.
federal agencies and industry through development of These and other ITL efforts will shape the next
security guidelines in areas where they were most generation of information technology and cybersecurity.
needed, such as, personal digital assistant (PDA)
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I N F O R M A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y L A B O R A T O R Y
ITL seeks to scale new frontiers in Information I am proud to also highlight many outstanding
Measurement Science to enable international social, achievements of ITL’s talented staff members and cross-
economic, and political advancement. Issues of trade, cutting interdisciplinary research programs. ITL
public health and safety, energy, pollution and researchers have taken leadership roles and served with
transportation span across national boundaries and distinction in both national and international standards
depend heavily on the critical IT infrastructure. Lack of development committees promoting the interests of
objective measurements often hinders the universal many essential U.S. industries.
applicability of U.S. technology and acts as a trade
barrier, limiting the reach of U.S. commerce. In 2004, Thank you for your interest in the Information
ITL collaborated and partnered with industry, academia, Technology Laboratory. Please take a few minutes to
and other NIST laboratories to advance science and review this document and visit our website at
engineering, setting standards and requirements for www.itl.nist.gov to learn more about how ITL is
unique scientific instrumentation and experiments, data, enabling the future by innovating the IT measurement
and communications. ITL also enabled breakthroughs in and standards infrastructure.
research through immersive visualization in areas such
as tissue engineering and nanostructures. ITL continues
to lead the way in enabling innovations in
Dr. Shashi Phoha, Director
interdisciplinary sciences and ensuring their
Information Technology Laboratory
international applicability.
E-mail: [email protected]
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I N F O R M A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y L A B O R A T O R Y
ITL GLANCE
AT A
OUR VISION
To be the global leader in developing the relevant
measurement science for advancing information
technology and bringing its benefits to society.
OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Shashi Phoha, ITL Director
Kamie Roberts, Acting ITL Deputy Director, Associate
Director for Federal and Industrial Relations
Bradley Alpert and Jack Wang, Acting Assistant Directors
for Boulder
Kendra Cole, Senior Management Advisor
Kamie Roberts,
Acting ITL
Ronald Boisvert, Chief of Mathematical and
Deputy Director
Computational Sciences Division
David Su, Chief of Advanced Network Technologies
Division
Edward Roback, Chief of Computer Security Division
OUR CORE PURPOSE
Martin Herman, Chief of Information Access Division
Enabling a better future through information technology
Mark Skall, Chief of Software Diagnostics and
(IT).
Conformance Testing Division
OUR MISSION
Nell Sedransk, Chief of Statistical Engineering Division
To support U.S. industry, government, and academia by
enabling new computational methods of scientific inquiry,
assuring IT innovations for maintaining global leadership,
and re-engineering complex societal systems and
processes through insertion of advanced information
technology.
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I N F O R M A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y L A B O R A T O R Y
OUR RESOURCES OUR CUSTOMERS
highly qualified professional and support staff of U.S. industry
313 (includes part-time, students, and faculty
federal agencies
appointments), and 147 guest researchers (as of
academia
September 30, 2004)
NIST staff and collaborators
total authorization for fiscal year 2004 budget of
$71.9M, all sources (as of September 30, 2004) research laboratories
research and operations facilities in Gaithersburg, IT users and providers
Maryland, and Boulder, Colorado
industry standards organizations
opportunities for cooperative research and interac-
tion with industry and academia
OUR RESEARCH PROGRAM
OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Our research program is rooted in the development of
relevant measurement science for guiding the advance-
reference data sets and evaluation software ment and insertion of information technology in societal
processes. The following chart presents the ITL Research
standards
Blueprint, the framework by which we describe our
proof-of-concept implementations
research program. The spectrum of ITL contributions
advanced software quality assessment tools connects IT Insertion, IT Transition, IT Measurement
Research, and Information Measurement Science to our
automated software testing techniques
technical focus areas and our customers.
tests, test tools and methods
statistical model-based testing
specialized databases
electronic information on the web
mathematical and statistical consulting services
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I N F O R M A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y L A B O R A T O R Y
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I N F O R M A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y L A B O R A T O R Y
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
OF OUR RESEARCH PROGRAM
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©
ITL computer scientist Ross Micheals demonstrates a NIST-developed system for studying the performance of
facial recognition software programs. The system takes a person's photo with nine cameras from different angles.
The photos are then analyzed by commercial facial recognition systems to see whether using many high-
resolution digital photographs can improve performance. NIST will use results from the research in support of its
Congressional mandate under the USA PATRIOT Act to certify the use of biometrics such as digitized photos and
fingerprints in passports and visas.
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I N F O R M A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y L A B O R A T O R Y
F O U N D AT I O N R E S E A R C H A R E A S
SECURITY
guidelines on a recommendation for authenti-
cated encryption modes for public review. We
revised the Digital Signature Standard (DSS) in
preparation for public review and comment and
developed validation tests for authentication, the
Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA), the Secure
Hash Algorithm (SHA), the Keyed-Hash Message
Authentication Code (HMAC), and American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) X9.62, Public
Key Cryptography for the Financial Services
Industry. We conducted a successful workshop
on Random Number Generation (RNG) and
developed a draft RNG Standard (ANSI X9.82.)
John Kelsey (left), Annabelle Lee, Nelson Hastings (seated), and John Wack In the area of e-authentication, we published our
examine e-voting security issues in support of the Technical Guidelines guideline on electronic authentication and initi-
Development Committee. ated development on a NIST recommendation
on password usage. We developed credential
service providers accreditation criteria and
SECURITY TECHNOLOGY supported the integration of the Federal Bridge
Certification Authority with governmentwide e-authentica-
Federal agencies and private sector organizations are tion efforts. We sponsored a workshop to discuss
selecting cryptographic security components and requirements, terminology, components, and metrics of
functionality for protecting their data, communica- knowledge-based authentication (KBA) and developed a
tions, and operations, from ITL’s comprehensive white paper on metrics for KBA. We also provided leader-
cryptographic toolkit, which includes a wide variety of ship for international biometric data interchange and
cryptographic algorithms and techniques for protecting interoperability standards, including the common
the integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity of informa- Biometric Exchange Formats Framework (CBEFF)
tion resources. Program areas include cryptographic specification and guidelines (see Biometrics).
standards, key management, public key infrastructure
(PKI), identity management, e-authentication, and Our work in cryptography is making an impact within and
agency e-government support. The website is outside the federal government. Strong PKI and cryptog-
http://csrc.nist.gov/CryptoToolkit/index.html. raphy improve the security of systems and the information
they process. IT users also enjoy the enhanced availability
Our accomplishments in FY 2004 included many signifi- in the marketplace of secure applications through cryptog-
cant draft documents, standards, and validation tests. We raphy, PKI, and e-authentication. See
wrote a draft key management schemes document and http://csrc.nist.gov/pki.
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