Online Security Issues: Cracking Down on Hackers - Universities Team up with Northrop to Fight Hackers

Northrop Grumman designs, integrates, and manufactures military aircraft, defense electronics, precision weapons, and commercial and military aerostructures. Essentially, this is the defense contractor the U.S. depends on to build B-2 stealth bombers. Oddly enough, the company has taken on a new endeavor -- one that has them teaming up with several U.S. universities to fight a war at home: a war agasint hackers.

Northrop, which is based in Century City, CA, recently announced that they’re committed to investing millions of dollars to help find new and inventive ways to secure computer systems from hackers who--according to them--are “threatening the country's economic and security interests.” The money will be doled out over the course of the next five years to universities handpicked by Northrop because of their expertise and their cyber research branches. The universities include Carnegie Mellon, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Purdue University.

This initiative--or “group” as it’s being referred to--has been named the Northrop Grumman Cybersecurity Research Consortium . Recently, the Consortium agreed to accept ten projects that will allow them to protect supply chains, examine ways to identify hackers, and secure critical infrastructure networks. According to a statement released by Northrop, members who have been chosen to be a part of the consortium will also be responsible for sharing information, coordinating research projects, writing joint case studies, and developing curricula, among other tasks.

Whether or not the efforts and the money being funneled into this research are intended to benefit large corporations and government computer systems or the average consumer remains unknown. What is certain, however, is that whatever information is uncovered or whatever breakthroughs are discovered by the Northrop Grumman Cybersecurity Research Consortium will eventually trickle down to everyday Internet users, and hopefully keep them, their personal information, and their computers safe.