The cybersecurity testbed, DETERlab, provides an isolated 400-node mini-internet in which researchers can investigate malware and other security threats without infecting the real internet, USC explained in a release.
The testbed provides researchers with a controlled and safe experimental environment for cybersecurity research. It also supports classroom exercises in cybersecurity for nearly 400 students at 10 colleges and universities.
The DHS funding will enable the school’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI), which operates the testbed, to expand its capability and develop “transformative methodologies and tools” for cybersecurity research, experimentation, and testing.
“This will be achieved through extensions and enhancements to the exiting DETER testbed, that will synergistically advance the capabilities of modern experimental infrastructure, the power and methodological sophistication of the tools it supports, and the community impact of the research that results”, USC explained.
The ISI has previously used the DETERlab testbed to conduct studies on a 10,000-node botnet and on how a worm spreads.
Part of the DHS funding will be used to improve outreach to the cybersecurity research community, including setting up testbeds at other sites around the world.