ISU lab seeks to knock out hackers

Iowa State University launched a special lab Monday that will try to fight wrongdoing on the world-wide web. Computer engineering professor Doug Jacobson says the lab was funded by the U.S. Justice Department. The lab is called ISEAGE and it is a “testbed internet design so we can study cyber attacks.” The longer name of the lab is Internet-Simulation Event and Attack Generation Environment, Jacobson says the attacks can come in a couple of different forms. He says they can “playback attacks we’ve captured in the wild” or he says they use the code to playback the attacks that exist on the Internet. Jacobson says this lab provides a better way to assess how security systems will work.He says, “A lot of the testbeds that’re out now don’t create a very realistic environment. And we’re trying to create something that looks just like the Internet.” Jacobson says they hope their lab can eventually provide the entire country with help. He says the lab initially will be used to look at modeling on a statewide level, and then they’ll move to bigger models. Jaconson says the lab will generate information that lets security people and law enforcement develop and deploy better cyber attack defenses.