1999 v27 i13

Page 1

W e a t h e r ...

The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Today it will be fair with highs in the 70's and 80's. Have fun moving in to all of you Freshmen and upperclassmen)

Volume Twenty-Seven, Number Thirteen

Saturday, August 21, 1999

The latest in computer security revealed at WPI international workshop

WPI famous in fire safety studies

by Daniel Bailey Graduate Student WORCESTER, Mass. - More than 180 computer security experts, half of whom traveled from outside the United States, converged on Worcester Polytechnic Institute for the 1999 Workshop on Crypto­ graphic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES), Aug. 12-13. The popular workshop provided a fo­ rum for real-world system and de­ sign issues. Conference organizers Cetin Koc of Oregon State University and Christof Paar of WPI point out that many consumer products are gain­ ing computer-like capabilities. Ecommerce and other electronic communications demand that sen­ sitive data, such as credit card num­ bers, must be protected from pry­ ing eyes. The tool for protecting information, called cryptography, will be required in these products, using embedded systems that of­ fer relatively little computational power. The challenge of adding cryp­ tography to hardware devices and embedded systems led to the de­ velopment of the WPI workshop. In its inaugural year, international experts presented new results on efficient implementation of crypto­ graphic algorithms and attacks, as well as other practical issues in sys­ tem design such as random num­ ber generation. Among the highlights of the conference was a talk by Adi Shamir, a co-inventor of the RSA

Did you know WPI offers a firstof-its-kind academic program in fire protection engineering? Yes, WPI is known worldwide for its specialized studies aimed toward applying engi­ neering principles to solving fire safety problems. The program has been featured in national TV network broadcasts, NOVA, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. This year WPI is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Fire Protec­ tion engineering degree program (an article was published about this in the most recent edition of the WPI Journal). Professor David Lucht says FPE is one of the best-kept secrets in ca­ reer education today. Each year, the number of jobs available far out­ weighs the number x>f graduates. FPE’s work in all kinds of businesses, agencies and industries... designing sprinkler, alarm and smoke control systems, doing risk analyses and in­ vestigating fires and explosions. Em­ ployers range from Boeing and Burger King to NASA, Kodak, GM, Texaco, Polaroid, Travelers Insur­ ance, the Smithsonian Institution and the Phconix Fire Department. The dual degree program is of spe­ cial interest to freshmen. Enrollees can earn the BS in a traditional disci­ pline (like mechanical, civil, chemical or electrical engineering) and the MS in FPE in five years. Under the dual degree program, FPE courses can be taken during the third and fourth year. Courses can be “double counted” toward both degrees...saving time and money. WPI dual degree grads enjoy great versatility in thejob mar­ ket, with starting salaries in the vicin­ ity of $50,000 per year. Fire-related co-op and graduate internship op­ portunities can also be arranged as an integral part of the student’s aca­ demic program. FPE student interns typically earn in the vicinity of $36,000 during their academic program (op­ tional). FPE faculty will assist stu­ dents with career planning and aca­ demic advising, IQP’s and MQP’s. Fire-related IQP’s can be arranged at both Washington, DC and overseas Project Centers. For more info, check the web (www.wpi.edu/+FPE) or stop by the Center for Firesafety Studies in HL111 and ask for the free careers video.

CONTENTS... CCC............................... WPI Events..................... Arts & Entertainement..... West SL House................. International House........ Map of Worcester............ Club Com er................... Announcements.............. Horoscopes...................... Classifieds...................... Comics........................... Crossword Companion.....

Community service coordinator at WPI by Lindsay Freed Community Service Coordinator Hello and welcome to WPI for the 1999-2000 school year! If this is your first year here or you are a returning student, I would like to take a mo­ ment to introduce myself. My name is Lindsay Freed, and I am the new Community Service Coordinator in the Student Activities Office. I am an Americorps Massachusetts Cam­ pus Compact VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America), and I will be spending this year working with you to increase community service efforts here at WPI. I have heard many won­ derful things about the service you are already doing here, and I am ex­ cited to become a part of that. WPI and the Students Activities Office (SAO) would like to encour­ age all students and student organi­ zations to get involved in community service. As part of the WPI commu­ nity, you have the opportunity to

* 2 3 4 5 5 .. 6,7 ..8,9 ... 10 ... 10 ... 11 ... 11 ... 11

code used to protect e-commerce. Shamir called the security of the world’s leading web browsers into question with a new fast factoring attack. The most eagerly awaited contri­ bution to CHES involved not only a fast way to make a code, but also a fast way to break one. The RSA public-key cryptosystem, which is widely used in web browsers such as Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, is based on the problem of factoring large numbers. It is an acronym based on its inventors (RivestShamir-Adleman). Fortunately for consumers and businesses, up until now, factoring algorithms have been slow and memory intensive processes. But at the workshop, Shamir, from Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, shed light on an ingenious way to speed up part of a factoring com­ putation known as sieving. A sieve procedure consists of repeatedly running through a long list of num­ bers and finding which small inte­ gers divide those in the list. Using optoelectronics, Shamir’s new de­ vice, called TWINKLE, offers a 5001000 times speedup over the fast­ est workstations on the market in this crucial stage of factoring. This development has grave implica­ tions for electronic commerce: Due to U.S. export laws, the strongest exportable public-key systems are restricted to 512 bits. If and when the device is actually built, these systems can be easily broken. The systems, Shamir pointed out, “pro­

P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F M E D IA R E L A T IO N S

Lindsay Freed contribute your time and talents to help those in the Worcester area and beyond. SAO would like to facilitate this involvement and provide sup­ port in a variety of ways. We are in

tect 95 percent of today’s e-com­ merce on the Internet,” and thus render them “very vulnerable.” Brian Snow of the U.S. National Security Agency emphasized the need for more research in assurance technolgy. “The scene I see is products and services sufficiently robust to counter many, but not all, of the ‘hacker’ attacks we hear so much about today, but not adequate against the more serious but real attacks mounted by economic ad­ versaries and nation states,” Snow noted. “We will be in a truly dan­ gerous stance: We will think we are secure, and act accordingly, when in fact we are not secure.”

Get Connected! Learn about what being connected on the res net will allow you to do and how to use it properly.

Pg 2

See Security, continued to pg 2

Newspeak wins first place Courtesy of Media Relations W P I’s student newspaper, Newspeak, is a first place winner in the 1999 American Scholastic Press Association annual news­ paper awards. The newspapers are grouped based on enrollment at the colldgc/university. WPI is in the 2501 + enrollment group­ ing. Newspeak was cited for the varied types of articles that cap­

tured the essence of newspaper reporting. “Your newspaper is a pleasure to read,” the judge said. “And congratulations go to all of those people responsible for the high caliber of this scholastic pub­ lication.” The college newspapers were scored on six areas for a total of 1,000 points. The areas were con­ tent coverage, page design, general plan, editing, creativity and art, and advertising and illustrations. News­ peak garnered 870 points.

Newspeak Welcomes you... Dear Freshmen, As the Editor-in-Chief of Newspeak, I’d like to welcome you to WPI. Having been an active member of the community for the past three years. I’ve had the opportunity to experience and take part in the many traditions that help to make WPI such a fantastic and exciting place to live and go to school. I’m proud to say that Newspeak is a very big part of that tradition. The WPI Newspeak association is one of the two oldest organi­ zations on campus (sharing that billing with the prestigious Men’s Glee Club). Formerly known as the “Tech News” , we’ve been re­ porting on WPI, World and National events for almost a century. From world wars to daily campus police activity, we’ ve seen it all. We were there when Dr. Robert Goddard and Gompei Kuwada were students at WPI. We were there when Professor Sako flew in the U.S. Space Shuttle. And, we were there when the first two young women graduated from Worcester Polytech. Now, it’s your turn to make some history and get it on the books. Not only are we here to report what’s going on in the community during your stay here, but we’re also your voice at WPI. If you have something that needs to be said, give us a call. We’ll help you get the words on paper and into newsprint. We not only welcome student submissions, but encourage it. And, If you decide you’d like to be a regular member of our staff, we’ll gladly welcome you! Every Tuesday when you come strolling back from your 8 am class, don’t forget to grab a copy of Newspeak, sit-back and relax with your cup of coffee. A lot of hard work goes into it and you never know what interesting things you might find! . Sincerely,

Justin D. Greenout Editor-in-Chief

See Service, continued to pg 2

W hat's Inside.

Experts continue to search for an­ swers to computer security. An­ other development at CHES in­ volved improved methods for gen­ erating random numbers. Nearly all real-world cryptosystems need ran­ dom numbers. Unfortunately, this is an extremely difficult problem, since computers are designed to be completely predictable. At CHES, scientists from Italy’s Ugo Bordoni Foundation offered a cost-effective idea based on sam­ pling noisy semiconductor junc­ tions. Normally in circuit design, engineers try to reduce noise. How­ ever, by building noisy circuits on purpose, one can use the noise as

Horoscopes

Worcester Map

It's fun to learn what will hapen to you in the next week or month. It's an enjoyable way to spend so time with your friends. It could also be an ice breaker. Have fun with your future

This map gives you a guide to your new surroundings. Newspeak hopes that you enjoy Worcester and all it has to offer. Good luck

MissAnna'sguidetoyourlife

Pg 10

Whateveryoneneedstoknow

Pg 6


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.