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The Mathematical Sciences' Role in Homeland Security: Proceedings of a Workshop (2004)

Chapter: Business Week Article: Enlisting Math to Defend the Homeland by Stephen H. Wildstrom

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Suggested Citation:"Business Week Article: Enlisting Math to Defend the Homeland by Stephen H. Wildstrom." National Research Council. 2004. The Mathematical Sciences' Role in Homeland Security: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10940.
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Page 567
Suggested Citation:"Business Week Article: Enlisting Math to Defend the Homeland by Stephen H. Wildstrom." National Research Council. 2004. The Mathematical Sciences' Role in Homeland Security: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10940.
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Page 568

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567 This article can be viewed online at http://www.businessweek.com/techno~ogy/content/apr2002/tc20020430_3678. htm APRIL SO, 2002 By Stephen H. Wilctstrom Enlisting Math to Defend the Homeland America's number whizzes say their science has a key role to play -- and they just met in D.C. to show their stuff At first glance, the notion of a conference on "The Mathematical Sciences' Role in Homeland Security" looks like a shameless attempt to channel some of the mighty stream of security funding that has been rolling out of Washington since September. ~ i . "When got the e-mai! invitation," says Howard Schmidt, vice-chair of the Presiclent's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, "l thought at first it was a joke." No joke. In fact, the Apr. 26-27 workshop sponsored by the National Research Council's Board on Mathematical Sciences & Their Applications was stealthy serious. It turns out that many of the diffuse and complex problems of homeland security are deeply mathematical in nature, and even some of the science's most abstruse branches, such as topology and high-climension geometry, can be brought to bear on security problems. The most obvious application is the encryption techniques used to protect data from prying eyes. But encryption issues are so well known that they went largely unmentioned. Even crypto specialist David Wagner of the University of California at Berkeley clevotect much of his presentation to other topics, from the mathematics of power-grict reliability to the design of "inherently self-stable systems." DATA EXTREMES. Not surprisingly, much of the discussion focused on the use of acivancect statistical techniques to cleat with two almost opposite problems. First, the growing use of cameras and other surveillance techniques is overwhelming analysts with more data than they can hope to make use of. Mathematicians can help by developing ciata-mining techniques that help spot patterns in an ocean of seemingly ranclom . ~ . Information. At the other extreme, epictemio~ogists chasing, say, an outbreak of anthrax must figure out whether they're clearing with a terrorist attack or a ranclom, natural event based on extremely scanty evidence. A situation that presents a large number of variables and a small number of data points is very poorly hanctlect by traditional statistical analysis. Michael H. Freedman of Microsoft Research pointed out that techniques clevelopect in the heel of high-climensiona] geometry are relevant here. Geometers have found ways that a space with a large number of dimensions can be approximated using a much smaller ctimensiona] heist of numbers that are far easier to work with. In statistics, this is 567

568 generally analogous to reducing the number of variables. WORKING BACKWARDS. Freedman, a winner of the most prestigious prize in mathematics, the Fieicts MeciaI, acictect a touch of levity to an otherwise serious session by describing "the general worIct view of mathematicians." On his way from Seattle to Washington, he was seiectect for a secondary search at SeaTac airport. He puI1ect out his itinerary and said he was on his way to a conference on mathematics and national security. "The guard was very skeptical," Freedman saint. "She asked, 'Are you a mathematician?' ~ said 'yes." She replied, 'Then Goct help us."' Alexancler H. Levis, chief scientist for the Air Force, suggested that mathematicians might finct ways to apply to domestic security the statistical techniques that the military has clevelopect for analyzing threats. One, using an approach called a Bayesian inference network, works backwards from a set of possible events to assign probabilities to the potential actions that opponents might take. In the end, mathematicians clon't suffer illusions that math alone is going to make the nation significantly more secure. Workshop organizer Jennifer Chayes, director of Microsoft Research's Theory Group, says she chose the topic for the annual workshop simply because it seemed natural and relevant. For example, Freeciman's research specialty, the mathematics of quantum computing, could one clay enable the solution of problems that today remain dauntingly complex. Practical applications remain, at best, years away. "I don't think," Freedman says, "that we can stop terrorism in time by building quantum computers." All in all, however, the conference put the relationship between math and national security front and center. 568

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Mathematical sciences play a key role in many important areas of Homeland Security including data mining and image analysis and voice recognition for intelligence analysis, encryption and decryption for intelligence gathering and computer security, detection and epidemiology of bioterriost attacks to determine their scope, and data fusion to analyze information coming from simultaneously from several sources.

This report presents the results of a workshop focusing on mathematical methods and techniques for addressing these areas. The goal of the workshop is to help mathematical scientists and policy makers understand the connections between mathematical sciences research and these homeland security applications.

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