Sun Microsystems has joined a security alliance announced last week by Cisco Systems, Network Associates (NAI), and Lucent Technologies at the RSA Data Security Conference in San Jose, California.
The Security Research Alliance (SRA) will focus on bringing attention to security issues emerging over the next two to five years, asaid Terry Benzel, vice president of NAI Labs Advanced Security Research Division and the initial chairman of SRA.
"Consumers in the IT space are making decisions in a reactive mode," Benzel said.
Consumers understand security issues at a "hysteria" level but not at a technical level, and SRA will seek to provide them with research findings on security issues in the three- to five-year range, according to Benzel.
In addition to providing the IT community with research findings, SRA members will team up on selected research projects and do peer review, Benzel said. The group is open to new members who are security vendors. Intel, GTE and BBN have expressed interest and are likely candidates, she said.
The SRA will sponsor two events each year. As one of its first actions, the Security Research Alliance will sponsor the first annual Security Research "Crystal Ball" Symposium in Los Angeles on April 13, the day before the opening of Spring Internet World there. A second event, which will focus on peer review and be open only to SRA members, is planned for later in the year, Benzel said.