TC: Large: Securing the Open Softphone

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Mobile phones are in the midst of a dramatic transformation; they are becoming highly powerful sensor-rich software-controlled computing and communication devices. These "softphones" are increasingly entrusted with maintaining users' electronic identity, calendars, social networks, and even bank accounts. However, the vast increases in the flexibility of softphones comes with equally large security issues and opportunities, some of which we are only beginning to understand.This project studies the new threats and promises of softphones, and focuses on identifying, understanding, and mitigating new security risks. Two broad risk categories are addressed: threats to individual users (such as user privacy or personal finances), and threats to the entire communication system (such as disruptions to emergency services). The project ultimately aims to understand how security problems associated with softphones and their networks are different from those of traditional computers and networks, and how to harness the unique capabilities of softphones for improved security.The research is being conducted by a broad and diverse team of nine senior investigators, in collaboration with international industry and academic partners, under the aegis of the RISCS Center at Boston University. The project is striving for wide impact through a public seminar series, multiple workshops, course development in phone security across all levels (including honors courses), and cross-disciplinary training of graduate and undergraduate studentsThe project's successful conclusion will deliver an essential and timely understanding of how to secure the mobile phone infrastructure that already manages many intimate aspects of our lives.