Merit Network Inc

RECOVERY ACT - REACH-3MC II IS 1172 MILES OF MIDDLE MILE FIBER LIT AT SPEEDS GREATER THAN 1G. THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MERIT THE MI 911 ADMINISTRATOR

RECOVERY ACT - REACH MICHIGAN MIDDLE MILE COLLABORATIVE

THIS EDA INVESTMENT SUPPORTS THE CONSTRUCTION OF A 70-MILE FIBER OPTIC INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WILL SERVE AS THE INTERCONNECTION BACKBONE PASSING THROUGH THE EASTERN UPPER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN. THE PROJECT WILL ASSIST MERIT NETWORK, A NON-PROFIT, MEMBER-OWNED, AND UNIVERSITY-OPERATED ORGANIZATION, WITH FURTHERING THE LEVERAGING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR TRANSFORMING THE UPPER PENINSULA (LIFT-UP) INITIATIVE, WHICH PROVIDES MIDDLE-MILE INFRASTRUCTURE TO LOCAL INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS. THE PROJECT WILL BUILD OUT THE LAST-MILE CONNECTIONS AND SERVE REMOTE AND UNDERSERVED REGIONS, WHICH INCLUDE BUSINESSES, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS, AND RESIDENTS. WITH RELIABLE HIGH-SPEED INTERNET ACCESS, THE REGION CAN EMBRACE NEW FORMS OF HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES DELIVERY IN RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGES FACED DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WHICH WILL MAKE THE REGION MORE RESILIENT TO FUTURE SHOCKS, AND MORE EFFECTIVELY ATTRACT AND RETAIN BUSINESSES AND JOBS TO BOOST ECONOMIC RESILIENCY THROUGHOUT THE REGION.

CICI: TCR: IRIS: INSTRUMENTATION FOR RESEARCH AND INTER-INSTITUTIONAL SOC -THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE PROBLEMS OF DESIGNING, ENGINEERING AND MAINTAINING AN EFFECTIVE AND SCALABLE NETWORKING AND CYBERSECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WOULD ENABLE UNIQUE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES THAT SPAN THE AREAS OF INTERNET FREEDOM, NETWORKING MONITORING, THREAT INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY AND PRIVACY, WHILE AT THE SAME EMPOWERING THE PROTECTION OF MEMBER INSTITUTIONS WITHIN MERIT NETWORK (MICHIGAN?S RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORK) FROM CYBER THREATS. THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE CYBERSECURITY, INCLUDING CONSTRAINED CYBERSECURITY BUDGETS, INADEQUATE STAFFING, AND THE NEED FOR CONTINUOUS INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE. SMALL, LOW-RESOURCED INSTITUTIONS WITHIN MERIT?S MEMBERSHIP ARE ESPECIALLY CHALLENGED BY THESE BARRIERS, FINDING IT DIFFICULT TO REMAIN COMPETITIVE AND RELEVANT IN TODAY?S INTERNET IN WHICH CYBER-ATTACKS ARE GROWING BOTH IN FREQUENCY AND SOPHISTICATION. UNDER THESE CONSIDERATIONS, THE PROJECT CREATES A MERIT-MANAGED, SHARED INFRASTRUCTURE THAT ALLOWS THESE ENTITIES TO FOCUS ON THEIR MISSIONS AND BE CONFIDENT THAT THEY HAVE A BASELINE LEVEL OF CYBERSECURITY DEFENSE. THIS PROJECT DEVELOPS SITUATIONAL AWARENESS INFRASTRUCTURE TO EFFICIENTLY MONITOR INTERNET TRAFFIC ENTERING AND LEAVING MERIT?S NETWORK BORDER, AND TO DETECT AND HELP MITIGATE CYBER-THREATS DESTINED TO MERIT?S MEMBER INSTITUTIONS (I.E., UNIVERSITIES, K12 SCHOOLS, ETC.). THE SO-CALLED IRIS (INSTRUMENTATION OF RESEARCH AND INTER-INSTITUTIONAL SECURITY OPERATIONS CENTER (SOC)) INFRASTRUCTURE HAS THE CAPABILITY OF MONITORING ULTRA HIGH SPEEDS OF NETWORK TRAFFIC IN A STREAMING MANNER IN A CENTRALIZED, CONFIGURABLE, AND SUSTAINABLE MANNER. THIS HIGH-SPEED NETWORK MONITORING INFRASTRUCTURE IS DEPLOYED ON THE MERIT BACKBONE NETWORK AT KEY PEERING LOCATIONS AND PROVIDES A CONSTANT FEED OF RICH NETWORK RESEARCH DATA AS WELL AS DISTILLED CYBER-SECURITY THREATS (E.G., MALWARE DOWNLOADS, DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACKS, ETC.). THE SOC PLATFORM GLEANS SUCH THREATS VIA STATE-OF-THE-ART CYBERSECURITY SOLUTIONS (INCLUDING OPEN SOURCE ONES) AND PASSES THEM TO A DATA PIPELINE FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS, ENRICHMENT AND RESEARCH. THESE ANALYSIS PRODUCTS PROVIDE TO SECURITY ANALYSTS AND RESEARCHERS UP-TO-DATE INSIGHTS WITH REGARDS TO THE CURRENT MALWARE ECOSYSTEM, ACTIONABLE THREAT INTELLIGENCE REGARDING COMPROMISED COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND MALICIOUS INTERNET SITES, AND EXPLOITABLE VULNERABILITIES WHICH REQUIRE REMEDIATION. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CICI:RSSD: SCOPE-X OPTIMIZING MERIT'S NETWORK TELESCOPE FOR HIGH-QUALITY LARGE-SCALE DATASETS -SCOPE-X (SCALABLE CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR OBSERVATORY PIPELINE ENHANCEMENT) ADVANCES THE CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE OF ORION (OBSERVATORY FOR CYBER-RISK INSIGHTS AND OUTAGES OF NETWORKS), ONE OF THE OLDEST AND LARGEST OPERATIONAL NETWORK TELESCOPES IN THE UNITED STATES, OPERATED BY MERIT NETWORK. ORION PROVIDES VISIBILITY INTO UNSOLICITED AND POTENTIALLY MALICIOUS INTERNET TRAFFIC AND SUPPORTS SHARED CYBERSECURITY RESEARCH THROUGH BOTH ITS LIVE TRAFFIC FEED AND ITS 20-YEAR ARCHIVE. RISING TRAFFIC VOLUMES, EXTREME BURSTS, AND EVOLVING ATTACK BEHAVIORS REQUIRE TRANSFORMATION OF THE END-TO-END PIPELINE TO PRESERVE DATA FIDELITY, OPERATIONAL RELIABILITY, AND LONG-TERM USABILITY. THIS PROJECT DEVELOPS TRANSFERABLE METHODS FOR MODERN NETWORK TELESCOPE OPERATIONS THROUGH THREE INTEGRATED ACTIVITIES. FIRST, RESILIENT CAPTURE TO IMPROVE HIGH-SPEED PACKET COLLECTION USING ADAPTIVE, MULTI-THREADED PROCESSING ARCHITECTURES THAT MAINTAIN FIDELITY DURING LARGE TRAFFIC BURSTS AND DYNAMIC ATTACK PATTERNS. SECOND, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-READY CURATION TO CREATE HIGH-QUALITY RESEARCH-GRADE DATASETS THROUGH IMPROVED CLEANING, FEATURE ENGINEERING, PARTIAL LABELING, AND ENRICHMENT WITH CONTEXTUAL METADATA AND EXTERNAL THREAT INTELLIGENCE. THIRD, FAIR-ALIGNED ACCESS TO MODERNIZE DATASET DELIVERY USING APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACES, CODE-TO-DATA ENVIRONMENTS, AND SUSTAINABLE RELEASE MECHANISMS THAT IMPROVE REPRODUCIBILITY, ACCESSIBILITY, AND LONG-TERM STEWARDSHIP. THE PROJECT ADVANCES SCALABLE PASSIVE NETWORK MONITORING, MACHINE LEARNING-READY CYBERSECURITY DATASETS, AND METHODS FOR DETECTING RARE AND EMERGING THREATS IN SEMANTIC-GUIDED AND PARTIALLY LABELED DATA. THE RESULTING DATASETS, SOFTWARE, AND ACCESS MECHANISMS WILL BROADEN ACCESS TO REAL-WORLD SECURITY DATA, SUPPORT STUDENT TRAINING, AND STRENGTHEN NATIONAL CYBERSECURITY THROUGH EARLIER DETECTION AND ANALYSIS OF INTERNET THREATS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MICHIGAN CYBER RANGE