Tel-Aviv U and Check Point Establish InfoSec Research Institute

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 05/01/08

Tel-Aviv University (TAU) and security company Check Point Software Technologies have announced a partnership to establish an information security research institute. The institute, under the auspices of the School of Computer Science at TAU, will be managed by a joint board, with representatives and financing from both the vendor and the university. The set-up investment is estimated at about $1 million.

Most of the financing will go towards research grants for students and doctoral candidates, as well as the establishment of research labs in the field of information security.

Ran Canetti, a researcher at IBM Laboratories in the area of cryptography and a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, will manage the institute. The new research institute will facilitate the financing of dozens of academic research studies in various fields of information security. In addition, it will enable the establishment of a research lab, and the institute will hold international academic conferences.

"Israel has an extensive and thriving information security industry, and its strength is reflected, among other things, in the academia," said Dorit Dor, Check Point's VP of Products. "Our main goal in establishing the institute is to promote academic, professional and applied research in information security and to encourage students to join-in and study this exciting, innovative and dynamic discipline."

Check Point has extensive operations in Tel Aviv. Co-founder Gil Shwed is a member of the Board of Trustees for TAU, and other executives are either graduates or on committees for the university.

The School of Computer Science at Tel-Aviv University trains 900 undergraduates and 300 graduates and has about 35 academic staff members.