[Singapore, 15 October 2014 (Wednesday)] - The Singapore Management University (SMU) has announced today the establishment of a new centre of research excellence that focuses on mobile computing security. Funded by Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF), the Secure Mobile Centre is developing efficient and scalable technologies and solutions that strengthen the security of mobile computing systems, applications and services.

The Secure Mobile Centre is led by a team of five faculty members from SMU’s School of Information Systems who specialise in information security and trust:  Professor Robert DENG (Centre Director), Professor PANG Hwee Hwa, Associate Professor LI Yingjiu, Associate Professor DING Xuhua and Assistant Professor Debin GAO. Through the new centre, they will conduct R&D projects that target three key aspects of mobile computing – 1) mobility, 2) connectivity, and 3) extensibility. Primary research areas include: fortifying mobile platforms with a user-centric trust anchor; analysing, detecting, containing mobile malware; systems for scalable access control of encrypted data in untrusted servers; and secure and usable authentication systems in mobile computing.

SMU’s Secure Mobile Centre is partnering with leading infocomm firms such as ST Electronics (Info-Security) Pte Ltd, Gemalto Pte Ltd, StarHub, and McAfee Singapore which is part of Intel Security, to conduct and trial the R&D projects. The Centre is also collaborating with Singapore government agencies such as the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to bridge research outcomes with practical needs. In addition, SMU will work with international organisations such as INTERPOL to jointly develop knowledge and expertise in secure mobile computing.

“Information security has become a paramount concern in today’s digital age. As mobile computing evolves rapidly, both emerging opportunities and risks leave much room for exploration by security experts and exploitation by hackers,” said Professor Robert Deng of SMU's School of Information Systems and Director of Secure Mobile Center.

Professor Steven Miller, Vice Provost (Research) and Dean of SMU's School of Information Systems added, “Not only do mobile devices and applications present a unique set of risks for individual's privacy, but also new security challenges to enterprise information systems. The purpose of SMU’s Secure Mobile Centre is to address these security needs with the aim of making Singapore a more sustainable, secure, robust and resilient nation.”

For more information, please contact:

Mr Teo Chang Ching

Assistant Director, Corporate Communications

Tel: +65 6828 0451

Email: ccteo [at] smu.edu.sg