CICI

Cloud computing provides many clear benefits for users, including scalability and reduced system acquisition cost. However, data security, integrity and privacy are becoming major concerns for scientific researchers when they access data from the cloud to conduct experiments or analytics. In addition, data owners may not want to reveal their data to cloud service providers either because of the sensitivity of the data (e.g., medical records) or because of its value.

The National Science Foundation funds over seven billion dollars of research annually, nearly all of which relies heavily on information technology. The digital data produced and computing systems used by that research are subject to the same risks as other data and computing systems on the Internet. Appropriate cybersecurity is necessary both to make today's scientific discoveries possible and to ensure that the science is trustworthy. However, NSF science is often necessarily performed in open, collaborative environments that span organizational and national boundaries.