Breakthrough Research Speeds and Secures Internet Voice Traffic

Cisco, Verizon, NYU-Poly and Columbia University Collaborate on Security

NEW YORK, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Cisco is joining with the Center for Advanced
Technology in Telecommunications and Distributed Information Systems (CATT) at
Polytechnic Institute of New York University to commercialize breakthrough
security technology developed by scientists at Columbia University and Verizon
Laboratories. The project will speed processing and secure voice traffic on
the Internet. It will be a first step toward protecting the next generation of
routers used by telecom service providers and large enterprises.

The security platform developed by Verizon and Columbia University is the
fastest of its kind in the world. Called a SIP-Aware Application Layer
Gateway because it uses the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), this security
filter allows or disallows Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic as it
enters Verizon's next generation packet-based network. Encapsulating
information and services into packets is expected to enable more voice, data
and video traffic to speed across wired and wireless networks in the near
future.

Prototype Conquers Difficult Challenges

The SIP Gateway device dynamically opens and closes "pinholes" that allow
legitimate VoIP traffic to enter the network while filtering out unauthorized
messages. The SIP signaling channel itself also has new filters that prevent
SIP-specific denial of service attacks. These new filters use a technique
known as deep packet inspection to try to determine when unauthorized users
are trying to harm or disable service.

"This groundbreaking technology was scaled to work in a large, carrier-class
network such as those offered by Verizon -- a significant accomplishment all
by itself," said Shivendra Panwar, CATT director. "There were intrinsic
difficulties because it required intensive use of high-speed parallel
computing."

For its laboratory prototype development, Verizon scientist Gaston Ormazabal
chose a highly distributed hardware platform based on a specialized network
processor from Intel and collaborated with Henning Schulzrinne, Julian
Clarence Levi Professor of Computer Science at Columbia's Fu Foundation School
of Engineering and Applied Science. They developed algorithms that would power
the SIP Gateway device. SIP -- a signaling protocol that controls VoIP
similar to the way that land lines are switched -- was co-developed by
Schulzrinne, who is also one of the principal investigators of this CATT
project.

Using the Verizon-funded distributed computing VoIP test bed at Columbia and
the SIP Gateway device, Schulzrinne was able to filter SIP traffic at speeds
never before seen. The resulting SIP-Aware Application Layer Gateway was
unique: It prevented SIP-based denial-of-service attacks at carrier-class data
rates while fully conforming to the SIP protocol.

The results were presented publicly for the first time at the IPTComm 2007
Conference (www.iptcomm.org) in New York in preliminary form, then in full at
the IPTComm 2008 Conference in Heidelberg, Germany.

From Prototype to Production

The CATT project will attempt to bring the technology from prototype into a
stage at which it is ready to perform in the routers of telecom providers and
other large enterprises.

The CATT is principally based at NYU-Poly but also has significant Columbia
University participation.

"Cisco is counting on the world-renowned expertise in hardware development of
NYU-Poly's faculty," said Flavio Bonomi, head of Advanced Architecture and
Research at Cisco. He will guide the project, which will be led by Cisco's
Sateesh Addepalli in conjunction with Verizon's Ormazabal and NYU-Poly
scientists.

The principal investigator at NYU-Poly will be Ramesh Karri, associate
professor of electrical and computer engineering. Karri's research at
NYU-Poly, focusing on all aspects of hardware security including hardware
accelerators and computer aided design of secure hardware architectures, is
ideally matched for this phase of development.

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Cisco Foundation gave the research
grant.

"The Cisco grant and the previous Verizon support for this research are votes
of confidence in the CATT's ability to deliver technological solutions of
immediate impact to industry and society at large," said CATT's Panwar.

NYU-Poly's Karri said: "We look forward to this collaboration with world
renowned experts from Cisco, Verizon and Columbia. Our students will benefit
from working on problems with immediate impact in securing VoIP technologies
and on cutting-edge, multi-core based network processing platforms from
Cisco."

"I look forward to having our algorithms, measurements and testbeds contribute
to more secure VoIP services in commercial products and services," said
Columbia's Schulzrinne. "Our algorithms make it much more difficult for
attackers to interfere with telephone service or to disrupt future networks."

Stuart Elby, chairman of the CATT Advisory Board and vice president of network
architecture at Verizon, said: "A more secure and robust network will open
doors throughout the world, allowing people to communicate and share
potentially life-changing information with an ease never experienced. We are
excited to be part of this project."

Edward Reinfurt, executive director of the New York State Foundation for
Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR), which supports the foundation,
said: "This is a prime example of the kind of collaboration that NYSTAR
foresaw when it began its long-term support of the CATT. This project will
help commercialize research for the benefit of New York State's economy, and
it could help create a more secure global communications network."

About the Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications

The Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications and Distributed
Information Systems (CATT) is a research and education group at the
Polytechnic Institute of New York University that also draws on the expertise
of key researchers at Columbia University. Its mission is to foster
industry/university partnerships and education in order to commercialize
research on information technology and wireless communication. Created in
1982, its principal sponsor is the New York State Foundation for Science,
Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR). For more information, visit
http://www.catt.poly.edu.

About Columbia University

A leading academic and research university, Columbia University continually
seeks to advance the frontiers of knowledge and to foster a campus community
deeply engaged in understanding and addressing the complex global issues of
our time. Columbia's extensive public service initiatives, cultural
collaborations, and community partnerships help define the university's
underlying values and mission to educate students to be both leading scholars
and informed, engaged citizens. Founded in 1754 as King's College, Columbia
University in the City of New York is the fifth oldest institution of higher
learning in the United States.

About Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic
University), an affiliate of New York University, is New York's most
comprehensive school of engineering, applied sciences, technology and
research, and is rooted in Polytechnic's 155-year tradition of invention,
innovation and entrepreneurship -- i2e. The institution, founded in 1854, is
one of the nation's oldest private engineering schools. In addition to its
main campus at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it offers programs at
sites throughout the region and around the globe. NYU-Poly has centers in Long
Island, Manhattan and Westchester County; globally, it has programs in Israel,
China and will be an integral part of NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi opening in
autumn 2010. For more information, visit www.poly.edu.

About Verizon:

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global
leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications
services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.
Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving
more than 87 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations
provide converged communications, information and entertainment services over
the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. Wireline also includes
Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to
customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse
workforce of more than 235,000 and last year generated consolidated operating
revenues of more than $97 billion. For more information, visit
www.verizon.com.

SOURCE Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications; Verizon

Kathleen Hamilton, NYU-Poly for CATT, +1-718-260-3792 office, +1-973-997-0416
mobile, khamilto@poly.edu; or Jim Smith, Verizon, +1-908-559-3477,
james.albert.smith@verizon.com; or Anna Kuchment, Columbia University, +1-212
854 6581, amk15@columbia.edu