SIGSAC Annual Report

July 2004 - June 2005
Submitted by: Sushil Jajodia, Chair

1. SIGSAC CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

SIGSAC's mission is to develop the information security profession by sponsoring high quality research conferences and workshops. SIGSAC's first sponsored event was the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) in 1993. Since then, it has been held twice in Fairfax, Virginia (1993, 1994), and once each in New Delhi, India (1996), Zurich, Switzerland (1997), San Francisco (1998), Singapore (1999), Athens, Greece (2000) and Philadelphia (2001). Since 2002, CCS has been held in Washington, DC. We expect it to remain in the DC area for some time.

From its inception, CCS has established itself as among the very best research conferences in security. This reputation continues to grow and is reflected in the high quality and prestige of the program. In 2004, CCS received 251 submissions, from which 35 papers were selected. The standards for acceptance continued to remain high for ensuring a quality program.

As in previous years, the program of CCS included a parallel industry and tutorials track and seven co-located workshops. CCS attendance continues to show a healthy growth, from nearly 100 participants up to 2001 to over 400 participants in 2004.

Starting in 2001, SIGSAC launched a second major annual conference called the ACM Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT). The first three meetings were held in Chantilly, Virginia; Monterey, California; and Como, Italy. From 2002, SACMAT meetings have been co-located with the IEEE International Workshop on Policies for Distributed Systems and Networks. These two meetings were again co-located in 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden. There is an understanding that we will continue to collocate these conferences, alternating in Europe and North America, for some time.

CCS and SACMAT give SIGSAC and ACM two major annual conferences, in summer and fall. Both conferences have a strong future and have developed outstanding reputations. CCS in particular has emerged as the world's leading security research conference, compared to much older, established conferences.

2. SIGSAC PUBLICATION INITIATIVES

Professor Mike Reiter is the new editor-in-chief of ACM Transactions on Information and Systems Security (TISSEC). We are confident that TISSEC will continue to flourish under his leadership.

3. SIGSAC SPECIAL PROJECTS

SIGSAC will initiate a new conference ACM Symposium on Information, Computer and Communications Security (AsiaCCS) to be held March 21-23 in Taipei, Taiwan.

4. AWARDS

ACM SIG Governing Board (SGB) approved SIGSAC's plan to offer two annual awards: SIGSAC Outstanding Innovation Award and SIGSAC Outstanding Contributions Award. The award criteria are as follows:

SIGSAC Outstanding Innovation Award: This award is given for outstanding and innovative technical contributions to the field of computer and communication security that have had lasting impact in furthering or understanding the theory and/or development of commercial systems.

SIGSAC Outstanding Contribution Award: This award is given for significant contribution to the field of computer and communication security through fostering research and development activities, educating students, and providing professional services such as the running of professional societies and conferences.

Details related to the nomination process and administration of the awards are posted on the SIGSAC web site. The first awards are expected to be given at 2005 CCS.

5. SIGSAC BYLAWS AND ELECTIONS

This year, SIGSAC held its elections in accordance with its bylaws for the term beginning July 1, 2005. SIGSAC fielded a full slate of qualified candidates.

6. ACM DIGITAL LIBRARY

ACM digital library has become an important source of revenue for all SIGs. With the addition of several workshop proceedings, SIGSAC received a healthy share of the total revenue. SIGSAC should seek new ways to add to the library’s content (such as collecting speakers’ slides and videos of conference invited talks, tutorials, and paper presentations) to strengthen and broaden its appeal to all subscribers.

7. SUMMARY

SIGSAC is in excellent shape both in terms of successful technical activities and financially. I am confident that in the coming years, the SISAC leadership will continue to sustain and build on existing activities.

SIGSAC FY'05 Annual Report. Last Update: 7/7/2005

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