Solving Cyber Risk

CHAPTER 11Ten Cyber Problems

11.1 SETTING PROBLEMS

11.1.1 The Hilbert Problem Set

The setting of problems is one of the most effective ways of concentrating minds on technical challenges that merit more thought and intensive research. At the 1900 International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris, one of the greatest German mathematicians, David Hilbert, presented a list of ten important problems. A more complete list of 23 problems was published later. These problems were designed to serve as examples for the kinds of problems whose solutions would lead to the furthering of disciplines in mathematics. As such, some were broad areas for investigation. These problems have served their purpose in advancing different branches of mathematics, as the process of attempting to solve them has led to important discoveries and fresh insights.Thirty years after the Morris worm was unleashed from MIT, infecting about 10% of computers connected to the internet, cyber security is more important than ever. The grand global challenge of solving cyber risk has to be constantly renewed.In all hazard areas, both natural and man-made, scientific progress plays a crucial part in risk mitigation. For cyber security, the burden of responsibility and expectation falls on the community of computer scientists. Given that computers are built from Boolean circuits, there is an intrinsic conceptual link between computer science and mathematical logic. The most familiar human face of this link is Alan ...