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The focus of the Helix project was to dramatically improve the status quo for architecting secure and resilient information systems by developing a coherent body of scientific and engineering knowledge to design and evaluate new algorithms and concepts for self-regenerative systems. The hallmarks of such systems is that they are automated and proactive; they can adapt and reconfigure themselves to present attackers with an ever-shifting attack surface; and they can self-heal when confronted with both known and unknown attacks., The original document contains color images.

Intrusion detection and, more recently, automated response to intrusions have been the cornerstones of our research programs in the Computer Security Laboratory at UC Davis. UC Davis has pioneered several novel methods for intrusion detection on large networks. This research, however, can progress only if the laboratory's network infrastructure is sufficiently large to realistically model that of a large organization. ITC Davis is also among the first to study cooperative automated response to intrusions. Network devices: routers and firewalls, exchange attack information which can be used to optimally filter the malicious traffic. This project depends heavily on having network hardware on which to install and test our prototypes. Thanks to the generous DURIP equipment grant, our group was able to obtain the resources necessary for this work to proceed.

This report is a collection of four surveys of the state of the art in fault tolerance, computer security and computer safety. Fault tolerance is surveyed in two parts: a general survey and a detailed survey of testing technology. Like most contemporary surveys in computer technology, they describe rapidly changing areas. In each area new concepts are continually appearing, e.g., new problems or new solutions that require new viewpoints be taken on the field as a whole. Nevertheless, each of the subjects surveyed has a set of results in theory and practice that provides a framework for current work. The survey of fundamental issues in fault tolerance attempts a broad view of the subject, which is currently under redefinition as a core subject in computer dependability. It includes comments on testing, distributed processing, security and safety, and thus may serve as a general introduction to the report as a whole. Contents: Fundamental Concepts of Fault-Tolerant Computing; Survey of Device and System Testing; Computer Security in Defense Systems; and State of the Art of Safety for Computer Controlled Systems.