Multiple-security Multimedia Collaboration Environment (MMCE)

Traditionally, the security policy between multi-level and coalition activities was implemented by a combination of automated guards and proper human directives about what should be produced for dissemination and by the use of human downgraders formanually checking information flows. However, such traditional solutions do not support the needs of collaborative multimedia applications that will dominate the battlefield environment of tomorrow. The inherent characteristics of media flows and therequirements of multimedia applications render the current guard technology inapplicable.This Phase I STTR proposal addresses this issue using an innovative concept, called MMCE, that represents a new way of thinking about the idea of multiple security level communication in the context of multimedia collaboration. In Phase I, a detaileddesign of MMCE architecture will be produced along with its analytical evaluation and feasibility study. Building upon the MMCE design produced in Phase I, Phase II will develop a complete prototype and conduct experimentation and analysis on it. Information security and information sharing while being crucial have also been, unfortunately, conflicting requirements. Till now, choosing one will automatically eliminate the other (reduce its effectiveness to the point of being irrelevant). Theproposed research will address this critical need of the defense and industry to be able to address both these crucial requirements. Successful implementation of MMCE architecture will enable effective protection of sensitive information at differentsecurity levels while allowing for secured information sharing.