Tag Archive for: supercomputer.

NIST Invites Feedback on Draft Supercomputer Security Guidance


The National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued a request for public comment for a draft special publication on a zone-based high-performance computing system reference model.

NIST’s Computer Security Resource Center said Monday it published a guidance that includes an HPC system’s common features as well as its challenges and security aspects.

IT protection has become a challenge for supercomputers because of their complexity, size and continuous evolution. CSRC developed the reference model to address this vulnerability.

SP 800-223, also known under the title High-Performance Computing Security: Architecture, Threat Analysis, and Security Posture, was created in accordance with the National Strategic Computing Initiative. It aims to standardize the security status of HPC systems, which have become a widespread tool in science and industry.

The agency is accepting feedback for the initial public draft of the special publication until April 7.

Spain’s most powerful supercomputer launch delayed


Spain's most powerful supercomputer launch delayed
Spain’s most powerful supercomputer launch delayed. image: Twitter

Spain’s most powerful supercomputer launch has been delayed in Barcelona.

The much-anticipated launch of Barcelona’s ‘Marenostrum 5’ supercomputer has been delayed. The inauguration, which was initially planned for early 2021, is pending due to Covid-19 and bureaucratic problems and has now been moved back again to a date yet to be finalised.

Marenostrum is at present, the most powerful computer in Spain, and since 2004, four versions have been installed. The computer works as a simulator; all stored data is used to create unique situations to improve every scientific field with predictive models of behaviour.

Marenostrum will be used in every scientific field. For instance, it will be very useful in Medicine because doctors can decide which treatment to use in a patient by comparing old and new cases- with instantaneous results- using the supercomputer.

In 2019, the European Commission chose the BSC, along with other EU member States, such as Bulgaria, Finland or Italy, to be part of the initiative European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking.

Basically, the project aims to create super-powerful computers in order to experiment with new technologies for the next generation of supercomputers in Europe. Mare Nostrum 5 was the highest UE investment in research infrastructure in Spain, about 100 million euros.

What can supercomputers be used for?

The best supercomputers fill rooms, cost millions, and are thousands of times faster than your computer at home. They are usually used for complex scientific problems involving lots of maths.

They are used to predict the weather, model brains, or help predict the result of a nuclear explosion, for example. Some are used to test the strength of encryption (computer security) methods.

They have been used to model the spread of swine flu, coronavirus, to predict climate change, and even to understand the Big Bang at the beginning of the Universe. However, technology moves quickly, as an example, a top-end desktop computer today calculates at the same speed as a supercomputer did 10 years ago.


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A supercomputer is taking on humans in a hacking contest at DEF CON

Can a supercomputer beat humans in a hacking contest? We’re about to find out.

For the first time, a fully automated supercomputer is trying to compete with humans in a major hacking contest, and so far the machine is hanging in there.

The supercomputer, known as Mayhem, is among the teams taking part in this year’s Capture the Flag contest at the DEF CON security conference in Las Vegas.

The game involves detecting vulnerabilities in software and patching them, and humans have been playing it at DEF CON for years.

Now computers are getting in on the act. DARPA, a U.S. defense agency, recently held an all-machine competition, awarding $ 2 million to the team that did best.

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