Contributions that Benefit the Entire Industry
AT&T Labs is a nexus of Internet research. Labs researchers have taken leading roles in the work of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), helping to define standards and shape the future of the Internet. Labs researchers have led efforts in improving Internet security--for example, helping to protect the personal information of Web users, to identify vulnerabilities of wireless networks, and to trace the sources of the unauthorized copying that significantly impacts the movie industry:
• AT&T Labs has contributed to the development of the P3P protocol, which became an official recommendation of the W3C in the spring of 2002. The adoption of P3P by browsers and Web sites will pave the way for effective privacy protection such as AT&T's Privacy BirdTM software.
• With the growing use wireless networks by businesses, AT&T Labs researchers such as Steve Bellovin have demonstrated the ease with which the security of these systems can be violated. Bellovin's work has spurred a drive for greater diligence in protecting the information being carried over such networks.
• Researchers at AT&T Labs and the University of Pennsylvania have concluded in a new study that 77% of all unauthorized copies of new and popular movies on file-sharing networks come from movie industry insiders and not consumers.