Outcomes of a Workshop on Techniques for Information Protection of Imaging Information

摘要

We report the conclusions reached from a workshop hosted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories to address information protection issues resulting from the acquisition, processing, and protection of sensitive information from imaging measurements in the context of an arms control agreement. The goal was to determine how various approaches can be compared and evaluated on the basis of verification confidence gained and the risk of information disclosure. The key topics considered at the workshop include the strengths and weaknesses of various alternative approaches including possible similarities in their underlying methodologies considered both separately and as combined approaches. The interest in using imaging techniques to verify treaty-limited items is that imaging has a unique ability to identify form and function of a declared item. However, that same sensitivity has led to an extreme reluctance to consider imaging because of both the operational details of its implementation and the consequences of inadvertent disclosure of its measurements. A key feature of the workshop was its focus on a working meeting where researchers from Federal laboratories and the academic community worked together to address a collection of challenge problems. Focusing on an unclassified challenge problem in active or passive (auto) radiography, participants were expected to present their general approach to confirming treaty-limited items while protecting sensitive information, discuss in more detail how that approach would address the specific challenge problem defined for the workshop, and work with the other participants to identify complementary benefits and challenges that will help define this area of research for future study. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Agency/Office of Defense Nuclear Non-Proliferation Research and Development (NA-22).