A recent workshop on that topic, sponsored by the National Research Council (NRC), discussed specific ways in which math experts could help the cause of deterring attacks. "Mathematics, operations research statistics, and computer science provide the fundamental tools for extracting relevant information from the flood of data of all types that our senses receive," Peter Bickel, chair of the NRC's Board on Mathematical Sciences and Applications, told the attendees. The conference's voluminous 570 pages of proceedings, which can be reached via SM Online [2], looked at data mining, pattern recognition, video and voice data extraction, data integration, and encryption. Panelists also discussed stopping biothreats by tracing their origins using such means as the speed and geographical direction of their transmission.