Foundational Cybersecurity Research : Improving Science, Engineering, and Institutions

Attaining meaningful cybersecurity presents a broad societal challenge.

Its complexity and the range of systems and sectors in which it is needed mean that successful approaches are necessarily multifaceted.

Moreover, cybersecurity is a dynamic process involving human attackers who continue to adapt.

Despite considerable investments of resources and intellect, cybersecurity continues to poses serious challenges to national security, business performance, and public well-being.

Modern developments in computation, storage and connectivity to the Internet have brought into even sharper focus the need for a better understanding of the overall security of the systems we depend on. Foundational Cybersecurity Research focuses on foundational research strategies for organizing people, technologies, and governance.

These strategies seek to ensure the sustained support needed to create an agile, effective research community, with collaborative links across disciplines and between research and practice.

This report is aimed primarily at the cybersecurity research community, but takes a broad view that efforts to improve foundational cybersecurity research will need to include many disciplines working together to achieve common goals. Table of ContentsFront MatterSummary1 Cybersecurity Challenges and Security Science2 The Role of Social, Behavioral, and Decision Sciences in SecurityScience3 Engineering, Operational, and Life-Cycle Challenges in SecurityScience4 Foundational Research Topics5 Institutional Opportunities to Improve Security ScienceAppendixesAppendix A: Briefers to the Study CommitteeAppendix B: Committee BiographiesAppendix C: Highlights from Other Research Agendas