David Balenson headshot
David BalensonInterim Director of Networking and Cybersecurity

“The Networking and Cybersecurity Division has a rich research program driven by the interdependence of networking, cybersecurity and social systems. Around these, we delve into understanding and analyzing the underlying Internet, innovative approaches to analyzing vulnerabilities and engineered attacks, while applying the theory and practice of distributed computing. We are leaders in designing, architecting, curating and operating research infrastructure and data to guide science-based explorations. As we continue our talent acquisition and collaboration efforts, we further build upon our rich history of intellectual capability, to connect and secure our interconnected future.”

David Balenson
Interim Director of Networking and Cybersecurity

NETWORKING & CYBERSECURITY BY THE NUMBERS

39
Researchers, Research Faculty,
and Support Professionals

5
Cross-cutting
Research Areas

31
Research Projects

16
PhD Students

Cross-Cutting Research Areas

Cyber-Physical Systems

Understanding, securing and advancing cyber-physical systems is embodied in our work on embedded systems, verification of untrusted cyber-physical modules and analysis of cyber-attacks on interconnected complex cyber-physical systems. As “smart” devices continue to connect to the internet at a rapid pace, optimizing and securing their integration is critical -- in addition to protecting underlying infrastructure, such as the power grid, that is the heartbeat of cyber ecosystems.

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Edge Computing

As demand for information transit speed increases exponentially, there are hard questions around Network Embedding, System Security, and the use of Advanced Encryption Mechanisms. New approaches to data storage and computation capabilities at the edge inform our work in identification of applications within encrypted flows, recognition of obscured payloads, and protection of sensitive data residing in or transiting through network slices. This work will contribute to secure, high performance edge computing for the next generation of networking.

Cybersecurity

The pervasive nature of cyber threats grows exponentially. Our research spans specific technologies to large scale experimentation and analysis. Some of our key research programs include privacy-safe data sharing, defending against denial of service, malware handling and management, and binary analysis.

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Internet Measurement

Our goal is to improve the Internet by discovering new ways to understand network topology, traffic, use and abuse. We explore challenges in networking and cybersecurity from several perspectives. We develop and operate unique network measurement and analysis Infrastructure that we employ to address important problems in network reliability and security. Our research builds models to assist with real world dilemmas, such as natural disasters and power grid outages, to enhance internet agility and robustness.

Experimental Research Methodologies

Conducting experimentation to explore and evaluate research in cybersecurity and networking requires new scientific methods, tools, and infrastructure. As a leader in cyber experimentation we architect, develop, and operate advanced cyber infrastructure testbeds. Our work creates models, experimentation frameworks, tools, and approaches to enhance the science of cyber experimentation to make experiments reusable, repeatable and robust.

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