Research Areas
The division is engaged in a broad program of research and development applied to pressing problems. The research agenda evolves as the field adapts to the changes in cyberspace today and in the future. We are increasingly engaged in multi-discipline research with colleagues across ISI and in the greater research community.
Areas of Research
- Network and Security Measurement, Analysis and Defenses
- Network Infrastructure Supporting Science and Applications
- Research, Methods, and Infrastructure for Cyber Experimentation
- Social Engineering Attacks
- Binary Program Analysis, Vulnerability Discovery, and Reverse Engineering
- Modeling Human Behavior for Cybersecurity and Social Simulation
- Theory and Practice of Distributed Computing
Network and Security Measurement, Analysis and Defenses
We research methods to observe and collect network and network security data and behaviors. These methods are used to develop novel networking capabilities and network defenses.
Projects
- ANT Lab Measurements
New methods to generate and share network data - New Data Collection
Near-Real Time Network Outages - Data to Researchers
- Understanding Privacy of Network Data
- Network Traffic Identification for Cybersecurity
Identifying an application from its traffic


Network Infrastructure Supporting Science and Applications
Network infrastructure that fosters network and cybersecurity enabled collaborations, driving discovery in science for research, education communities, and internet users domestically and internationally.
Projects
- B-Root DNS Infrastructure
Providing root DNS service since 1987 - Defeating Distributed Attacks Through ISP Collaboration
A collaborative approach to fight DDoS attacks - AARCLight
A Series of Underseas Fiber Optic Cable Networks in the South Atlantic
Research, Methods, and Infrastructure for Cyber Experimentation
Valid scientific experiments are required to accurately evaluate and assess network systems. Conducting these experiments necessitates modeling multiple, complex network, environmental, traffic, and behavioral effects and systems. Our work creates models, experimentation frameworks, tools, and approaches to enhance the science of cyber experimentation and make the experiments reusable, repeatable, and robust.
Projects
- Scientific Experiment Modeling
Designing a system for modeling experts to contribute with readily available, easily usable tools


Social Engineering Attacks
Social engineering attacks such as phishing and impersonating are on the rise because often an organization's weakest link in security is the human in the loop. By leveraging the metadata from communication channels, and using techniques to redirect attackers, we can produce new methods for detection and fingerprinting campaigns across multiple attempts.
Projects
- Detecting and Responding to Phishing
Producing new methods for detection and fingerprint campaigns across multiple attempts
Binary Program Analysis, Vulnerability Discovery, and Reverse Engineering
Binary program analysis is the process of analyzing software programs in their binary form, also called "executable." Our work focuses on reverse engineering to search for vulnerabilities in software that is released without source-code, and to assess the security of software products.
Projects
- Is Your Software Secure?
Assessing the security of software products


Modeling Human Behavior for Cybersecurity and Social Simulation
Human behavior is a key determining factor in assessing the effectiveness of an organization's cyber defenses, including its policies. Our current research aims to observe and model important aspects of human behavior in order to predict likely responses to security posture and the evolution of information in online social networks.
Theory and Practice of Distributed Computing
Understanding the foundations of distributed computing is important for the design of efficient computational techniques across all scientific fields. As a consequence of failures and the asynchrony pervasive in distributed systems, many problems that are trivial to solve sequentially are impossible or infeasible to solve in a distributed fashion, thus presenting us with problems of deep intellectual yet practical interest.
Projects
- Distributed Algorithmics for Robust Network Controllers
Designing and implementing a scalable and secure distributed controller platform - Concurrency Challenges in Cryptocurrencies
A Privacy and Security Perspective on Building Next-Generation Smart Contract and Blockchain-Based Ecosystems
