Misaligned incentives are driving technology suppliers, buyers, and operators to undervalue security, leaving our critical infrastructure exposed and putting national security at risk. The Center works to realign those incentives before the problem outpaces our ability to solve it.
CfAC embraces the unique aspects of national security in the cyber domain, focusing on how to protect private industry on the front lines of digital conflict and leverage their unique insights and capabilities in disrupting malicious threat actors.
CfAC looks at all dimensions of cyber risk. Our applied research and policy development focuses on practical and scalable solutions.
From the beginning of the Ransomware Task Force, it’s been clear that a purely defensive posture is inadequate. Our work on operational collaboration looks at the unique aspects of disruption within the cyber domain.
Whether we’re devising new means of shoring up the governance of the CVE Program or organizing responses to breaches of core K-12 education technology, we address vulnerabilities baked into systems and introduced during deployment.
Our adversaries are determined and no defense is perfect. Through projects like UnDisruptable27, we are developing new methods to engineer down risk for critical infrastructure providers operating below the cyber poverty line.
featured IST cyber voices, takeaways, research, and insights in outlets like CNN, Cyberscoop, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Politico, and The Verge in the last year.
of the Blueprint for Ransomware Defense, a hands-on action plan specifically tailored to the needs of small- and medium-sized organizations, since 2022.
issued by IST’s cyber experts in the last year on topics including E-Rate, victim notification, vulnerability management, operational collaboration, and systemic defense.
“The Center for Advancing Cybersecurity is a place for policy engineers. We move fast to identify and address emerging risks, and we embrace incremental improvements that have systemic impact. We also know our work isn’t done when we put forth a recommendation. We’re in it for the long haul, working with industry leaders and policymakers to tinker with proposals until they are implemented as meaningful solutions.”
A legislative strategist and technologist, Nicholas has spent 15 years addressing cybersecurity risk and resilience and managing multidisciplinary teams of senior professionals at the White House and on Capitol Hill. He was integral in the creation of the Office of the National Cyber Director and served as one of its first employees.
Critical infrastructure faces a multi-dimensional threat, and most communities remain underprepared. UnDisruptable27 is working directly with local communities to build their resilience, focusing at the nexus of water and hospitals.
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Shaping technology’s trajectory into a force for stability and forging common cause against its most consequential risks
IST’s long-standing efforts on artificial intelligence span multi-agent risks, recursive self improvement, loss of control, AI security, and more
Commentary
The Clear, the Muddy, and the Insoluble of the Administration’s Cyber Operations National Security Presidential Memorandum