"UCSB to Lead NSF-Funded Research Institute for Next-Level AI-Powered Cybersecurity"
The Institute for Agent-based Cyber Threat Intelligence and Operation (ACTION), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is composed of the top US computer scientists and engineers. It combines the continuous learning and reasoning of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the situational awareness fundamental to cybersecurity. The ACTION Institute includes more than 20 collaborators from UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, Purdue University, Georgia Tech, the University of Chicago, the University of Washington, and more. According to Dimitri Kusnezov, the Under Secretary for Science and Technology at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the ACTION Institute will help accurately assess the opportunities and risks posed by AI technology, as well as its impact on DHS missions. The aim of this group of researchers to push the boundaries of fundamental AI and implement new insights represents a major investment in cybersecurity defense. Building a joint human-AI system that complements each other's capabilities, such as presenting a human expert with risk-reward options derived from an AI-learned model, is one of the ways the ACTION Institute will be at the forefront of AI-cybersecurity research. The realization that security systems can be viewed as a stage where multiple agents interact, each with their own motivations, objectives, and abilities, will inform the institute's approach to cybersecurity. When designing security systems, one must consider how one agent's actions will influence the behavior of another agent. This type of reasoning is required to ensure that the protection mechanisms used to defend a system against a particular type of attack do not inadvertently introduce a new vulnerability. This article continues to discuss the new NSF-funded ACTION Institute.