{"id":17533,"date":"2019-09-05T14:31:08","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T18:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/?page_id=17533"},"modified":"2025-11-13T17:26:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T22:26:45","slug":"center-for-reliable-information-systems-and-cyber-security-riscs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/centers-initiatives-labs\/center-for-reliable-information-systems-and-cyber-security-riscs\/","title":{"rendered":"Center for Reliable Information Systems and Cyber Security"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The Center for Reliable Information Systems and Cyber Security (RISCS)\u00a0 promotes and coordinates research and education in system reliability and information security.<\/strong> It emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach that includes fields as diverse as reliable and secure computations, engineering, economics, ethics, and law.<\/p>\n<h3>Research Areas<\/h3>\n<p>Our current research areas include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>cryptology<\/li>\n<li>networks<\/li>\n<li>software security<\/li>\n<li>software safety<\/li>\n<li>economics<\/li>\n<li>game-theoretic approaches to internet computing<\/li>\n<li>database security<\/li>\n<li>robust monitoring<\/li>\n<li>fair and secure file sharing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/centers-initiatives-labs\/center-for-reliable-information-systems-and-cyber-security-riscs\/data-utility-vs-privacy\/\">Data Security &amp; Privacy FAQs<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Partnerships &amp; Related Initiatives<\/h3>\n<p>RISCS supports the<span>\u00a0<\/span><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cs\/busec\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BU Security Group<\/a><\/strong>, which does research in cryptography and network security within the Department of Computer Science, and spearheads the <strong>BU Cyber Security, Law, and Society Alliance (Cyber Alliance)<\/strong> &#8212; a collaboration between computer science, law, business, and social science researchers to position BU as a leader in the burgeoning global discussion on cybersecurity. The Cyber Alliance aims to leverage BU\u2019s disciplinary breadth to create opportunities for cross-disciplinary debate, research, and activities in pursuit of this goal.<\/p>\n<p>Through RISCS, BU is recognized as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education and Research. RISCS reaches out to industry, government, and the community and has established partnerships that aim at increasing knowledge, awareness, and education in trustworthy, safe, and secure systems and networks.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>People<\/h3>\n<p>RISCS draws on the expertise of 22 faculty and over 100 graduate students from the Faculty of Computing &amp; Data Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, Questrom School of Business, and Metropolitan College, and provides opportunities for faculty and students from diverse fields to collaborate on interdisciplinary research problems, create new knowledge, and develop innovative multidisciplinary curricula.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h4 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Computing &amp; Cybersecurity<\/h4><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/azer.bestavros.net\">Azer Bestavros<\/a> (Warren Distinguished Professor of Computer Science; Founding Director of the Hariri Institute)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cs\/john-byers\/\">John Byers<\/a> (Data Science Faculty Fellow and Professor of Computer Science)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cs\/ran-canetti\/\">Ran Canetti<\/a> (Professor of Computer Science; Co-Director of RISCS)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.bu.edu\/~goldbe\/\">Sharon Goldberg<\/a> (Associate Professor of Computer Science)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.bu.edu\/~reyzin\/\">Leo Reyzin<\/a> (Professor of Computer Science)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/profile\/ari-trachtenberg\/\">Ari Trachtenberg<\/a> (Professor and Associate Chair of Electrical &amp; Computer Engineering)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mvaria.com\">Mayank Varia<\/a> (Research Scientist at the Hariri Institute for Computing; Co-Director of RISCS)<\/li>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h4 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Law &amp; Social Science<\/h4><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/stacey-dogan\/\">Stacey Dogan<\/a> (Professor of Law)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/a\/bu.edu\/jf-homepage\/\">Juliet Floyd<\/a> (Professor of Philosophy)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/ahmed-ghappour\/\">Ahmed Ghappour<\/a> (Data Science Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor of Law)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/wendy-j-gordon\/\">Wendy Gordon<\/a> (Warren Distinguished Professor of Law)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/michael-j-meurer\/\">Michael Meurer<\/a> (Professor of Law)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/nancy-j-moore\/\">Nancy Moore<\/a> (Professor of Law)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/andrew-sellars\/\">Andrew Sellars<\/a> (Clinical Instructor of Law; Director of Technology &amp; Cyberlaw Clinic)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/rory-van-loo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rory Van Loo<\/a> (Associate Professor of Law)<\/li>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h4 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Questrom School of Business<\/h4><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/danielle-citron\/\">Nalin Kulatilaka<\/a> (Professor of Finance; Co-Director of Questrom\u2019s Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/stacey-dogan\/\">Nina Mazar<\/a> (Professor Marketing, Co-Director of Questrom\u2019s Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy)<\/li>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The Hariri Institute has an ongoing collaboration with the Law School and Questrom School of Business\u2019 Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy. In addition to the above BU researchers, many students as well as collaborators from Greater Boston Area institutions contribute to the BU Cyber Alliance and participate in events and related discussions.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Cyber Alliance Activities<\/h3>\n<p>The Cyber Alliance has established a seminar series to explore the interaction between cybersecurity technology, law, business, and policy. As part of this collaboration, cross-disciplinary talks and presentations are alternatively hosted by the Law School, Questrom School of Business, or Hariri Institute, depending on the subject matter. The Cyber Alliance Seminar Series is an opportunity for all members of the BU community to meet scholars and experts in the fascinating issues at the intersections of law, technology, business, and policy.<\/p>\n<p>The alliance has also invited field experts to give seminars at BU and supported congressional briefings to continue to grow the credentials of the university in this research area. Additionally, faculty are working to create innovative learning opportunities that bring computer science, business, and law students together to tackle challenges of data ethics, ethical leadership, and cybersecurity law.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><\/div>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" style=\"border: solid 1px #777;\" src=\"https:\/\/calendar.google.com\/calendar\/embed?height=600&amp;wkst=1&amp;bgcolor=%2366cccc&amp;ctz=America%2FNew_York&amp;src=Z204ZTc0bTh1azZtMzFxZGxnMzA5a3UwOGdAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ&amp;color=%234285F4&amp;showTitle=0&amp;mode=MONTH&amp;showCalendars=0&amp;showTabs=0&amp;showPrint=0&amp;showDate=1&amp;showNav=1\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: center; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div align=\"center\"><\/div>\n<p>For a list of all Cyber Alliance events, <a href=\"https:\/\/www-staging.bu.edu\/hic\/events\/calendar\/?topic=9195\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">please visit here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h4 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Past Events & Activities<\/h4><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<h5>For recordings of past Cyber Alliance Seminars, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/noteworthy\/event-recordings\/\">please click here to visit our Event Archive<\/a>.<\/h5>\n<h5>Roundtable Discussions<\/h5>\n<li><b>4\/26\/2017<\/b> Online Political Speech &#038; Computational Fact Checking Tools<\/li>\n<li><b>12\/16\/2016<\/b> Law Enforcement, Sex Trafficking, Policing &#038; Gun Control, with Valiant Richey, King County Prosecutor<\/li>\n<h5>Brown Bag Lunch Series<\/h5>\n<li><b>11\/28\/2017<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/2017\/11\/27\/bu-cyber-alliance-hosts-1128-seminar-featuring-adam-smith\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Pinning Down &#8220;Privacy&#8221; in Statistical Data Analysis<\/a> &#8211; Adam Smith<\/li>\n<li><b>10\/23\/2017<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/2017\/10\/18\/bu-cyber-alliance-hosts-1023-brown-bag-lunch-series-featuring-michael-meurer-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Training Data and Innovation in Markets for AI<\/a> &#8211; Michael Meurer<\/li>\n<li><b>10\/2\/2017<\/b> A Crash Course in Data Encryption: Concepts, Techniques, Limitations, and Unrealized Potential, Part II &#8211; Ran Canetti<\/li>\n<li><b>7\/17\/2017<\/b> A Crash Course in Data Encryption: Concepts, Techniques, Limitations, and Unrealized Potential &#8211; Ran Canetti<\/li>\n<li><b>2\/17\/2017<\/b> Sharing Knowledge without Sharing Data: On the false choice between the privacy and utility of information &#8211; Azer Bestravros<\/li>\n<li><b>12\/12\/2016 &#038; 12\/21\/2016<\/b> Software Copyright &#8211; Wendy Gordon<\/li>\n<li><b>11\/21\/2016<\/b> Surveillance and Traffic Shaping &#8211; Sharon Goldberg<\/li>\n<li><b>10\/31\/2016<\/b> Intellectual Property Rights and Online Intermediaries &#8211; Stacey Dogan<\/li>\n<h5>Congressional Testimony and Briefings<\/h5>\n<li><b>6\/2019<\/b> Danielle Citron &#8211; Testimony to the House Intelligence Committee on &#8216;Deep Fakes&#8217; (<a href=\"https:\/\/intelligence.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/citron_testimony_for_house_committee_on_deep_fakes.pdf\">written remarks<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li><b>2\/2019<\/b> Azer Bestavros, Andrei Lapets, and Mayank Varia<\/li>\n<li><b>9\/2018<\/b> Azer Bestavros and Mayank Varia<\/li>\n<li><b>6\/2017<\/b> Mayank Varia<\/li>\n<li><b>6\/2016<\/b> Sharon Goldberg<\/li>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Networks And Associations<\/h3>\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h4 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Public Interest Technology University Network<\/h4><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2020\/02\/new-america-logo_new.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"287\" height=\"280\" class=\" wp-image-19532 alignleft\">The Public Interest Technology University Network is a partnership of 21 colleges and universities convened by New America, the Ford Foundation, and the Hewlett Foundation. The network is dedicated to building the nascent field of public interest technology through curriculum development, faculty research opportunities, and experiential learning programs, in order to inspire a new generation of civic-minded technologists and policy leaders. For more information<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/public-interest-technology\/university-network\/ \"> click here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h3>Looking Forward<\/h3>\n<p>As the collaborations enabled by the Cyber Alliance continue to grow, a number of exciting opportunities for faculty and students are being planned, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Resident scholars<\/li>\n<li>Cross-disciplinary research<\/li>\n<li>Joint workshops<\/li>\n<li>Development of educational training materials for lawyers like judges and prosecutors<\/li>\n<li>Development of curricula for joint classes to BU students<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/riscs\/\" class=\"button\">Visit Website<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Center for Reliable Information Systems and Cyber Security (RISCS)\u00a0 promotes and coordinates research and education in system reliability and information security. It emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach that includes fields as diverse as reliable and secure computations, engineering, economics, ethics, and law. Research Areas Our current research areas include: cryptology networks software security software safety [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15580,"featured_media":0,"parent":10525,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/centers-single.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17533"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15580"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17533"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39275,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17533\/revisions\/39275"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}