Research
Northeastern University is a leader in cross-disciplinary collaboration and real-world research. The Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute benefits from integration with the university, including the Khoury College of Computer Sciences and the School of Law. We collaborate with leading universities, tech companies, and defense contractors globally and in Boston.
In recognition of Northeastern’s strengths in cyber defense, the National Security Agency has designated the university a National Center of Academic Excellence for the BS degree in Computer Science and in Cyber Security, with a concentration in Cyber Operations. Northeastern has also been named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research and a Center of Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security.
Research areas
Algorithmic auditing
Develops methods to inspect the algorithmic systems that shape online life, including recommendation engines, advertising platforms, and ranking systems, surfacing how they behave and whom they affect.
Internet security measurement
Develops methods to inspect the algorithmic systems that shape online life, including recommendation engines, advertising platforms, and ranking systems, surfacing how they behave and whom they affect.
Embedded device security
Secures the resource-constrained systems embedded in everyday and critical devices, spanning microcontrollers, IoT hardware, and medical implants.
Privacy
Research studies how personal information is collected, exposed, and protected across modern computing systems, and builds techniques ranging from differential privacy to empirical audits of real-world data flows that give people meaningful control over their data.
Tianshi Li
Trustworthy AI
Examines whether AI and machine learning systems can be trusted under adversarial pressure, probing their robustness, privacy, and security and designing defenses for models and LLM-based agents.
Cristina Nita-Rotaru