About CACR

CACR’s mission is to provide people with the knowledge and skills they need to manage cybersecurity risks in complex, challenging environments where standard cybersecurity practices do not suffice. It does so through a combination of thought leadership, applied research, training and education, operational services, and extensive interdisciplinary collaboration.

Founded in 2003, CACR is Indiana University’s flagship center for cybersecurity, serving as an integrator for research across the university’s different schools and organizations. CACR is distinctive in addressing cybersecurity from a comprehensive, multidisciplinary perspective. CACR draws on IU’s wide range of scholarly expertise in computer science, informatics, accounting and information systems, criminal justice, law, organizational behavior, and public policy, as well as the extensive practical cybersecurity experience of its operational units. CACR is the only university-level center in the country that involves legal, policy, economic, and behavioral research, along with operational and technical expertise.  

CACR is a research center affiliated with the Pervasive Technology Institute (PTI) at Indiana University. PTI consists of seven centers and two labs and focuses on improving the quality of life in the state of Indiana and the world through novel research, innovation, and service delivery in information technology and informatics.  

Exemplars of CACR work

National

• Trusted CI: Leadership for the NSF cybersecurity ecosystem
• ResearchSOC: Cybersecurity services for the nation’s greatest research
• PACT: The Principles-based Assessment for Cybersecurity Toolkit for assessing the toughest cybersecurity problems 
• PATh: Advancing the nation’s campuses and science communities by bringing together the Center for High Throughput Computing and the Open Science Grid

State

• Election security: Preparation for election officials in all 92 Indiana counties for cybersecurity incidents related to the 2020 general election and beyond
• Security Matters cybercamps: Day camps for K8+ focusing on all things cybersecurity

Indiana University

• Executive director for cybersecurity innovation (EDCI): Leveraging IU’s cybersecurity strengths to address challenges faced across the nation and expanding the role of CACR
• SecureMyResearch: Reducing the cybersecurity burden on researchers while enhancing research data security at IU
• HIPAA compliance: Providing oversight of HIPAA compliance for OVPIT systems
• ASSERT AI-enabled cybersecurity: Leading a team evaluating a research prototype application (Ahmet Okutan and S. Jay Yang at Rochester Institute of Technology) for IU’s OmniSOC security operations center.