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Strengthening cybersecurity research and advancing more resilient software systems are the focus of two new projects in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Information and Computer Sciences that have secured National Science Foundation grants totaling $520,000. The awards will support efforts to address challenges in cybersecurity and to lay the groundwork for a future national center on resilient software systems.
Both efforts are led by Professor Mehdi Tarrit Mirakhorli and Assistant Professor Anthony Peruma.
"With the government planning a $1 billion investment in offensive cyber capabilities, our work is more vital than ever," Mirakhorli said. "We are developing a foundational hacking framework to ensure the United States also leads in the responsible, offensive and defensive research needed to protect our critical infrastructure and national security."
Peruma added, "UH Mānoa is earning grants and recruiting talent to help position Hawaiʻi at the forefront of cybersecurity innovation, driving interdisciplinary research and regional resilience."
Navigating cybersecurity dilemmas
The first award, a three-year, $400,000 grant, will fund UH Mānoa's "Sandbox for Cybersecurity Research." The project aims to help researchers, students and professionals better navigate responsibility dilemmas in cybersecurity.
Through case studies, interactive simulations and classroom modules, the initiative will create tools to guide real-world decision making and promote responsible practices in handling sensitive data and security threats. The sandbox will also serve as an educational platform, training the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to balance technical expertise with responsibility.
Building resilient systems
The second grant, a one-year, $119,998 planning award, supports early work to design a multi-institution Center for Resilient by Design Software and Systems. This effort focuses on building computing systems that can withstand and recover from cyberattacks, rather than relying solely on defenses that react after a breach.
The planning period will include organizing the Cyber-Resilience Forum at MITRE Corporation in McLean, Virginia on November 14. This event, which is led by UH and hosted by MITRE, will serve as a trusted venue for government, industry and academic participants to explore the next frontiers of resilient-by-design systems. The goal is to unite universities, government and industry partners around a future national center dedicated to embedding resilience directly into the design of critical software and infrastructure.
Together, the grants highlight UH's growing role in advancing cybersecurity research at the intersection of technology, resilience and more.
The Department of Information and Computer Sciences is housed in UH Mānoa's College of Natural Sciences.