The Science of Security and Privacy (SoS) Initiative, sponsored by the National Security Agency Research Directorate, fosters a self-sustaining, open, and public security science research community to discover key cyber principles necessary to support improved explanations, predictions and confirmation or validation of predicted outcomes. The discipline of Science of Security and Privacy draws on the bases from multiple disciplines including: Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Psychology. SoS is advancing the technical aspects of security along with an understanding the human elements involved.
Beginning in 2012, SoS has funded Lablets at leading universities. Lablets are multidisciplinary labs that are doing basic cybersecurity research and advancing the discipline of SoS. The initiative encourages the application of rigorous research methods through its Annual Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition. The competition awards the paper with the best scientific cybersecurity research contribution. To also promote rigorous research at the high school, SoS started recognizing outstanding achievement in security science with a cash award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Research from the growing community is showcased annually at the Hot Topics in the Science of Security Symposium. The Science of Security Virtual Organization (www.sos-vo.org) was established to provide a focal point for security science related work and a collaborative environment the community can use to further advance cybersecurity science. Since 2012, the community has had participation from more than 700 authors, in 27 countries across 5 continents.
Nominations for the 7th Annual Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition may be submitted until 31 March 2019 (additional details are available at https://cps-vo.org/node/5488)