Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham

Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham

Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham, executive director of the Cyber Security Research and Education Institute (CSI) at UT Dallas, is a recipient of a 2013 IBM Faculty Award in Cyber Security.

The award, initiated by an IBM employee, is given to researchers at leading global universities who have outstanding reputations for contributions to the field.

“We consider this another excellent milestone in the ever-growing relationship between IBM and The University of Texas at Dallas,” said Marisa Viveros, vice president for Cyber Security Innovation at IBM. “It is truly a pleasure to work with a group of such dedicated and outstanding academic leaders.”

Thuraisingham, a professor of computer science in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and a Louis Beecherl Jr. Distinguished Professor, received the award for new educational courses that will advance cybersecurity skills for UT Dallas students, and by extension, IBM and the cybersecurity field.

“This is an honor not just for me, but also (the CSI) team members and the University,” Thuraisingham said. “IBM award winners contribute work that often revolutionizes their fields. Hopefully, after we do great work on this project, other CSI members will receive future IBM faculty awards.”

We consider this another excellent milestone in the ever-growing relationship between IBM and The University of Texas at Dallas. It is truly a pleasure to work with a group of such dedicated and outstanding academic leaders.

Marisa Viveros,
Vice President for Cyber Security Innovation at IBM

UT Dallas became designated as a National Security Agency/Department of Homeland Security Center for Excellence in Education in Information Assurance in 2004 and an NSA/DHS Center for Excellence in Research in 2008. This award will leverage the educational, research and system building development activities in cybersecurity and information assurance into a UT Dallas/IBM collaboration.

CSI has received more than $20 million in research grants from a variety of governmental and industry groups, as well as more than $3 million in grants to create educational programs in cybersecurity.

Thuraisingham’s team has established new courses in cybersecurity areas for which they receive significant funding. These include courses in traditional cybersecurity topics such as computer security, data mining for malware and Web services security, and courses in new, interdisciplinary areas such as risk-based data security.

This new award will use IBM resources to develop courses in areas such as secure cloud computing, secure mobile/smartphone computing and cyberoperations.

“The future will require cyberoperations research teams that address not only computer science, software and hardware security, but also political theory, institutional theory, behavioral psychology, deterrence theory, military ethics and legal aspects,” Thuraisingham said. “The information assurance competence that we have built over the years serves as a foundation for our work in cyberoperations.”

The IBM award collaboration starts this fall with courses expected to begin during spring 2014.