CyLab

Day 2 of the CyLab Partners Conference is underway! Dean Burcu Akinci of @cmuengineering.bsky.social provided opening remarks, and @cylab.bsky.social faculty member @jcalandrino.bsky.social presented the 2026 CyLab Distinguished Alumni Award to @leak.bsky.social, CISO and VP of @linkedin.com.

Day 1 of the CyLab Partners Conference closed with a student research poster session as well as presentations on generative AI & ML, crypto & blockchain, and our partnerships and research initiatives. Excited to hit the ground running on Wednesday for day 2!

“What's missing from this conversation that could implicitly encourage that slowdown is assigning liability to certain behaviors.” @sarahcen.bsky.social, CyLab faculty member, addresses the slowdown of #AI development at the @cylab.bsky.social Partners Conference panel on the AI Cyber Challenge.

“People are spending a lot of time trying to automate things, and I need to automate making the problems go away, because the time to exploit is coming down to zero.” @leak.bsky.social, @linkedin.com CISO & VP, talks ground-level #AI attacks & defenses at the @cylab.bsky.social Partners Conference.

“Work smarter, not slower.” @lujobauer.bsky.social, co director of the @cylab.bsky.social Cyber Autonomy Initiative, moderated today's opening panel at the CyLab Partners Conference, where panelists discussed the strategic benefits and risks of slowing down #AI development.

“What used to be a human timescale problem has become a machine timescale problem.” Vyas Sekar, co-director of the @cylab.bsky.social Cyber Autonomy Initiative, kicked off the 2026 CyLab Partners Conference with a talk on how #AI is currently reshaping #cybersecurity.

“You are not good at generating random passwords. Your password manager is.” Prof. Lorrie Cranor (@lorriecranor.bsky.social), @cylab.bsky.social director, shares tips for creating strong passwords and cultivating good organizational password policies with @veronicalenard.bsky.social of SBS News.

A landmark $500 million gift will transform Carnegie Mellon University’s top-ranked School of Computer Science into a global powerhouse shaping students, research and technologies to address emerging global challenges.

We’re thrilled to share that U.S. News & World Report has released its 2027 Best Colleges undergraduate rankings, with Carnegie Mellon University’s undergraduate Cybersecurity program ranked #1 in the nation for the sixth consecutive year!

Amazon (@amazon.science) will become a founding sponsor of @cylab.bsky.social's Cyber Autonomy Initiative, an interdisciplinary research effort focused on developing AI-powered cyber systems that can identify threats, adapt to changing conditions, and defend digital infrastructure at machine speed.

How is #AI reshaping #cybersecurity? At the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship’s CMU Lab to Market event, panelists explored emerging threats, the need for autonomous defenses, and how academia, industry, and government can collaborate to build more secure AI systems. #CMUStartupWeek #LabtoMarket

“We need an informed debate on the right way to harness this technology.” Professor Vyas Sekar, Co-Director of CyLab’s Cyber Autonomy Initiative, talks to Kristine Sorensen of @cbsnews.com about the risks associated with emerging #AI technologies:

Cybersecurity researchers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors will come together at @cmu.edu's Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship on Sept. 16, for Cyber Innovators Connect, an event designed to strengthen connections across Pittsburgh’s growing #cybersecurity and #startup communities.

Passkeys may represent the future of logging in, but @cylabacademy.bsky.social Director @lorriecranor.bsky.social's research has shown that people tend to resist new security features as long as they can. Read what she had to say to @willoremus.com of @theatlantic.com about problems w/ #passkeys:

. @cmu.edu faculty and students will share their research at next week’s 2026 Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS) @soupsconference.bsky.social, which takes place August 23-26 in Hannover, Germany. See a full list of the CMU research being presented below:

#Teachers should not have to build an entire technical environment before they can teach #cybersecurity. CyLab Security Academy gives educators access to challenges, classroom tools, and authentic learning experiences. @cylab.bsky.social @cmu.edu

The first time someone investigates a suspicious file, decodes hidden information, or works through a vulnerability should not be during a high-stakes job interview. Learners need room to experiment, make mistakes, and try again. Explore the Academy at cylabacademy.org. @cmu.edu @cylab.bsky.social

“This guy eats a lot of McDonald’s.” Find out what happened when Reece Rodgers of @wired.com requested a copy of his data from the @mcdonaldsuss.bsky.social loyalty program, and why @cylab.bsky.social Director @lorriecranor.bsky.social told him there are more beneficial approaches to consumers:

. @cmu.edu faculty and students will present 10 co-authored papers on a wide range of topics at the 35th USENIX Security Symposium, held this week in Baltimore. See a full list of papers and abstracts below: #usesec26

A new white paper from @cmu.edu's @cylabacademy.bsky.social examines how artificial intelligence may be changing what cybersecurity competitions measure, and the extent to which performance reflects underlying expertise.

Want to help cultivate rewarding partnerships in #cybersecurity, #privacy, #AI, and #blockchain research? CyLab is hiring an Assistant/Associate Director of Partnerships! Learn more and apply here: bit.ly/cylab-hiring

CyLab has launched a new collaboration with the @awscloud.bsky.social Startups Activate Program that will provide cloud computing resources, technical guidance, business mentorship, and go-to-market resources to support @cylab.bsky.social Venture Network startup partners.

. @lorriecranor.bsky.social, @cylab.bsky.social Director, visited Mayor @coreyoconnorpa.bsky.social of @cityofpittsburgh.bsky.social this week to discuss her children’s book “Privacy, Please!” and share strategies for having age-appropriate conversations with preschoolers about personal boundaries.

Can posting a “peace sign” selfie put you at an increased risk of biometric identity theft? @cylab.bsky.social faculty member Vyas Sekar of sets the record straight with Lauren Fichten of @cbsnews.com:

You know that feeling when a challenge you've been stuck on for hours finally clicks? Yeah. That's the whole thing.🎢 CyLab Security Academy is built for people who chase that feeling. You belong here. cylabacademy.org #picoCTF #picoIsNowTheAcademy @cmu.edu @cylab.bsky.social

For the fifth consecutive year, @cmu.edu students have claimed first place in the MITRE Embedded Capture the Flag (eCTF) #cybersecurity competition, further cementing the university’s status as the top program in one of the nation’s most demanding collegiate security contests.

. @publicknowledge.bsky.social cited recent research from a team led by @cylab.bsky.social faculty members Sarah Scheffler and @lorriecranor.bsky.social in its newest white paper, “Getting Age Assurance Right: A Risk-Based Framework for High-Risk Online Features.” Read the full white paper below.

Some things change. Some things remain the same. Same team. New mission. We are expanding access to hands-on cybersecurity learning through CyLab Security Academy, with new content in cybersecurity, AI security, blockchain, and more. You belong in the Academy. learn.cylabacademy.org/get-started

CyLab’s Cyber Autonomy Initiative is exploring the real limits of current #AI and LLM-based cyber defense systems to better understand what’s needed for resilient, next-generation security. Learn how CyLab is helping shape the future of autonomous cyber defense.

“As paradoxical as it may seem, AI, including agentic AI, is becoming essential to protecting privacy.” In a column for the @acm.org, Norman Sadeh, Co-Director of the Privacy Engineering program at @cmu.edu, argues that without #AI, adequate #privacy has become simply out of reach.

Hideto Tomabechi, CyLab Fellow and CEO of Cognitive Research Labs, will give talk on the evolution and future of cognitive warfare at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C. on April 22 at 3 pm ET. See below for full details & to register to attend online or in-person. www.stimson.org/event/cognit...

Beyond Fake Reviews: Exploring Superficially Benign Practices That May Distort Online Reviews (@jcalandrino.bsky.social - @cylab.bsky.social) #ConPro26 [13/15] conpro26.ieee-security.org/papers/calan...

Measuring User Responses to Online Age Verification Mechanisms through a Deceptive Experiment (Lin, Zhang, @madelyne.github.io, @lorriecranor.bsky.social, Scheffler - @cylab.bsky.social, @princetoncitp.bsky.social) #ConPro26 [9/15] conpro26.ieee-security.org/papers/lin-c...

A new collaboration between @cmu.edu and Anaxi Labs aims to tackle one of the biggest unanswered questions in artificial intelligence: how the rapidly expanding #AI ecosystem should distribute the economic value it creates.

. @cylab.bsky.social researchers are set to present four papers, serve on one panel, and lead three workshops at the upcoming @acm.org @chi.acm.org Conference. #CHI2026

“To cross that threshold and effectively integrate AI agents at scale, you will need to stop treating them as turnkey software that simply needs to be installed.” In a Harvard Business Review column, Rahul Telang of @cmuheinzcollege.bsky.social identifies recurring frictions in scaling agentic #AI:

As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms both cyberattacks and cybersecurity defenses, @cylab.bsky.social has announced a new research initiative aimed at reshaping how digital systems protect themselves. #AI

CyLab faculty members and alumni will present research and innovative startups at next week’s @rsaconference.bsky.social. See full details on contributions by @cylab.bsky.social faculty members @lorriecranor.bsky.social and Vyas Sekar, and alumni Saurabh Shintre, Brian Singer, & Mark Dong: #RSAC2026

On March 23, the Cyber Startup Expo 2026 will bring together early-stage cybersecurity companies, investors, and industry executives for a full day of startup demos, expert panels, and networking. Learn more about the event, and meet some of our participating CyLab Venture Network Startup Partners:

Congratulations to Prof. Lorrie Cranor (@lorriecranor.bsky.social), @cylab.bsky.social Director, on being named a recipient of the 2026 @acm.org @acm-sigchi.bsky.social Lifetime Research Award, one of the highest honors in the field of human-computer interaction. www.cylab.cmu.edu/news/2026/02...

Many thanks to Prof. @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social, Professor in the @cmus3d.bsky.social and Director of the Software Engineering Ph.D. program, for stopping by CyLab today to share his research on (sub)-structural information flow: a simple, scalable, and general foundation for security reasoning.

Congratulations to Profs. Pardis Emami-Naeini, Lorrie Cranor (@lorriecranor.bsky.social), & Yuvraj Agarwal on being honored w/ Foresight Institute’s Norm Hardy Prize for their contributions to advancing usable security through the development of a layered cybersecurity label for smart home devices!

Many thanks to Professor David Kohlbrenner of the University of Washington for visiting CyLab today to share his research on software #security and transistor physics in aging computer systems.

Data Privacy Day 2026 is underway at the Heinz History Center! Stop by the first floor Great Hall between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. for a full day of programming. Details and schedule: privacy.cs.cmu.edu/cmu-privacy-...

Congratulations to CyLab researchers Hemant Gouni, @fpfenning.bsky.social, and @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social on being recognized w/ a Distinguished Paper Award at the 53rd @acm.org SIGPLAN Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (#POPL2026) in Rennes, France. Read their winning paper below:

Carnegie Mellon researchers analyzed Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain transaction data representing two years of crypto wallet transfers to track a simple but extremely effective phishing scam.

. @cmus3d.bsky.social is inviting undergrad students from across the country to take part in its Security & Privacy Undergraduate Research (SPUR) Scholars program, a 10-week immersive experience designed to introduce students to the world of #security & #privacy while helping them explore research:

CyLab faculty member Sarah Scheffler will participate as a panelist at the Federal Trade Commission's public, virtual Age Verification Workshop tomorrow, January 28. See full details of Professor Scheffler’s recent age verification research & learn how to register to attend the free workshop below:

Join Lorrie Cranor (@lorriecranor.bsky.social), CyLab Director, on Tuesday, January 27 at 2:30 p.m. ET for a Data Privacy Week webinar sponsored by the National Cybersecurity Alliance, on the topic of children’s #privacy in a digital world. See full details and register to attend below:

UPDATE: due to the anticipated winter storm, Data Privacy Day is being postponed one week to Sunday, February 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Heinz History Center's first floor Great Hall. Please see full details below: