Malware. Ransomware. Zero-day exploits. There’s no rest when it comes to protection from cyberattacks. And in an increasingly connected world, with expanding cyber and cyber-physical spaces and access to tools like artificial intelligence, attacks are likely going to become more diverse and sophisticated.
That’s why a group of the nation’s best computer scientists and engineers, led by UC Santa Barbara with major contributions from Purdue and UC Berkeley, have come together to form the National Science Foundation-sponsored Institute for Agent-based Cyber Threat Intelligence and OperatioN (ACTION). This $20 million, five-year project is one of seven newly funded National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes. ACTION brings the continuous learning – and now, reasoning – of AI to the constant situational awareness and actions that are fundamental to cybersecurity.