Every new technological advancement brings with it risks of abuse and vulnerabilities to attack by malicious entities, often spawning opportunities for exploitation and criminal activity. Computer scientists work tirelessly to anticipate emerging threats and build new protections against them, before malicious agents can take advantage. New tools protect both individual users and entire computing systems from attack and leaks of private information, enabling the benefits of these innovations to thrive without unintended consequences.

UChicago CS researchers address these hazards with a broad spectrum of approaches, including cryptography, machine learning, user-centered design, and data science. They’re building cutting-edge protections against security flaws in the latest technologies, such as Internet of Things devices, quantum computers, and machine learning models and systems. They’re designing new privacy mechanisms that raise users’ awareness of how their data is collected online and in the physical world and how they can best protect themselves against invasive technology. They’re also developing new technologies to improve users’ safety and security online, including technologies for improving digital literacy and combating online censorship.

Labs & Groups

SAND (Security, Algorithms, Networking and Data) Lab

Ben Y. Zhao, Heather Zheng
SAND Lab spans research topics in security, machine learning, networked systems, HCI, data mining and modeling.

SUPER (Security, Usability, & Privacy Education & Research) Group

Blase Ur
Focused on data-driven methods to improve online security and privacy and improving interaction for IoT and machine learning systems.

Network Operations and Internet Security (NOISE) Lab

Nick Feamster
Develops data-driven systems that derive insights from network traffic and explores how network traffic can reveal insights into human behavior.

Amyoli Internet Research (AIR) Lab

Marshini Chetty
Working to make the Internet more trustworthy and inclusive, drawing on human-computer interaction, usable privacy and security, ubiquitous computing, and...

Related Faculty

David Cash

Professor of Computer Science

Marshini Chetty

Associate Professor of Computer Science

Fred Chong

Seymour Goodman Professor of Computer Science

Aloni Cohen

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Data Science

Nick Feamster

Neubauer Professor of Computer Science

Grant Ho

Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Blase Ur

Associate Professor of Computer Science

Ben Y. Zhao

Neubauer Professor of Computer Science

Heather Zheng

Neubauer Professor of Computer Science

News & Events

UChicago CS News

UChicago CS Researchers Shine at UIST 2024 with Papers, Posters, Workshops and Demonstrations

Oct 10, 2024
UChicago CS News

UChicago Scientists Receive Grant to Expand Global Data Management Platform, Globus

Oct 03, 2024
UChicago CS News

UChicago Researchers Demonstrate the Quantifiable Uniqueness of Former President Donald Trump’s Language Use

Sep 30, 2024
UChicago CS News

Five UChicago CS students named to Siebel Scholars class of 2025

Sep 20, 2024
UChicago CS News

NSF and Simons Foundation launch $20 million National AI Research Institute in Astronomy

Sep 18, 2024
In the News

Data Ecology: A Socio-Technical Approach to Controlling Dataflows

Sep 18, 2024
UChicago CS News

Ph.D. Student Shawn Shan Named MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35 and Innovator of the Year

Sep 16, 2024
UChicago CS News

Ben Zhao Named to TIME Magazine’s TIME100 AI List

Sep 05, 2024
UChicago CS News

Ian Foster and Rick Stevens Named to HPCwire’s 35 Legends List

Aug 28, 2024
UChicago CS News

University of Chicago to Develop Software for Effort to Create a National Quantum Virtual Laboratory

Aug 28, 2024
UChicago CS News

New Classical Algorithm Enhances Understanding of Quantum Computing’s Future

Aug 27, 2024
UChicago CS News

Decoding Content Moderation: Analyzing Policy Variations Across Top Online Platforms

Aug 26, 2024
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