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

Professor Andrew A. Chien on the Environmental Impacts of Technology

Feb 26, 2024

Assistant Professor Yanjing Li Awarded NSF CAREER Grant for Innovative Computer Architecture and Deep Learning Research

Feb 26, 2024

Prof. Rebecca Willett awarded the SIAG DATA Career prize

Feb 21, 2024

Argonne scientists use AI to identify new materials for carbon capture

Feb 19, 2024

Alumni Spotlight: Dixin Tang, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at UT Austin

Feb 05, 2024

NetMicroscope Uses AI to Improve Network Monitoring for a Better Internet Experience

Feb 01, 2024

NeurIPS 2023 Award-winning paper by DSI Faculty Bo Li, DecodingTrust, provides a comprehensive framework for assessing trustworthiness of GPT models

Feb 01, 2024

New research unites quantum engineering and artificial intelligence

Jan 29, 2024
Video

“Machine Learning Foundations Accelerate Innovation and Promote Trustworthiness” by Rebecca Willett

Jan 26, 2024
Video

Nightshade: Data Poisoning to Fight Generative AI with Ben Zhao

Jan 23, 2024

Exploring 3D Paintbrush: An AI That Colors with Words

Jan 22, 2024

Group From UChicago CS To Present Four Papers at Most Prestigious International Quantum Conference

Jan 09, 2024
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