Research

Center of Excellence in CyberSecurity (CYBEX)

Advances in information technology are fast transforming our world into a huge virtual village. Enterprises, governments, industries and even individuals are highly relying on information technology to store information, perform work, learn, train, transfer money and even engage in conflicts and wars. Lots of assets are now available online. It is natural that criminals and evil doers move their activities online – even wars and conflicts are now digitized and automated. The frequency and complexity of cyber attacks are growing by the minute. Many cyber attacks are so quiet and stealth to the extent that one may never feel that he is being attacked. Some of the attacks are only discovered when it is too late. Many countries and organizations are attaching high priority and dedicating high budgets to protect against cyber wars and crimes. KSA is no exception. Cybersecurity is given top priority in the Kingdom 2030 vision. Many decisions have been taken, many organizations have been established and many best practices have been enforced. In line with KSA 2030 strategy, PSU is giving high priority to CyberSecurity education and research. PSU is the first university to establish a Master Program in CyberSecurity and CyberSecurity tracks in all computing BS programs. PSU Community Service Center has been offering many certifications and training programs in Cybersecurity. Establishing a Center of Excellence in CyberSecurity is a natural continuation for the efforts of PSU contributions.

VISION

Become a one-stop hub for innovative cybersecurity solutions and research and establish a cybersecurity culture that reflects positively on the prosperity of KSA and the region

MISSION

Innovate and collaborate to provide cybersecurity solutions through proactive research, education, capacity building, indigenization of technology and establish a conducive environment for innovation and development

OBJECTIVES

  • Establish a proactive responsive strategy to identify cybersecurity problems, gaps, and pain areas in KSA
  • Provide advanced cybersecurity services to build effective cyber defenses in enterprises and organizations
  • Develop and provide smart cybersecurity solutions that address community and organization needs
  • Establish a crowd sourcing and collaboration culture to benefit from community expertise and talented developers
  • Conduct high quality applied research to advance knowledge and solve problems in the areas of cybersecurity
  • Establish capacity building educational, training and certification programs plus challenge and competition programs to develop skills and encourage innovations
  • Capitalize on advances in data science and AI to provide solutions and build secure systems