Bitcoin is one of many recent topics in cybersecurity. (Courtesy of BTC Keychain on Flickr, license CC BY.)
Hewlett Foundation funds new MIT initiative on cybersecurity policy
Largest-ever private commitment to cybersecurity establishes major new academic centers.
MIT Resource Development | November 18, 2014MIT has received $15 million in funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to establish an initiative aimed at laying the foundations for a smart, sustainable cybersecurity policy to deal with the growing cyber threats faced by governments, businesses, and individuals.
The MIT Cybersecurity Policy Initiative (CPI) is one of three new academic initiatives to receive a total of $45 million in support through the Hewlett Foundation’s Cyber Initiative. Simultaneous funding to MIT, Stanford University, and the University of California at Berkeley is intended to jump-start a new field of cyber policy research. The idea is to generate a robust “marketplace of ideas” about how best to enhance the trustworthiness of computer systems while respecting individual privacy and free expression rights, encouraging innovation, and supporting the broader public interest.
With the new awards, the Hewlett Foundation has now allocated $65 million over the next five years to strengthening cybersecurity, the largest-ever private commitment to this nascent field. Read more »
Coincidentally, MIT OpenCourseWare — which received substantial startup funding from the Hewlett Foundation — has just published a new version of Prof. Ronald Rivest’s 6.857 Network and Computer Security. This OCW course features lecture notes, assignments with sample solutions, and links to many student projects.
