SECURE Analytics

With this award supported by the Office of the Chief of Research Security, Strategy & Policy (OCRSSP), the U.S. National Science Foundation establishes the SECURE (Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem) Analytics. In 2022, a new law directed NSF to address foreign threats to the security and integrity of the U.S. research enterprise. International collaboration is a vital part of the culture and success of the US research enterprise and is highly valued by researchers. The SECURE Center is the comprehensive organization funded by NSF to meet this need. SECURE Analytics is an affiliated center providing analytics expertise to the overall SECURE initiative. The SECURE Analytics team, headquartered at Texas A&M University with support from the Hoover Institution and Parallax, will conduct landscape analyses, risk modeling, and help the research community by sharing data and issuing timely reports regarding the research security landscape. SECURE Analytics will support the analytics needs of SECURE Center and the broader research community while working to protect the privacy of SECURE Center’s users. Specifically, SECURE Analytics will engage in four main activities. SECURE Analytics will serve as a clearinghouse for information to help enable the research community to understand the context of their research and identify improper efforts by foreign entities related to research results, knowhow, materials, and intellectual property. SECURE Analytics will share information concerning security threats and lessons learned from protection and response efforts with the research community. They will develop tools and technologies for standardized information gathering and data compilation, storage, and analysis related to the research security landscape and types of security incidents. They will provide training and support for relevant research faculty and staff in higher education institutions and national laboratories on topics related to security risks and responses. Through this work, SECURE Analytics will share their tools, code, and analytic methods to ensure transparency with the research community. They will also synchronize with the SECURE Center to support the development of risk assessment frameworks and best practices, to create reports on research security risks and situational awareness for the research and STEM education community, and identify patterns of risks to enhance the ability of the research community to respond to and mitigate risk. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.