CyberAI Innovation: Agentic Cybersecurity Engineering for Artificial Intelligence

The Agentic Cybersecurity Engineering for Artificial Intelligence (ACE) project addresses the critical shortage of cybersecurity professionals for designing, deploying, and securing AI agents in real-world cyber operations. To close this gap in practical training at the intersection of AI and security, the project will develop a suite of instructional resources to help understand and secure agentic AI systems. The resources will feature multiple modules, allowing introductory sections to be seamlessly integrated into existing computer science curricula or used as standalone short lessons for rapid workforce upskilling. By hosting these materials on a publicly accessible virtual laboratory network, the project will democratize access to advanced technology and training resources for all educational institutions across the United States. Ultimately, this effort will enhance national security by streamlining the preparation of AI cybersecurity professionals, who will design, deploy and safeguard future AI agents against evolving digital threats. The primary goal of this project is to construct and disseminate a novel graduate-level curriculum focused on intelligent agents in cybersecurity. By utilizing the NSF-funded SPHERE infrastructure, the project will establish a virtual laboratory environment. The academic scope covers agent architectures, Large Language Models as reasoning engines, and agentic AI attack surfaces. Students will use the SPHERE infrastructure to simulate complex networks, deploy multi-agent systems, and execute proof-of-concept exploits. Methodologically, the curriculum will explore agentic AI as defense mechanisms, attack tools, and target systems. It will feature rigorous assignments in Reinforcement Learning for penetration testing and adversarial attack mitigation. Technical contributions will include advanced modules that address emerging vulnerabilities such as prompt injection, MCP server attacks and memory poisoning. The project will advance computer science education by providing open-source frameworks to train hundreds of students annually and by supporting educators nationwide in concert with the SPHERE research infrastructure’s education efforts. This project is supported by the CyberAICorps Scholarship for Service (CyberAI SFS) program which funds proposals to increase national capacity to educate and train professionals in Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Cybersecurity, and to support their placement and retention in the CyberAI mission of government organizations. The Scholarship Track funds academic institutions to award scholarships to students in exchange for their government service. The Innovation Track seeks transformative education proposals in the areas of AI, cybersecurity, or the integration of AI and cybersecurity. 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.