SEI Framework Identifies Cybersecurity Research Priorities for National Security
Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has released a new framework identifying cybersecurity research priorities intended to strengthen national security missions amid rapidly evolving cyber threats.
Developed by more than 25 SEI technical experts, Advancing Cybersecurity: A Framework of Cyber Research Priorities identifies research areas where advances could have significant operational impact across national security organizations, the intelligence community, the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies.
The framework identifies seven enduring areas for cybersecurity research and development:
- Analytic and Operational Tradecraft for Cybersecurity
- Securing AI-Based Systems and Workflows
- Cyber-Physical System Security
- Cybersecurity for Complex Integrated Systems
- Insider Threat and Human-Systems Interaction
- Secure Engineering and Mission Confidence
- Modeling and Simulation in Support of Security
Within these areas, SEI identifies 37 high-priority opportunities for advancement and outlines both near- and longer-term actions.
The framework was developed against a threat environment that includes nation-state activity targeting critical infrastructure and the growing use of artificial intelligence to accelerate vulnerability discovery and exploitation.
Rather than approaching cybersecurity research solely as a collection of technical problems, SEI recommends connecting research priorities to mission risk. The framework uses three elements to help structure that analysis: characteristics of potential threats, consequences to the mission, and vulnerabilities within the system.
Several of the research areas have direct relevance to systems-of-systems engineering. Cyber-physical security and the security of complex integrated systems require researchers to consider interactions across software, physical components, networks, organizations, and operational environments rather than treating individual systems independently.
SEI intends the framework to help research organizations, government agencies, and industry establish mission-focused cybersecurity research agendas and better connect scientific advances with operational capabilities.
Source: Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, September 21, 2026.
Original SEI Announcement: https://sei.cmu.edu/news/sei-defines-framework-for-national-security-cyber-research/
The complete Advancing Cybersecurity: A Framework of Cyber Research Priorities is also available through the SEI Digital Library.