Cyber Security Collaborative Research Alliance

Cyber Security Collaborative Research Alliance (CSCRA) was a research program initiated and sponsored by the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The objective of the program was “to develop a fundamental understanding of cyber phenomena, including aspects of human attackers, cyber defenders, and end users, so that fundamental laws, theories, and theoretically grounded and empirically validated models can be applied to a broad range of Army domains, applications, and environments.”
Collaborative Technology and Research Alliances is a term for partnerships between Army laboratories and centers, private industry and academia for performing research and technology development intended to benefit the US Army. The partnerships are funded by the US Army.
History.
Since approximately 1992, ARL formed a number of partnerships that involved the triad of industry, academia and government. One of them was the Cyber Security Collaborative Research Alliance (CSCRA) which was awarded on September 20, 2013. The program was expected to be completed in September 2022.
Objectives.
Recognizing the need to address the growing threat of attacks on its cyber networks, the U.S. Army launched CSCRA. The alliance conducted research to advance the theoretical foundations of cyber science in the context of U.S. Army networks. According to the Army, research into cybersecurity is critical due to “the growing number and sophistication of attacks on military cyber networks coupled with the ever-increasing reliance on cyber systems to conduct the Army’s mission.” The ultimate goal of this research was the rapid development of cyber tools that could be used to dynamically assess cyber risks, detect hostile activities on friendly networks, and support agile maneuvers in cyber space in addressing novel threats.
Objectives of CSCRA included development of the following:
Research Thrusts.
The CSCRA program was organized around several research thrusts, including the following:
Participants.
The research under this program was performed collaboratively by scientists of the US Army Research Laboratory and by scientists and engineers of the following institutions:
Results.
Examples of research results developed by the CSCRA program include the following: