Cybersecurity is a cross-disciplinary field that draws on and feeds into the other key areas of research at CITIC, including data processing and management, artificial intelligence systems, computation systems, and online services and communications. Its purpose is to ensure that information and communication systems (computer hardware, software, data, information exchange) function properly and in accordance with the needs for which they were designed.

The three core principles of cybersecurity are:

• Confidentiality, including privacy
• Integrity (ensuring data are accurate) 
• Availability (ensuring access to information and communication services at all times)

Research areas and priorities:

• Analysis of data based on collective intelligence techniques, neural networks and machine learning to detect anomalous situations
• Analysis of data flows to detect potentially dangerous situations
• Application of early intrusion detection techniques
• Safety analysis and assessment of emerging technology
• Identity verification and authentication methods based on human behavioural analysis