Current Research Projects

[NSF] Securing and Leveraging Agentic AI for Cyber Defense

Research Overview

AI agents can strengthen cyber defense, but their use of external tools, memory, and autonomous actions also creates new security risks. This project develops an AI agent-centered cybersecurity education framework that addresses both sides of this challenge. We will develop course modules, hands-on labs, and student projects that use agents to teach core security concepts, examine vulnerabilities in agent systems, and design practical cyber defenses. We will also study how to assess students' learning outcomes and their use of AI during problem solving.

Research Team

• Long Cheng, PI, Clemson University
• Song Liao, PI, Texas Tech University

Acknowledgement

This project is supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) under Award No. 2623261 ($250,000, September 2026–August 2029). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.