Cyber Hard Problems: Focused Steps Toward a Resilient Digital Future ◆ The National Academies Press
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Cyber Hard Problems Focused Steps Toward a Resilient Digital Future
(2025)
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Cyber technologies underpin every facet of the economy and are critical for national security. Cyber and cyber-enabled systems are rapidly growing in both complexity and scale, and - despite significant progress - are outpacing the capacity to keep them safe, secure, and resilient to disruptions. Cyber hard problems - unsolved technical and research problems for which progress toward solution would have a significant impact on the practical security of cyber systems - are frequently caused or sustained by human or societal factors and misaligned incentives. These in turn are exacerbated by the continuing tremendous growth in the production and use of cyber technologies and their resulting near ubiquity in societally important systems and institutions.
This report builds off of the Cyber Hard Problem List originally developed for the Department of Homeland Security in 1996. Cyber Hard Problems reviews that original list, then provides an update by identifying and describing current key hard problems for cyber resiliency. This report explores each of the identified problems, and then proposes ways to use the list to enhance community-wide coordination of research and development activities.
Contributor(s): National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; Computer Science and Telecommunications Board; Committee on Cyber Hard Problems
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Cyber Hard Problems: Report Release Webinar from The National Academies on Vimeo
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Additional Book Information
Topics
- Computers and Information Technology — Information Security and Privacy
- Engineering and Technology
— Policy, Reviews and Evaluations
Suggested Citation
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Cyber Hard Problems: Focused Steps Toward a Resilient Digital Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/29056.
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Publication Info
136 pages | 8.5 x 11 |
ISBNs:
- Paperback: 978-0-309-73489-9
- Ebook: 978-0-309-73492-9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/29056
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- Cyber Hard Problems List Read Description:
The National Academies report, Cyber Hard Problems: Focused Steps Toward a Resilient Digital Future, identifies 10 critical areas where progress could strengthen U.S. cybersecurity. This resource condenses the Cyber Hard Problems list and outlines key actions needed to address each challenge.
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Cyber Hard Problems: Report Release Webinar from The National Academies on Vimeo
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