The Homeland Security Department is devoting nearly $1.3 million to researchers trying to figure out how organizations can get the most bang for their bucks when investing in cybersecurity.
The agency on Thursday announced it would fund teams at the University of California, San Diego, and University of Illinois, Chicago, which are building tools to spot and measure the costs of potential cyber threats.
The research falls under the Cyber Risk Economics program, or CYRIE, an effort by the agency’s Science and Technology Directorate to help groups invest in cyber defenses that will have the biggest positive impact on their bottom lines. If groups can quantify the costs of cyber threats and the benefits of cybersecurity tools, they’ll make smarter investment decisions, according to the agency.
The program hinges on the idea that rational actors maximize their well-being, a key tenant of economic theory.
“The threat intelligence metrics research will help organizations evaluate investments in threat intelligence products and services,” Erin Kenneally, the CYRIE program manager, said in a statement. “The standard model for the cost of cybersecurity attacks research will…
