Cybersecurity

In an August 2025 investigation report prepared for the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), BYU information systems professors Mark Keith and Justin Giboney found major leaks in student digital footprints. Such privacy violations leave children vulnerable to unauthorized profiling, commercial exploitation, and safety concerns, including potential exposure to harmful online content.

The NSF recently awarded the cybersecurity program within the BYU Electrical & Computer Engineering department with a five-year, $3.7 million grant called the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service. BYU is one of only six schools nationwide to receive the award this year, which recognizes students with technical talent, moral integrity, leadership, and second language skills.

BYU cybersecurity professor Justin Giboney is training the next generation of cyber experts to keep your information safe. In this Q&A, Giboney answers a few questions to help breakdown what we are facing and what we can do.

A group of BYU students from the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering teamed up with internet connectivity provider UTOPIA Fiber to create a new early-detection tool that could save communities thousands of dollars and, more importantly, lives.

When it comes to email security, sending an email is more similar to sending a postcard than a letter in a sealed envelope. A team of BYU computer scientists were honored for their research to make encrypting email easier.

This month a group of eight BYU IT students blew away their opponents at a regional Cyber Defense Competition in Denver. Their four female students also happened to account for two-thirds of the women in the entire competition.