The Idaho State Board of Education established the Center for Secure and Dependable Systems (CSDS) at the University of Idaho in response to the overwhelming need for computer-related security education and research.

In May 1999, the National Security Agency designated the University of Idaho as one of the initial seven National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense education, partly in recognition of CSDS's efforts in promoting information security education and research.

In 2001, the National Science Foundation created the Scholarship for Service (SFS, aka CyberCorps®) program and the University of Idaho was one of the first four schools in the nation to host a scholarship program specifically for students focusing on Cyber Defense and Information Assurance studies.

CSDS comprises nine Computer Science faculty, one Computer Science emeritus, three Business faculty, two Sociology faculty, five Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty, one Civil & Environmental Engineering faculty, associates at INL, PNNL, Navy, HP, an average of 30 students and 3,000 square feet of laboratory and office space in the Janssen Engineering Building.

Completely self-funded, the center brings together collaborative research efforts and serves as an educational focal point for the design, development, analysis, and use of technologies that result in secure and dependable computing systems. CSDS is one of the centers in the College of Engineering at the University of Idaho. Read a full overview of the University of Idaho's Cyber Defense curriculum on our Education page.

CSDS is a proud member of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P).