The research symposium calls for papers and posters addressing an emerging research frontier in cybersecurity: “What happens to cybersecurity when intelligent agents, robots, networks, and humans become mutually dependent actors in the same sociotechnical systems?”

Transitional cybersecurity has largely focused on protecting computing systems, networks, devices, data, and users from unauthorized access, disruption, or malicious activity. The emergence of autonomous and agentic AI, however, calls for a broader conceptualization of cybersecurity, one that considers not only whether a system is technically secure, but also who or what is acting, how trust is established, how decisions are delegated, how malicious intent is expressed or concealed, how responsibility is distributed, and how human and machine actors respond to one another under uncertainty. The discussion shifts the focus from the traditional view of securing individual computer, systems, network, or AI models toward securing interconnected ecosystems in which humans, AI agents, robots, sensors, networks, and organizations continuously interact, adapt, and make decisions on one another’s behalf. In such ecosystems, cybersecurity is no longer simply a matter of protecting technical assets. It becomes a question of how security, trust, agency, accountability, and resilience are negotiated across human and machine actors.

Submission Guidelines

All papers must be original and not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference. All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer-review process. Please submit your manuscript through the EasyChair submission system. All submissions should be in Microsoft Word using the official symposium template only. Follow the predefined styles for the manuscript and references. Remove all author names and identifying information from the manuscript, including document properties and tracked changes, to ensure a double-blind review process.

• Full papers: Complete research papers and case studies are limited to 10 pages, including appendices but excluding references.
• Research-in-progress posters: Research-in-progress papers are limited to 5 pages, including appendices but excluding references.
• Panel proposals: Panel proposals are limited to 3 pages.

Please use the Research Symposium pre-defined style in the template for your paper and references. All authors should be prepared to review 1-2 submissions to support the symposium’s collegial and collaborative review process. Accepted submissions must include authors’ names, email, and institutional affiliations in the final camera-ready manuscripts. Questions about submissions may be directed to cybersec@cci.fsu.edu with Cybersecurity 2.0 Research Symposium in the subject line. Cybersecurity 2.0 Research Symposium welcomes contributions from researchers at all career stages and particularly encourages doctoral research. Outstanding papers authored or co-authored by the Ph.D. students may be nominated for awards. Recognizing the importance of constructive scholarly feedback, the symposium also acknowledges high-quality peer reviews, with outstanding reviews eligible for recognition. The following paper categories are welcome.

List of Topics

We invite submissions of research articles, case studies, position papers, research-in-progress, methodology papers, and panel discussion proposals addressing emerging issues in the next generation of cybersecurity, including but not limited to

• Topic 1: Cybersecurity ecosystems
• Topic 2: The emerging problem of machine agency and delegated action
• Topic 3: Trust, deception, and adversarial human-AI interaction
• Topic 4: Autonomous cyber defense and the adversarial AI ecosystem
• Topic 5: Robotics, cyber-physical systems, and the physical consequences of cyberattacks
• Topic 6: Organizations, markets, and the sociotechnical systems of autonomous cybersecurity

Committees

Executive Program Committee

• Shuyuan Metcalfe, Florida State University Information
• Franco Callegati, Università di Bologna Computer Science and Engineering
• Xin Yuan, Florida State University Computer Science
• Xiuwen Liu, Florida State University Computer Science
• Marco Prandini, Università di Bologna Computer Science and Engineering
• Deb Armstrong, Florida State University Management Information Systems
• Laura Sartori, Università di Bologna Political and Social Sciences
• Marcia Mardis, Florida State University Information
• Shawn Bayern, Florida State University Law
• Lauren Scholz, Florida State University Law

Technical Program Committee

• Andrea Melis, Università di Bologna Computer Science and Engineering
• Giacomo Gori, IMT Lucca & Alma Mater Studiorum Bologna
• Yue (Luna) Liu, Florida State University Information
• Pier Giorgio Chiara, Università di Bologna Legal Sciences

Publication

The proceedings of Cybersecurity 2.0 will be published and archived by the Florida State University (FSU) Libraries, providing a permanent scholarly record of the research contributions presented at the symposium. This publication will enhance the visibility, accessibility, and dissemination of accepted papers, supporting broader academic engagement and future research in cybersecurity and related interdisciplinary fields.

Venue

Cybersecurity 2.0 will be held at the Innovation Hub at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, Florida, USA. The venue provides an innovative and collaborative environment for researchers, academics, industry professionals, and students to exchange ideas, present emerging research, and foster interdisciplinary collaborations. Participants will have opportunities to engage in scholarly discussions, explore emerging challenges and opportunities in cybersecurity, and build international research partnerships.

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to cybersec@cci.fsu.edu.