Research Institutes
Cyberspace Research Institute

To cover different aspects of research in the field of cyberspace, three research groups have been established in the research institute:

1. Content Delivery Technology Group

2. Network Security and Cryptography Group

3. Cyberspace Management and Laws Group

Content delivery technology research group has been formed to develop knowledge and strengthen technical capacity in transferring digital content with the help of information and communication technology. This group tries to improve various technical processes related to digital content delivery technology, such as collection, conversion, organization, protection, compression, data mining, refining, processing, networking, and information representation, by laying the technical hardware and software platform of digital content delivery technology. In this regard, the activities of this group cover a wide range of fields of electronic engineering, telecommunications, and computer engineering (hardware, software, and information technology), such as the following:

1. Improving the multimedia systems which are significant tools for transmitting content to the audience using image processing techniques such as cryptography, compression, and other content analysis operations.

2- Accelerating content production and delivery to users using parallel systems or hardware utilization.

3- Increasing the quality of e-services such as e-health, e-government, e-commerce, e-learning, and e-social services.

4- Localizing of operating systems (in multi-core systems, distributed systems, special operating systems) for optimal use of content in cyberspace.

5- Supporting next-generation Internet applications such as the Internet of Things, smart city, and environmental monitoring systems with an approach to the optimal use of distributed systems.

6- Research on next-generation wireless cellular systems as an important platform for information transmission in cyberspace.

7- Examining various aspects of social networks such as data mining, communication graphs, and other topics related to social networks.

Preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information is one of the most important challenges in cyberspace. Information security is similar to a high-quality building, the first brick of which is based on cryptographic algorithms. Quite simply, cryptography means encrypting data in such a way that unauthorized persons cannot recognize the original data. In fact, cryptography uses mathematical techniques to identify the methods of transferring or storing information safely, assuming that communication channels and the storage locations of information are unsecure. The most significant goals in cryptography are data security, user authentication, authenticity, and integrity of information. The need to achieve these goals in order to secure the information has doubled the necessity of training experts who could effectively meet the needs of the country. Fulfilling these purposes, Network Security and Cryptography Group offers wide variety of research topics as follows:

1. Cybersecurity

2. Key distribution plans

3. Cryptography and security in wireless sensor networks

4. Secret sharing plans

5. Cryptography algorithms

6. Image encryption algorithms

7. Analyzing existing encryption algorithms

8. Elliptical curve encoding

9. Secure architecture for accessing information in heterogeneous environments

10. Providing intelligent and flexible algorithms in content filtering

11. Designing a secure data exchange layer protocol

12. Designing client-side tools for checking privacy on social networks

13. Privacy preserving in indoor positioning systems

14. Privacy preserving using machine learning algorithms

The focus of this research group is to examine the human dimension of cyberspace. With the expansion of cyberspace and its influence on various aspects of human and social life, it is a necessity to study the effects of using this technology on human life in a holistic way. Since such effects have different dimensions such as management, law, psychology, linguistics, economics, and information science,this research group in collaboration with the corresponding faculties study, research, and train human
resources in this field. The main research areas of this interdisciplinary research group include:
1. Future studies of cyberspace

2. Cyber psychology

• Internet addiction
• Identity in cyberspace
• The psychological dimensions of online social networks
• Internet bullying

3. Linguistics

• Standards of educational contents in cyberspace
• Standards of educational contents exchange in cyberspace
• Production of educational contents for cyberspace
• Open source training in cyberspace

4. Information science and epistemology

• Webometrics
• Web archive
• Free e-journals

5. Cyberspace legal issues

• Intellectual property in cyberspace
• Regulation, access control and content control in cyberspace
• Criminology, crimes and cyber attacks
• Cyberwarfare
• E-commerce and validation of electronic evidence and documents
• Developing bills and policies for information access in the healthcare industry
• Freedom of speech and access to information in cyberspace

6. Management in cyberspace

• Analysis of non-functional requirements in the national health network
• Reengineering of judicial processes in electronic systems
• Design of a global Internet management system

Full-time faculty members of the research institute and other interested faculty members from different departments of Shahid Beheshti University contribute to improve the educational and research activities of Cyberspace Research Institute. Faculty members of Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mathematical Sciences, Management and Accounting, and Psychology and Educational Sciences departments are currently collaborating with the Cyberspace Research Institute.

The Cyberspace Research Institute is currently accepting students through the National Entrance Examination in three majors: Information Technology Engineering (Multimedia Systems), Electrical Engineering (Secure Communication and cryptography), and Industrial Engineering (Information Systems).