What We Do

Do you know what the state of the art is in any security discipline?

You know what you know, and what your friends and colleagues know, but before you start a new research project do you do a literature review? How do you know what work has been done by others? How do you ensure that you spend your time and energy on something that is novel, or that builds on the work of others in a meaningful fashion?

Do you know how many people in all the universities or corporations or personal labs in the world are working on the same problem you are? Have you read all their papers? Watched their videos? Do you actually read every abstract of every entry on all 117 pages of your Google Scholar foo results? Are you paying the thousands of dollars it takes to subscribe to all the journals that publish security research? Have you gone to the library to look for work that hasn't been digitized yet? Have you gone to every security conference everywhere in the world (something like 2000 - annually - and counting) to keep abreast of the latest developments?

"Of course not! Don't be ridiculous! That's an impossible task!

Well, it's impossible now. One of the goals of CISRR is to make it entirely possible to have a truly comprehensive understanding of what has been done and what needs doing. If we're successful, CISRR should, among other things:

  • Be the largest dedicated repository of security research and related work.

  • Enable anyone to determine prior art, and identify gaps in knowledge.

  • Make research more discoverable and accessible.

  • Make it possible to for researchers, solution developers, investors, conference organizers, journal editors and reviewers, and others to more effectively analyze large quantities of research.

  • Make it easier for researchers around the world to find each other and collaborate.

  • Ensure that researchers get their work distributed as widely as possible and that it remains top of mind.

What CISRR is Not

  • We are not gatekeeping. This is not about where you went to school, how famous you are, or how you learned your trade. It is about ensuring access to knowledge.

  • We are not pirates or infringers. While we understand the motivation behind efforts that make research freely available regardless of who holds the rights, we will work within existing legal regimes to use and augment the work of others whether they are in academia, industry, or independent.

  • We are not for profit. There is no VC money behind this project (and all that that implies with regards to what we might do to produce an ROI). We rely entire on volunteers and donations.