CPI’s top ten triumphs of 2024

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

CPI’s top ten triumphs of 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, here is a brief recap on what has been a very impactful year for the University of Waterloo’s Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute:

  1. We hosted a unique, interdisciplinary, game theory workshop in a special speaker/presentation format that brought together faculty members from Math, Engineering, and Economics , as well as the Waterloo community together, in addition to attendees from industry.
  1. We were the first at Waterloo to cover the vending machine story, that made international news by reporting and revealing the mystery behind it.
  1. Remember those smart vending machines around campus? The now infamous candy-dispensers were removed from the Waterloo in March 2024 after students discovered surveillance technology was being used unbeknownst to users and the University’s administration. CPI was the first at Waterloo to cover the story by interviewing the brilliant minds behind the movement for their removal including an undergraduate CPI member.
  1. We hosted our first-ever event in Toronto - a cybersecurity policy conference in collaboration with the C.D. Howe Institute, which is considered the country’s leading public policy think tank. The event was attended by several senior government leaders, and received strong support from our key sponsor, Mastercard.
  1. We welcomed two new industry sponsors this year: BTQ and Kyndryl. Also notably, Tauria sponsored our first CPI Faculty Fellowship, which went to Dr. Guang Gong from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
  1. Our 6th Annual Conference is believed to be the most attended since the event’s inception.
  1. Our email marketing reach, and social media presence on LinkedIn has significantly increased year over year. Special mention to CPI faculty member Dr. Kami Vaniea who covered the CrowdStrike global tech outage story, along with CPI staff member Regina Singh, which created a lot of buzz. Professor Vaniea also wrote an article of similar nature as part of Maclean's Year Ahead 2025 package.

CPI is also very grateful to various CPI faculty members for lending their time to communicate with news media outlets, which led to the following published pieces that created more brand recognition: University of Waterloo cryptographer helps protect iMessages from quantum hackers, TTC lacked proper measures to prevent 2021 cyberattack despite internal warning years earlier: reports, Critical sectors short on cybersecurity pros, Job scam exposed: Spam text scheme turns victims into "money mules", Biometrics in the workplace may be the way of the future. But at what cost?, Man living in Kitchener, Ont. alleged to be involved in massive data breach, and More Frequent—and Disruptive—Tech Outages Are on the Way. Visit our media page for even more stories.

  1. We managed to have a strong CPI Talks seminar series with different faculty members hosting distinguished speakers from academia, industry, and government.
  1. Five CPI researchers secured more than $1.5 million in NCC funding.  
  1. Several CPI researchers were instrumental in creating the university’s new ‘AI for Society’ course.
  1. In collaboration with Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA), CPI is organizing its first graduate student-led conference scheduled for March 27, 2025. The event will shine a spotlight on the outstanding research done by graduate students and will also enable networking opportunities.

None of these accomplishments would have been possible without engagement and support from the CPI community and its allies who perceive CPI as strong public good for researchers, students and everyone in the university community.

Cheers to 2025! May it be a peaceful and prosperous New Year for all.