TAMPA, Fla. 鈥� At a moment when cybersecurity challenges ignore political borders,a and policies lag behind rapid technological changespeed of technology advancements far outpaces the policies to guide it, the 好色导航鈥檚 Global and National Security Institute (GNSI) brought together experts from convened leading voices from both sides of the Atlantic for its recent 鈥淭ransatlantic Forum on Cybersecurity.鈥�
Three deeply technical and policy-focused panels tackled pressing questions: How can formal models secure emerging cryptographic systems? What new threats lurk in our increasingly AI-driven networks? And how must policies adapt when the very rules they try to enforce are interpreted differently by machines?
Partnering closely with USF鈥檚 own Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing, as well as the , one of Europe鈥檚 leading cybersecurity institutions, and the , the forum highlighted not only the urgency of shared cyber risks but also illustrated the collaborative nature that could shape the way nations and institutions respond.
From florida to france: building a transatlantic brain trust
Faculty members from Paris-Saclay, as well as USF鈥檚 Bellini College anchored the conversations, demonstrating deep technical expertise and policy insights that complemented GNSI鈥檚 mission to foster actionable solutions and inform the next generation of security leaders.
鈥淚t lets us explore problems we simply couldn鈥檛 tackle alone.鈥�
Nicolas Sabouret, the Director of the Computer Sciences Gradute School at the University of Paris-Saclay , emphasized the power of this cross-border collaboration. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a transatlantic partnership,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fusion of different domains of security research that lets us explore problems we simply couldn鈥檛 tackle alone.鈥�
鈥淭his forum represents exactly why GNSI exists鈥攖o convene world-class thinkers, inform decision-makers, and shape solutions that don鈥檛 stop at state or national borders,鈥� said Jim Cardoso, GNSI鈥檚 senior director. 鈥淐ybersecurity issues today impact every citizen and demand a response that draws on expertise from many countries and disciplines.鈥�
Bellini College's thought leadership on display
Faculty from the Bellini College played key roles across all three panels, offering perspectives that bridged computer science, policy, and real-world application. Their insights highlighted how large language models, cryptographic systems, and AI-driven tools are reshaping both the threats we face and the tools available to counter them.
Bellini College faculty members played prominent roles across all three panels of the forum, anchoring discussions on how AI is simultaneously redefining cyber threats and offering new defensive tools. This collaboration showcased USF鈥檚 capacity to tackle real-world challenges at the highest levels.
鈥淟arge language models aren鈥檛 just changing cybersecurity, they鈥檙e rewriting it,鈥� said Bellini College鈥檚 Ning Wang, whose research underscores how advanced tools like such as GPT can generate synthetic datasets to strengthen malware detection and bring new clarity to intrusion detection systems. 鈥淭hese models can understand complex patterns, explain why traffic is malicious, and even recommend responses. That changes everything. We鈥檙e just starting to tap their full defensive potential.鈥� They can also generate programs that supply training data for software security tools, she said.
Wang cautioned that these same AI systems could be weaponized, however, noting that adversaries are exploring generative models for automating attack scripts and refining phishing schemes.
Louis Goubin, a faculty member from Paris-Saclay, shared cautionary tales from cryptography鈥檚 past, reminding the audience that even proofs meant to safeguard RSA had once been found flawed. He also discussed how his team is helping shape post-quantum standards that must withstand threats from future quantum computers. Meanwhile, Ankur Mali of Bellini College showcased work combining formal language theory with tensor networks, offering new ways to model and verify complex cryptographic systems.
Network security for a world of 5G and smart devices
Bellini College faculty member Mehran Mozaffari Kermani led a probing discussion on cryptographic engineering. He pointed out that many cybersecurity vulnerabilities stem from the implementation of algorithms on real-world hardware, rather than from theoretical flaws. 鈥淲e need to look beyond algebraic proofs to how systems can fail under side-channel attacks, power analysis, or electromagnetic leaks. That鈥檚 where the next battles will be fought,鈥� he said.
The panel explored how formal methods and rigorous proofs are evolving to address these threats, especially as quantum computing looms and traditional cryptography faces unprecedented pressures. The discussion also touched on how Bellini researchers are exploring tensor network-inspired architectures to strengthen the formal foundations of post-quantum cryptographic schemes, an area gaining urgency as quantum computing advances.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about how AI learns and makes decisions, sometimes with very real consequences for privacy and safety.鈥�
Nadjib Ait Saadi of Paris-Saclay outlined how AI is increasingly embedded natively within 6G design, promising smarter allocation of network resources but also opening fresh attack surfaces. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about packet traffic anymore,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about how AI learns and makes decisions, sometimes with very real consequences for privacy and safety.鈥�
policy, ambiguity and the human factor
In a panel on governance and ethics, Bellini faculty member John Licato spotlighted the inherent uncertainty in cybersecurity policy. 鈥淲henever you have rules 鈥� whether they鈥檙e access policies, regulatory frameworks, or laws 鈥� there鈥檚 ambiguity built in by design. That鈥檚 both a feature and a vulnerability,鈥� he said. 鈥淎I systems will always struggle to fully reconcile these nuances, and when you add risks like hallucinations, it鈥檚 clear we need layered oversight.鈥�
USF鈥檚 Marbin Pazos Revilla brought the conversation back to the frontline realities of critical infrastructure. Drawing from case studies that linked sophisticated phishing attacks with power grid disruptions overseas, he warned that AI is a tool, but it can鈥檛 replace human decision-making in high-stakes systems. 鈥淏efore deployment, we have to stress-test it, even red-team it, to expose hidden vulnerabilities,鈥� he said.
GNSI's convening power and a shared future
James Jacobs of Cyber Florida noted that the forum demonstrated the unique role universities play in translating cutting-edge research into actionable public policy. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen academic breakthroughs move directly into local government cyber policies and emergency planning,鈥� he said. 鈥淯niversities like USF and the University of Paris-Saclay help community leaders grasp that AI isn鈥檛 going away 鈥� and they equip them to make smarter strategic choices.鈥�
Cardoso closed out the forum, emphasizing the importance of cross-border collaboration, particularly with global leaders such as the University of Paris-Saclay. 鈥淭hese threats don鈥檛 respect borders and the issues won鈥檛 solve themselves. It takes collective wisdom to build resilience that truly lasts. That resiliency demands informed policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic.鈥�
Launched in 2022, GNSI has quickly become a hub for examining national security through interdisciplinary lenses. The creation of USF鈥檚 Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing earlier this year has accelerated these efforts and the recent 鈥淭ransatlantic Forum on Cybersecurity鈥� was a demonstration of USF asserting its role as a hub for innovation, policy, and collaboration in cybersecurity in Tampa and beyond.
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