CyLab faculty members Lorrie Cranor, CyLab director, and Vyas Sekar, Tan family professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), will serve as panelists at next week’s RSAC 2026 Conference and will be announcing the new CyLab Cyber Autonomy Initiative.

Held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from March 23rd through the 26th, the event brings together thousands of professionals, practitioners, vendors, and associations to discuss issues covering the entire spectrum of cybersecurity.

Now in its 35th year, the RSAC Conference has been an ongoing source for timely insights, thoughtful interactions, and actionable intelligence designed to help cybersecurity professionals continually strengthen their organizations and push their careers further.

In addition to the faculty presentations at RSAC 2026, CyLab alumni have made a splash in the conference’s annual startup competitions.

CyLab and ECE alumnus Saurabh Shintre’s (Ph.D.’15) Realm Labs, a CyLab Venture Network startup partner, is a top 10 finalist in this year’s Innovation Sandbox competition, upon being selected from hundreds of submissions.

The top 10 finalists will take the stage during RSAC 2026 and will have three minutes to make their award-winning pitch to a panel of leading industry experts. The Innovation Sandbox has been a great predictor of "breakout success" for startups over the years. Past finalists have collectively seen over 100 acquisitions and over $50 billion in investments.

Fellow CyLab and ECE alumni Brian Singer (Ph.D.’25) and Mark Dong (Ph.D.’25) are finalists in their own right, in the RSAC Launch Pad competition, which offers a platform for earlier-stage startups. Incalmo, also a CyLab Venture Network startup partner, is one of three nascent startup finalists that will pitch their bold ideas, Shark Tank-style, to industry veterans for strategy advice and community awareness. RSAC Launch Pad judges review submissions before selecting the three finalists who are given the opportunity to present their groundbreaking solutions at RSAC 2026.

Here, we've compiled a list of the panels and signings in which Professors Cranor and Sekar will be participating.

Presented at RSAC 2026

Creating Scientific Foundations for Cyber Autonomy

Wednesday, March 25, 9:40 to 10:30 a.m. PDT

The understanding of AI for security and security of AI has significant fundamental gaps that hinder the progress in Cyber Autonomy. This session will argue the need for an interdisciplinary approach to create rigorous foundations for the science of cyber autonomy that spans AI, cybersecurity, computer systems and networking, formal methods, software engineering, and public policy.

Panelists

• Vyas Sekar - Tan family professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and co-director of the CyLab Cyber Autonomy Initiative, Carnegie Mellon University; co-founder and chief technologist, Rockfish Data
• Saurabh Shintre - founder and CEO, Realm Labs

Ingredients for More Successful Mobile App Privacy Nutrition Labels

Wednesday, March 25, 1:15 to 2:05 p.m. PDT

Privacy nutrition labels were proposed in the 1990s because no one reads privacy policies. Over two decades, my lab has shown that well-designed labels improve comprehension and influence consumer decision-making. This talk will highlight usability flaws in current mobile app store privacy labels and presents evidence-based design improvements that better support informed decision-making.

Panelists

• Lorrie Cranor - director and Bosch distinguished professor, Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
• Petros Efstathopoulos - Vice President, Research, RSAC

After this session, at 2:30 p.m., Professor Cranor will be signing copies of her new children’s book, Privacy Please!, at BreakPoint Books, RSAC’s official bookstore, located at the Moscone North Street Level Lobby.

People and (crime) Markets

Thursday, March 26, 8:30 to 9:20 a.m. PDT

This session will cover the following USENIX papers:

1. Privacy Solution or Menace? Investigating Perceptions of Radio-Frequency Sensing
2. Assessing the Aftermath: the Effects of a Global Takedown against DDoS-for-hire Services

Panelists

• Lorrie Cranor - director and Bosch distinguished professor, Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
• Anh V. Vu - Cambridge Cybercrime Centre, University of Cambridge

Presented at the Cyber Startup Expo 2026, co-located with RSAC 2026

Going Autonomous in a Machine-Speed Cyber Battle

Monday, March 23, 3 p.m. PDT

As the cyber cat-and-mouse game accelerates to machine speed, defenders can no longer rely on human-only response or static defenses. This panel explores how security teams are going autonomous, combining AI-driven defense with continuous, autonomous red teaming to find and fix weaknesses before attackers do.

Moderator

• John Funge - DataTribe

Panelists

• Vyas Sekar - Tan family professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and co-director of the CyLab Cyber Autonomy Initiative, Carnegie Mellon University; co-founder and chief technologist, Rockfish Data
• Chris Thompson - co-founder and CEO, RemoteThreat
• Eno Thereska - co-founder and CEO, Trent AI

Note: The Cyber Startup Expo is a separate, invitation-only event located at Convene 100 Stockton.

If you're interested in connecting with CMU researchers or startups at RSAC, the Cyber Startup Expo, or after the events, please contact Michael Lisanti, CyLab’s senior director of partnerships, at mlisanti@cmu.edu to arrange a meeting.