ISTS
ISTS is a Dartmouth College academic research institute conducting multidisciplinary cybersecurity research on IoT privacy, hardware vulnerabilities, healthcare security, and critical infrastructure, funded by federal grants (NSF, DARPA, NSA, NIH) and serving government, defense, and healthcare stakeholders.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersHanover, United States
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What ISTS does
ISTS (Institute for Security, Technology and Society) is a non-profit academic research institute at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, founded in 1999 and designated as an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Research. It conducts multidisciplinary research across Internet of Things security, machine learning and AI for security, social hacking, deception and deterrence, insider threats, and compositional security, and operates research programs including SPLICE ($10M NSF-funded national program on IoT consumer security), the Cyber-Resilient Health Care initiative, and the MIND device (DARPA GAPS-funded secure cross-domain communications with GE and Xilinx).
Its portfolio includes open-source research tools such as the Amulet wearable platform (developed with Clemson University) and ELFbac (a software mechanism for mitigating Spectre-class hardware exploits from Dartmouth's TrustLab), alongside theoretical work like Hetero-Functional Graph Theory for cyber-physical system resilience. Educational offerings include the public Colloquium Series, peer-reviewed publications, and the NSA/NSF-funded GenCyber summer program for high school students.
Revenue is generated through competitive federal research grants (NSF, DARPA, NSA, NIH), private foundation gifts, and educational programs — ISTS has no commercial product sales. Primary stakeholders are federal agencies (NSF, DARPA, NSA, NIH), industrial partners (GE Research, Xilinx, Vibrent Health), partner universities, and the broader academic and policy community. The institute is governed under Dartmouth College and currently led by Interim Director Sean W. Smith.
ISTS firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ISTS
- Legal name
- Institute for Security, Technology and Society at Dartmouth College
- Website
- https://ists.dartmouth.edu
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- ISTS is a Dartmouth College academic research institute conducting multidisciplinary cybersecurity research on IoT privacy, hardware vulnerabilities, healthcare security, and critical infrastructure, funded by federal grants (NSF, DARPA, NSA, NIH) and serving government, defense, and healthcare stakeholders.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ISTS industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cybersecurity Research
- NAICS
- Other Computer Related Services (541519), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Threat Monitoring, Intrusion Detection & Incident Response for Smart Home (HSAHAJAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- OT/ICS & Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Services (BPAKAHAN), Institutes of Technology (IoT / Technical Universities) (EDAHAEAC), Intrusion Prevention/Detection Systems (IPS/IDS) (HDADABAH)
Keywords
Where ISTS is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hanover
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
ISTS business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Federal Research Grants: ISTS generates revenue through competitive federal research grants from agencies including NSF, NSA, DARPA, NIH, and other government bodies. The institute has received major awards including a $10M NSF award for SPLICE and $8.6M DARPA award for the MIND project.
- Educational Programs: ISTS generates revenue through educational programs including the GenCyber summer camp for high school students, funded by NSA/NSF.
- Private Foundation Funding: The institute receives funding from private foundations including support for the Academic Cluster in Cybersecurity from anonymous donors and the $100 million gift supporting academic clusters.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
ISTS product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ISTS is an academic research institute at Dartmouth College that conducts multidisciplinary cybersecurity research spanning Internet of Things security, machine learning and AI for security, social hacking, deception and deterrence, insider threats, and compositional security. The institute develops tools for privacy protection in smart home environments, hardware/software security solutions, and secure communications, distributing outputs through academic publications, open-source software (ELFbac, Amulet), and educational programs.
Product overview
ISTS (Institute for Security, Technology and Society) is a research institute at Dartmouth College, not a commercial product company. It operates as an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Research. The institute offers a portfolio of research programs including SPLICE (IoT security), Cyber-Resilient Health Care initiative, and the MIND project (secure communications). Educational offerings include the Colloquium Series (public lectures), GenCyber Summer Program for high school students, and various publications. The institute does not offer commercial products or services in the traditional sense, but rather conducts academic research and education in cybersecurity.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- SPLICE (Security and Privacy in the Lifecycle of IoT for Consumer Environments) A national research program developing tools and approaches for security and privacy in smart home IoT devices. Targeted at smart device users, homeowners, and policymakers seeking privacy protections in connected consumer environments.
- MIND (Monitoring & INspection Device) A high-speed data transfer device developed for secure communications between different security domains, supporting defense and military communication systems.
- Cyber-Resilient Health Care Initiative Research initiative focused on protecting patients and healthcare organizations from technology-related disasters, including workshops on cyber resiliency for healthcare and insider threat programs (TISH, THAW, SITH series).
- GenCyber Summer Program Educational summer camp program funded by NSA/NSF that introduces high school students to interdisciplinary research in cybersecurity and privacy, supporting workforce development.
- ISTS Colloquium Series Public lecture series featuring experts from around the world presenting on cybersecurity, cyber trust, privacy, and analysis of economic and public policy impact of cyber vulnerabilities.
- ELFbac Security Software Open-source software developed by Dartmouth's TrustLab that isolates secret information within programs to prevent exploitation of Spectre and related hardware vulnerabilities.
- Amulet Wearable Platform Open-source computational jewelry platform for mobile health applications with privacy-preserving design, used in health monitoring research.
- ISTS Fellowship Program Fellowship program that brings distinguished cybersecurity experts such as former NIST expert Ron Ross and emergency physician Malcolm Schongalla to collaborate on institute research.
Quantifiable outcome
- Created security fix for Spectre/Meltdown hardware vulnerabilities affecting billions of devices
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use ISTS
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
ISTS technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
ISTS partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Vibrent HealthcoreDartmouth, led by Professor David Kotz, collaborates with Vibrent Health under NIH's All of Us Research Program to develop privacy-preserving approaches for mobile, wearable, and pervasive health technologies.
- University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaigncoreResearch partner in SPLICE (Security and Privacy in the Lifecycle of IoT for Consumer Environments), a $10M NSF-funded national research program led by Dartmouth to improve smart home security and privacy.
- Johns Hopkins UniversitycoreResearch partner in SPLICE project focusing on security and privacy in IoT consumer environments.
- University of MarylandcoreResearch partner in SPLICE project, bringing expertise in cybersecurity and privacy research.
- University of MichigancoreResearch partner in SPLICE project for smart home IoT security research.
- Morgan State UniversitycoreResearch partner in SPLICE project, contributing to broadening participation in computing initiative.
- Tufts UniversitycoreResearch partner in SPLICE project for consumer IoT security and privacy research.
- GE ResearchcoreDartmouth partners with GE and Xilinx on a $8.6M DARPA GAPS program to develop the MIND (Monitoring & INspection Device) for secure high-speed data transfer across military communication systems.
- XilinxcoreTechnology partner on DARPA GAPS program providing FPGA technology for the MIND secure communication device.
- VeChain FoundationminorISTS hosted a two-day blockchain technology workshop with the VeChain Foundation in May 2019. Dartmouth students and faculty learned from distinguished speakers on blockchain, bitcoin, smart contracts, and scalability.
- Clemson UniversitycoreJoint development partner on the Amulet wearable/computational jewelry platform, combining Dartmouth's expertise with Clemson's research capabilities.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
ISTS competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- MITRE Corporation: Federally funded research and development center operating the CVE program and CERT Coordination Center. Operates at larger scale than ISTS but is comparable in driving federally funded cybersecurity research and standards.
- RAND Corporation: Policy-oriented research organization with a substantial cybersecurity policy research portfolio. Comparable in producing federally funded research reports and convening expert panels on cyber topics.
- SRI International: Large nonprofit research institute with significant cybersecurity programs including government-sponsored research. Comparable in being a nonprofit institute conducting multi-disciplinary security research, though at substantially larger scale.
Direct peers
- UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC): UC Berkeley's cybersecurity research center focused on societal-scale cyber risk. Comparable academic model conducting research, public programs, and policy-oriented cybersecurity work with industry and government funding.
- University of Maryland Cybersecurity Center: UMD's NSA-recognized cybersecurity center with similar research breadth including hardware security, cryptography, and intrusion detection. Comparable academic model with strong defense agency research funding.
- MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL): MIT's flagship computer science research lab with substantial cybersecurity research groups. Comparable in conducting foundational cybersecurity research, training graduate students, and publishing open research outputs.
- Stanford Internet Observatory: Stanford's research program studying abuse of information technologies. Comparable academic cybersecurity research operation with federal and philanthropic funding and technology-driven focus on emerging threats.
- Georgia Tech Institute for Information Security & Privacy: Academic cybersecurity research institute at Georgia Tech with NSA/DHS Center of Academic Excellence designation. Conducts comparable research in hardware security, IoT, and privacy with similar federally funded portfolio.
- ICSI (International Computer Science Institute): Independent nonprofit computer science research lab affiliated with UC Berkeley. Comparable academic-style research organization with similar funding models, faculty-style researchers, and a focus on networking and security research.
- Carnegie Mellon CyLab: CMU's cybersecurity and privacy research hub, similarly designated as an NSA Center of Academic Excellence. Comparable academic model conducting multi-disciplinary cybersecurity research with strong industry and federal funding.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
ISTS social profiles
Digital presenceISTS compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
ISTS financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ISTS leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
ISTS funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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ISTS M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
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Frequently asked questions about ISTS
What does ISTS do?
ISTS is an academic research institute at Dartmouth College that conducts multidisciplinary cybersecurity research spanning Internet of Things security, machine learning and AI for security, social hacking, deception and deterrence, insider threats, and compositional security. The institute develops tools for privacy protection in smart home environments, hardware/software security solutions, and secure communications, distributing outputs through academic publications, open-source software (ELFbac, Amulet), and educational programs.
Is ISTS a public or private company?
ISTS is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was ISTS founded?
ISTS was founded in 1999. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is ISTS based?
ISTS is headquartered in Hanover, United States, in the North America region.
How does ISTS make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Federal Research Grants are the primary driver. The others are educational Programs and private Foundation Funding.
Who are ISTS's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are MITRE Corporation, RAND Corporation and SRI International. Direct peers are UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC), University of Maryland Cybersecurity Center, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Stanford Internet Observatory, Georgia Tech Institute for Information Security & Privacy, ICSI (International Computer Science Institute) and Carnegie Mellon CyLab.
Does ISTS have an API?
No public API is recorded for ISTS.
What industry is ISTS in?
ISTS's product category is Cybersecurity Research. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HSAHAJAE, Threat Monitoring, Intrusion Detection & Incident Response for Smart Home, with a secondary code of BPAKAHAN, OT/ICS & Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Services. Its NAICS code is 541519 and its SIC code is 8700.