RISE LabGriffith University

Vision

Intelligent systems that can be adopted with confidence, because security, privacy and assurance are engineered across their whole lifecycle.

Each layer of the RISE framework is a commitment.

  • Responsible and Resilient Cybersecurity

    Define responsibilities, manage cyber risks, and support prevention, recovery and adaptation.

  • Intelligent Cyber Defence and Security Analytics

    Understand threats, find vulnerabilities and support effective cyber defence with data-driven and automated methods.

  • Secure and Privacy-Preserving Foundations

    Protect data, computation and digital interactions with practical cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies.

  • Engineering, Evaluation and Continuous Operations

    Turn principles, defences and foundations into deployable systems that stay secure after they leave the lab.

The framework and all 14 research topics

Why RISE

Security is a property of the whole lifecycle, not of any single control.

Strong encryption does not help when the software around it is insecure, an identity is compromised or a dependency is malicious. AI adds new surfaces of its own, from adversarial manipulation and privacy leakage to unsafe agent actions, so trustworthy AI is now part of cybersecurity. RISE connects foundational research with deployable methods and operational assurance, so that protections keep working after a system leaves the lab.

How we work

RISE is a researcher-led initiative rather than a separately resourced unit. Members keep their own research identities, groups and projects, and gain a shared framework, joint supervision and shared infrastructure. Academics, research fellows, PhD students, visitors and jointly supervised students at partner institutions all take part, and anyone whose work touches one of the four layers is welcome. The lab studies AI from a security perspective, as a target, a risk and a tool, which makes it a natural partner for the School's AI and health initiatives.

  • Research Collaborative publications, competitive grants and challenge-led projects that demonstrate the lifecycle framework.
  • PhD training Cross-supervision, reading groups, seminars, shared datasets and tools, and industry-relevant problems.
  • Engagement Co-designed research with industry and government, security and assurance evaluations, and deployable guidance.
  • Infrastructure Benchmarks, testbeds, cryptographic and privacy toolkits and red-team environments, released openly where possible.
  • Community Seminars and visitors, contributions to standards and policy, and communication to technical and public audiences.

At a glance

Established
2026, School of Information and Communication Technology, Griffith University
Director
A/Prof Leo Zhang
Academic members
6, across trustworthy AI, applied cryptography, privacy-preserving computation, LLM and agent security and secure software engineering
Framework
Four layers and 14 research topics across a five-stage security lifecycle
Campuses
Gold Coast campus, Parklands Drive, Southport QLD 4222, Australia
Nathan campus, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan QLD 4111, Australia