The Idaho State Board of Education established the Center for Secure and Dependable Systems (CSDS) at the University of Idaho in response to the overwhelming need for computer-related security education and research. In May 1999, the National Security Agency designated the University of Idaho as one of the initial seven Centers of Excellence in Information Assurance Education, partly in recognition of CSDS's efforts in promoting information security education and research. In 2001, the National Science Foundation created the Scholarship for Service (SFS, aka CyberCorps) program and the University of Idaho was one of the first five schools in the nation to host a scholarship program specifically for students focusing on Information Assurance studies.

CSDS comprises ten Computer Science faculty, three Business faculty, one Law faculty, associates in the College of Education, at INEEL and PNNL, over 30 students, and 3,000 square feet of laboratory and office space in the Janssen Engineering Building. Completely self-funded, the center brings together collaborative research efforts and serves as an educational focal point for the design, development, analysis, and use of technologies that result in secure and dependable computing systems. CSDS is part of the Microelectronics Research and Communications Institute.

CSDS is a proud member of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P).