Just like leaders in every other field you can imagine, academics have been hard at work studying information security. Most fields aren't as replete with hackers as information security, though, and their contributions are felt much more strongly in the private sector than in academia. The differing motives and professional cultures of the two groups act as barriers to direct collaboration, noted Anita Nikolich in her "Hacking Academia" presentation at CypherCon. For starters, academics and hackers have very distinct incentives.