Tsinghua University was the first university in China to conduct computer network research, starting in 1978. It established the Tsinghua University Campus Network, the first campus computer network in China, in the early 1990s.

In 1994, the Information Network Engineering Research Center of Tsinghua University (abbreviated as the Network Center) was established. In the same year, it established the China Education and Research Network (CERNET), the first nationwide internet network in China. The Network Center is the supporting unit of CERNET Network Center.

In 1998, Tsinghua University was the first to conduct research on the next generation Internet in China. Since 2003, it has led more than 100 universities to join in the China’s Next-Generation Internet project (CNGI) approved by the State Council and organized by State Development and Reform Commission and other seven Ministries. The project built the world’s largest native IPv6 next-generation Internet backbone, CNGI-CERNET2, and become an important experimental infrastructure for research on next-generation Internet technologies, development of essential applications, and promotion of the development of next-generation Internet industry.

On this basis, the Institute of Network Science and Cyberspace Research (abbreviated as INSC) of Tsinghua University established in 2012.

Since 2016, INSC has taken the lead in building the top-level subject of "Cyberspace Security" at Tsinghua University.