Search Projects: Group Project

Web browsers are vulnerable to side-channel attacks, which usually play an important, first-step role in jump-starting a chain of attacks. For example, a web-level precise clock can help adversaries to break operating system level memory protection mechanisms, such as address-space layout randomization (ASLR). Browser fingerprinting, a variation of web side channels, can be used to obtain users' private information for launching social engineering attacks.

People today are faced with many privacy decisions in their daily interactions with mobile devices. In the past decade, researchers have studied the design of many tools and mechanisms, such as privacy nudges, that aim to help individuals make better privacy decisions. But just like decision support tools in other domains, these tools cannot make users perfect decision-makers. Users still make mistakes and regret their privacy decisions later. This project casts a fresh perspective on Privacy-by-Redesign by helping users revisit and rectify past privacy decisions that they may regret.

Unlawful online business often leaves behind human-readable text traces for interacting with its targets (e.g., defrauding victims, advertising illicit products to intended customers) or coordinating among the criminals involved. Such text content is valuable for detecting various types of cybercrimes and understanding how they happen, the perpetrator's strategies, capabilities and infrastructures and even the ecosystem of the underground business.

Our society has become increasingly dependent on electronic information exchange between personal devices and the cloud. Unfortunately, the number of identity and secure information leaks is on the rise. Many of the security breaches are due to insecure access channels to the cloud. The security problem is likely to be exacerbated in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) era where billions of devices in our homes, offices and cars are digitally connected.

This funding renews a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Site at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). The primary objective of this RET Site is to explore unique ways to engage middle and high school teachers in summer research experiences that emphasize cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is an area of national importance that impacts the lives of all citizens. The teachers will spend six weeks in the summer participating in research experiences and developing classroom modules and materials which will be implemented in their classrooms during the academic year.