Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS)

Cybersecurity research experiments are frequently performed in ad hoc ways, which severely retards scientific progress. Most researchers use a combination of methods and infrastructure to conduct experiments using one-off, painstaking, and error-prone processes that are never shared for reuse and validation. The lack of repeatable, reproducible, and reusable processes and other artifacts limits one's ability to build upon the work of others or to compare solutions.

Cybersecurity research experiments are frequently performed in ad hoc ways, which severely retards scientific progress. Most researchers use a combination of methods and infrastructure to conduct experiments using one-off, painstaking, and error-prone processes that are never shared for reuse and validation. The lack of repeatable, reproducible, and reusable processes and other artifacts limits one's ability to build upon the work of others or to compare solutions.

Advertising now funds most of the popular web sites and internet services: companies often provide their services for free, in exchange for collecting data from their users as they interact with the service. In recent years, the scale and resolution of user data that platforms collect has led to a dramatic increase in the variety of targeting, reporting, measurement, and tracking mechanisms that platforms offer to advertisers.

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

(Public Law 111-5).

As both corporate and consumer-oriented applications introduce new functionality and increased levels of customization and delegation, they inevitably give rise to more complex security and privacy policies. Yet, studies have repeatedly shown that both lay and expert users are not good at configuring policies, rendering the human element an important, yet often overlooked source of vulnerability.

Our project will significantly advance forensic methods of investigating mobile devices used for trafficking in digital contraband. While current methods and legislation focus heavily on logical identifiers, we will design, evaluate, and deploy new forensic techniques that focus on consistent and trackable characteristics of mobile computing. Additionally, our work will play an important role in understanding the limits of personal privacy in these settings.