CyberByte - Spring 2025

SPRING 2025

CSAW ‘24: CHALLENGES, CAMARADERIE, AND COMMUNITY From Brooklyn to Abu Dhabi, across the French Alps and into Mexico City, young people gathered in November for multiple days of intense competitions that continue to push the frontiers of the cybersecurity field. CSAW ‘24 demonstrated again why a modest competition, begun on a Brooklyn campus 21 years ago, has been able to grow into an important bellwether for the engineering discipline it helped to define. It’s all about bringing together young, incisive minds and pitting them against not only other competitors, but an ever-changing threat environment. Photo credits: Priyadarshan Sabarikannan (US/Canada), Olivier Devise (Europe),

CENTER FOR

CYBERSECURITY

SPRING 2025

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF In the past few years, artificial intelligence and its related technology, machine learning, has inserted itself into just about every human undertaking. Its reach has been so extensive that the Hollywood writers’ strike of 2023 was aimed, in part, at preventing AI from replacing human screenwriters. As researchers embrace AI, they are aware that the potential exists for malevolent users to transform a useful tool into a dangerous weapon.

Because of its ubiquity, we’ve chosen AI as our research topic for this issue. It’s a nice fit for an issue that also includes coverage of CSAW ‘24, since artificial intelligence has become a key element across the event’s competitions. In our research focus section, we share ongoing AI research involving NYU Center for Cybersecurity (CCS) faculty and students, including some that are among the first joint studies under the partnership between NYU and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST). Synergistic collaborations like these can be vital to designing and deploying powerful new technologies.

In our profiles section, we’re happy to introduce the cybersecurity community to the Center’s newest faculty member, Assistant Professor Rosanna Bellini. Bellini, who joined the Computer Science and Engineering Department in January, brings with her expertise in an emerging new field: defending victims against technologyaided abuse. Her research complements some of the work on privacy invasion and cyber harassment conducted by CCS colleagues like Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Rachel Greenstadt and CCS co-director Damon McCoy, with whom she has previously collaborated. Welcome, Rosie! We look forward to sharing your accomplishments as a member of our community.

Rounding out our profiles are interviews with alum Trishank Karthik Kuppusamy and Ph.D. candidate Aditya Sirish A Yelgundhalli. The two share common roots in Professor Justin Cappos’ NYU Secure Systems Laboratory and in the fields of supply chain security and secure software updates. Kuppusamy, who graduated in 2017 after serving in key development roles on several software security projects, is currently a staff engineer with DataDog, and this fall he started teaching at NYU as an adjunct professor. Yelgundhalli is a maintainer on the in-toto supply chain security project and a lead developer on the gittuf framework, which prevents tampering of software and documents prepared on Git. There’s much more to read about in these pages, including news of a new federally funded center dedicated to the protection of America’s electric power infrastructure.

Enjoy!

Dr. Quanyan Zhu Editor in Chief

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SPRING 2025

IN THIS ISSUE A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

2

RESEARCH FOCUS: THE DUAL POTENTIAL OF AI

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FACULTY PROFILE: ROSANNA BELLINI

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Ph.D. PROFILE: ADITYA SIRISH A YELGUNDHALLI

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ALUMNI PROFILE: TRISHANK KARTHIK KUPPUSAMY

10

WRAPPING UP CSAW ‘24

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CCS NEWS

25

EVENTS

27

AWARDS AND HONORS

29

STAFF

Editor in Chief

Editorial Copy Writer

Quanyan Zhu

Lois Anne DeLong

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SPRING 2025

RESEARCH FOCUS:

NEGOTIATING THE DUAL POTENTIAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Over the past few years, the potential of artificial intelligence to be a double-edged tool of either enhancement or destruction has become abundantly clear. As the use of the technology rapidly evolved during this period, researchers from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering (NYU Tandon) and CCS have stayed ahead of the threat curve by leveraging their deep expertise in playing both offense and defense with AI. Read on to learn more about our most recent projects.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: CREATING MORE TRUSTWORTHY AI TOOLS THROUGH THE NYU/KAIST PARTNERSHIP

HOW CAPABLE IS AI ANYWAY? How good are AI systems really when it comes to answering questions about specific industry domains? And, can they be effective in identifying fraud or at sniffing out propaganda in online news? Two recent studies by CCS faculty are seeking answers to these and other practical questions about the efficacy of AI systems; in the process, they’re helping to better define the strengths and limitations of the technology in real world deployments.

For one study, Assistant Professor Danny Y. Huang and his student Vijay Prakash teamed up

The global embrace of AI was evidenced

with researchers from JPMorgan Chase, Cornell Tech, and Northeastern University to assess

in the initial NYU-KAIST Seed Grants,

how clearly, simply, and correctly Large Language Models (LLMs) could address security

which were announced on September

questions. The second study, conducted by Rachel Greenstadt and her Ph.D. candidate Julia

29, 2024. These disbursements—a

Jose, explores the efficacy of LLMs at identifying propaganda in online news articles.

total of $2.8 million divided between 10 separate joint research initiatives— represent the first investigations to be carried out under NYU’s multifaceted partnership with KAIST. The awarded projects include two that will be co-led

by CCS faculty. One of these initiatives, a study of “Robust and Private Outsourced Machine Learning Using Cryptographic and Hardware Guarantees,” will be led by Michail Maniatakos, Associate Professor of Computer Engineering at NYU Abu Dhabi, and Brent Kang, an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Information Security (GSIS) at KAIST. The other project, “AIxCC: Automating Real-World Vulnerability Discovery and Remediation,” will be led by Tandon’s Brendan DolanGavitt, an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering

(Clockwise from top left) Prakash, Huang, Jose, Greenstadt

(currently on academic leave while he completes an industry assignment), Siddharth Garg, and Insu Yun, an Assistant

The security study analyzed 1,244 responses to 900 security questions from popular LLMs

Professor at KAIST and currently leader of

and the models excelled in providing clear user-friendly answers to basic general security

that school’s Hacking Lab.

knowledge questions, but struggled a bit with more complex requests. For example, recommendations on password security often included outdated practices, and the advice

CyberByte will continue tracking progress

offered often oversold system capabilities or was too generic to be of use. Additionally,

on these and other KAIST/NYU projects in

responses varied when queries were paraphrased or repeated, and answers to procedural

the months ahead.

questions, such as step-by-step guides for configuring security settings, were often filled

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SPRING 2025

tools for security-related queries.

GARG HEADS NEW LLM DESIGN CONFERENCE

The full paper is currently available through Arvix at

In addition to direct contributions to AI through research, CCS

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2411.14571.

faculty also support the continued evolution of the technology

with errors. The researchers thus concluded that while LLMs hold promise, users should treat them only as supplementary

by contributing time and effort to professional conferences and In the second study, Greenstadt and Jose tested several LLMs,

journals. Siddharth Garg, for example, will serve, along with

including OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, and Anthropic’s Claude

Haoxing (Mark) Ren of NVIDIA, as the first general chair of the

3 Opus, to see how well they were able to identify common

International Conference on LLM-Aided Design. The event will

propaganda techniques in online news articles. Specifically, they

be held June 26-27 in Stanford, CA, and will address such topics

looked for examples of:

as agentic workflows for design automation and optimization,

•

generation, and LLM-aided design for various application domains.

inference-time techniques for design, code generation, test plan

Name-calling: Labeling a person or idea negatively to discredit it without evidence.

•

GETTING THE LAST WORD…

Loaded language: Using words with strong emotional implications to influence an audience.

We leave the last word to Edward Amoroso, a CCS Distinguished •

Doubt: Questioning the credibility of someone or

Research Professor who regularly teaches, lectures, and publishes

something without justification.

on AI in cybersecurity. He and co-creator Rich Powell have a comic strip,”Charlie Ciso,” which offers a humorous take on the topic.

•

Appeal to fear: Instilling anxiety or panic to promote a specific idea or action.

•

Flag-waving: Exploiting strong patriotic feelings to justify or promote an action or idea.

•

Exaggeration or minimization: Representing something as excessively better or worse than it really is.

In a paper presented in June 2024 at the 5th International Workshop on Cyber Social Threats, Greenstadt and Jose reported that while these AI models showed some promise, they consistently underperformed more specialized systems designed for propaganda detection.

“LLMs tend to perform relatively well on some of the more common techniques such as name-calling and loaded language. Their accuracy declines as the complexity increases,” Greenstadt explained in an October 2024 news brief (see https://engineering.nyu.edu/news/large-language-modelsfall-short-detecting-propaganda).” One encouraging note from the study was that GPT-4 did show improvements over its predecessor, GPT-3.5, and outperformed a simpler baseline model in detecting certain techniques like name-calling, appeal to fear, and flag-waving. Yet, Greenstadt cautions, “[Our results] also serve as a reminder that, for now, human discernment remains crucial in identifying and countering propaganda in news media.”

Read the paper at https://workshop-proceedings.icwsm.org/ pdf/2024_06.pdf.

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FACULTY PROFILE:

CyberByte: Can you briefly summarize

ROSANNA BELLINI

practical applications it has for those

HUMAN-CENTERED SOLUTIONS TO ENDING TECHNOLOGY-AIDED ABUSE The newest member of the Center for Cybersecurity faculty team, Rosanna joined the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at NYU Tandon in January 2025 as an Assistant Professor. She is motivated to make technologies safer for everyone, but especially for groups who might have originally been overlooked when digital systems were designed, deployed, and evaluated.

what your current work entails and what subject to technology-enabled intimate partner abuse?

Bellini: Sure. What drives me as a researcher is to make technology safer for every individual. To proactively address technology abuse, I lead efforts to redesign consumer-facing technologies by detecting areas of misuse, and developing digital tools that intervene with abusers to prevent harmful behavior. I couple these efforts with direct, reactive security services for

As a native of Manchester, England, she completed her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at Newcastle University. During her doctoral studies, she began to define an intriguing niche for her research: helping survivors of intimate partner violence fight back against technology-aided abuse. She continued to specialize in this work as a postdoctoral

survivors subject to ongoing attacks, and consult with consumer-facing banking, legal, and security services to offer targeted solutions that mitigate harm.

scholar at Cornell Tech in New York City in 2021. While there, she held a leadership role with

To do this work, I combine rigorous data-

The Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA). Rosie has also been the lead author on 22 conference

driven and engaged design research

and journal papers, five of which have won best paper designations, and is the recipient of

techniques from the fields of Computer

numerous other honors, including a Pride of Newcastle Award from her alma mater.

Security and Privacy and Human-Computer

CyberByte: Would you mind walking us through your background?

goals, skills, and attack strategies across

Bellini: I originally started off as an undergraduate in philosophy because I was fascinated by

Interaction to analyze abusive adversaries’ in-person and online contexts. Then, I help to develop and deploy digital tools

trying to understand how people think. I took the plunge to retrain as a computer scientist

that change abusers’ patterns of behavior

for my master’s studies, and found myself gravitating towards the subfield of Human-

in community-based interventions. The

Computer Interaction when I realized it meant I didn’t have to choose between my interest

next step is designing responsive socio-

in understanding people, and in developing new systems. My Ph.D. in Computer Science

technical interventions to help survivors

predominantly focused on Digital Civics – the design of digital services with citizens and

of technology-based attacks reclaim their

for citizens. It’s built on the principle that if people are going to be using digital services, it

privacy and security, and improve their

makes a lot of sense for them to have a stake in helping to shape them to ensure that they

financial well-being. Lastly, I’m also helping

are going to be effective, fair, and responsive to the needs of their stakeholders.

to build out a community of practice

Also, during this time, I began to focus on a research area that quite a lot of people might find hard to grapple with— intimate partner violence. I started to ask what assistance could look like for individuals who found it hard to access digital services, and what kinds of different considerations we would need to take on board.

dedicated to safer security and privacy research practices involving at-risk users in academia and industry.

CyberByte: How did you prepare for the many non-technical aspects of your

CyberByte: How did you become involved in cybersecurity?

research work?

Bellini: It can be tempting as an academic to focus on problems that are interesting to other experts, but might not have any practical benefit for the rest of society. I try to combat this by ensuring my research speaks to real problems for real people. Cybersecurity focuses on trying to understand what adversaries are doing, how they are designing their attacks, and what their targets are. With digital technologies being integrated in every aspect of our lives, it makes sense that the use of these systems should be safe, fulfilling experiences for

Bellini: I already had experience working across many fields of study, including philosophy, criminology, health science and more. This set me up for success since, as computer scientists, we cannot fully understand intimate partner violence

everybody involved.

and interpersonal abuse until we gain an

During my doctorate, I discovered that many governmental services simply were not designed

understanding of what has already been

and implemented for at-risk users. In some cases, they were designed so poorly that they

studied in other areas for decades.

actually exacerbated risk. I realized that understanding these challenges from a cybersecurity

However, this type of Interdisciplinary

perspective was essential; otherwise, how could we consider our technologies to be safe? I

research does have its challenges. Equipping

found the cybersecurity community was asking the same kinds of questions, so joining with

myself with an understanding of different

them felt like a natural next step for me.

terminologies, as well as different ways of

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SPRING 2025

recognizing excellence, also helped a great

NYU faculty, you have been involved in

ensure that security isn’t about expecting

deal.

studies with several of our CCS faculty

the end user to change their behavior.

and students as far back as 2020. How did

There’s a multitude of reasons why

you happen to join forces with now CCS

someone will never pick a very strong

Co-director Damon McCoy, and Professor

password of 16 characters, or remember

Rachel Greenstadt?

to log themselves out of a shared system.

CyberByte: The work you’re doing now is very reliant on getting the different parties involved to trust you, and certainly someone who has been the victim of abuse is not very open to trust. How are you able to overcome this problem?

Bellini: You’re right. Trust is an absolutely vital element when working with at-risk groups. And we must be able to take the time to build up this rapport. To do this, I work with the experts on the ground and with community-led organizations that often happen to be geographically local to me. Working with these organizations can also ensure you’re doing something genuinely valuable for the organization, rather than being simply extractive. As a side effect, it’s a more natural way to broker and build up trust with participants.

Bellini: In 2019, which feels like a century

to build in or be thinking about from the

Tech with Professors Nicola Dell and

very start. The overwhelming majority

Thomas Ristenpart. I was really attracted

of work I do is look at how everyday

to their style of research because of their

systems are misused for abusive purposes

persistence in being very pragmatic.

without taking advantage of any software

Their approach is to look at real problems

vulnerabilities. If you have people who

and come out with something that really

properly understand security, safety, and

moves the field forwards, particularly for

privacy working with these systems from

vulnerable population groups. Dell and

the very start, you could make it so much

Ristenpart had reached out to Greenstadt

harder for abusive actions to actually occur.

and McCoy—who shared a grant with them at the time—because they both had expertise in working with adversarial communities online. And I think that’s how those kinds of connections really get made, which is identifying existing kinds

found that people will be almost overly

of expertise rather than replicating what’s

trusting of me as a researcher, because of

already out there.

my association with a university, and their belief that researchers are automatically

CyberByte: Within the scope of your

trustworthy. I take this trust very seriously

personal experience, what would you

because this might be one of the first times

say is the current status of cybersecurity

someone has shared their experiences

awareness in the U.K., both in terms of user

with anyone else, and trust can be broken

and company responses, and in how the

in an instant. I have to be careful to not

subject is taught?

changes, but I can certainly share that I will be dedicated to keep working at making technology safer for all.

Bellini: It may be a little surprising, but I didn’t take a cybersecurity class until my master’s studies and that was just one module towards the end of the program.

CyberByte: As someone who has viewed

And I think that there’s definitely scope and

the issue of intimate partner violence on both

a market to introduce cybersecurity a lot

sides of the Atlantic, are current government

sooner because once I properly understood

strategies helping?

the principles of information security, I couldn’t identify a single area across the

Bellini: Interpersonal abuse is an extremely

space of my computer science education

expensive societal problem, as there’s

that wouldn’t have benefited from knowing

not a single sector—workplace, housing,

more about the security side of things.

heath, financial support— where its impact

I think it makes you a better coder. It

doesn’t hit. Unfortunately, the issue just does

develops your critical thinking skills. It

not get the required funding. Non-profit

makes you a better designer. I think it

organizations do an incredible amount

genuinely does give you a much more well-

of work on very little money. And, one

rounded understanding of why things work

significant difference between the U.K. and

the way they do, and what kinds of harm

the U.S. in this area is that there is a very

or failure states we want to avoid when it

strong set of organizations within the U.K.

comes to digital technology.

addressing the problem.

CyberByte: Though you are new to the

cybersecurity as something they have

ago now, I did an internship at Cornell

I have to be careful, however, as I have

over promise that I can make structural

So I think that companies need to see

To answer the broader question of cybersecurity awareness, we need to

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Beyond these projects, I’ve also explored other aspects of software supply chain security, such as analyzing dependencies in software development, and understanding how we can reason about the libraries we use. This journey has taken me through different aspects of the software development lifecycle, and has involved interactions with a variety of open-source communities, including the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), and the Reproducible Builds initiative.

I’ve also worked with Linux distribution maintainers and other ecosystem stakeholders.

CyberByte: For those unfamiliar with gittuf, could you explain what it is and its significance in software security?

Yelgundhalli: To understand gittuf, let’s first look at the broader goals of software supply chain security. One key aspect is transparency, or having clear visibility into what’s happening in

PH.D. PROFILE:

our software, along with verifiability, or the ability to enforce

ADITYA SIRISH A YELGUNDHALLI

policies. Another crucial goal is eliminating single points of trust, ensuring that no single entity has unchecked control over security enforcement. When it comes to source code development, Git is the dominant version control system. According to Stack Overflow’s developer survey, around 90% of developers use it (see https://

DECENTRALIZING TRUST—A CONVERSATION ON OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY

stackoverflow.blog/2023/01/09/beyond-git-the-other-version-

by Chinmay Tompe, NYU Tandon M.S. Alumnus

GitLab, and Bitbucket.

control-systems-developers-use/). While Git itself is designed to be distributed, many security measures—such as access control, and policy enforcement—are centralized within platforms like GitHub,

By moving enforcement from centralized platforms like GitHub into

Aditya Sirish A Yelgundhalli is a Ph.D. in NYU’s Secure Systems

the repository itself, gittuf decentralizes security. Instead of relying

Lab who graduated in 2025. With extensive experience in open-

on external systems, developers define and verify policies directly

source software supply chain security, he serves as a maintainer for

in Git, in alignment with the supply chain security principles of

multiple projects supported by the non-profit Linux Foundation.

transparency, reduced risk, and distributed trust.

These include in-toto (https://in-toto.io/), SLSA (https://slsa. dev/), and Sigstore gitsign (https://docs.sigstore.dev/cosign/

In gittuf, security is embedded. Pulling a repository means getting

signing/gitsign/). As part of his dissertation research, he has led

both code and its guardrails. By making security intrinsic to the repo, gittuf gives developers control. They are not forced to trust a

the development of gittuf (https://gittuf.dev/), a system designed

platform.

to protect the transparency and authenticity of content developed in Git repositories. In addition to his academic work, Yelgundhalli is

CyberByte: What motivated you to create gittuf? What problem

currently a part-time consultant at Bloomberg’s CTO office, where

were you trying to solve?

he collaborates on software supply chain security research.

Yelgundhalli: gittuf was CyberByte: Can you give us a brief overview of your journey to the

really an extension of the

current point in your career?

work we had already been doing with projects like

Yelgundhalli: Sure! I was a Ph.D. student at the Secure Systems Lab,

in-toto and TUF. Around

where my research focused on software supply chain security. I was

the time we started looking

part of the lab in various capacities since January 2019, and in that

at gittuf, we had already

time I contributed significantly to the in-toto project and worked

spent several years working on securing the software supply chain.

on The Update Framework (TUF) (https://theupdateframework.

By 2022, we were seeing a major shift in the industry around this

io/). Around 2.5 years ago, I led the development of an offshoot of

topic. We saw efforts like SLSA (Supply-chain Levels for Software

TUF called gittuf, which focuses on securing Git repositories. While

Artifacts) emerge in response to the attack on SolarWinds, focusing

gittuf started with strong ties to TUF, it has evolved into something

at that time on providing verifiable evidence of what happens during

increasingly distinct.

the build process. But securing the build pipeline alone doesn’t

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solve the whole problem. What if the source code that goes into the

Ultimately, the future hinges on balancing security with usability,

build system is already compromised? That’s where gittuf comes in.

making it invisible until needed. I don’t see this changing much

It’s specifically focused on securing source code development. We

because of AI, but I’m excited to see how this evolves!

wanted to ensure that, from source to build to distribution, there’s

CyberByte: You’ve worked in both academia and industry. How do

integrity and transparency in every step.

you balance research with practical applications?

In addressing this issue, I was fortunate to collaborate with software engineer Billy Lynch, who has extensive experience in Git security

Yelgundhalli At the Secure Systems Lab, we prioritize bridging the

through projects at Google, Chainguard, and on Sigstore’s Git

gap between research and real-world impact. We prioritize building

signing. We explored ideas by combining supply chain security

deployable solutions that address practical security challenges.

knowledge, Git internals, and frameworks like TUF—iterating

This ethos is core to our identity. For instance, when we built gittuf,

through trial and error to refine our approach. gittuf, now gaining

we didn’t just create a prototype for a paper. We ensured it was

traction, ensures that pulling a repository delivers not just code but

reasonably production-ready, engaged with industry partners, and

cryptographic integrity guarantees. It wasn’t a straight-line journey.

contributed it to the OpenSSF. That’s how we measure success—

A lot of it was exploratory, just figuring out what worked and what

real-world adoption.

didn’t, and adapting along the way.

CyberByte: Who has been your biggest mentor or influence in your

CyberByte: You mentioned SolarWinds as a key turning point.

career?

How did that incident and others like the XZ Utils attack shape

Yelgundhalli: Without a doubt, Santiago Torres-Arias, one of

your research?

Justin Cappos’ former Ph.D. students. When I joined the lab, I didn’t Yelgundhalli: Successful software supply chain attacks are rare, but

work directly with Justin—Ph.D. students typically guide newer

when they happen, they demonstrate how serious they can be. Before

researchers. Santiago, who developed in-toto for his dissertation,

SolarWinds, supply chain security was something few companies

has had a huge impact on how I approach open source, security, and

prioritized. Then, in December 2020, we learned the U.S. federal

research. More broadly, the open-source security community has

government had been compromised, and supply chain security

shaped my thinking. Whether it’s past lab members or contributors

became a priority. The XZ Utils attack reinforced another critical

at OpenSSF, it’s been a collective effort.

lesson: attackers don’t need to breach your build system if they can

It also fuels our collaborations with industry through internships

manipulate your source code first. For years, researchers warned

as well. With Bloomberg, we’re learning from applying our work to

about these risks, but without high-profile incidents, attention was

continually improve the tooling and design of gittuf. While interning

scarce. The difference now is urgency and adoption. The goal? I think

at Toradex, we had a similar synergy.

it is to make supply chain security as seamless as HTTPS has become

CyberByte: Outside of supply chain security, what’s your general

in recent years.

philosophy on cybersecurity?

That said, no system is bulletproof. Even the best defenses are unlikely to stop a highly resourced attacker like the one behind XZ.

Yelgundhalli: I started with a strong interest in privacy, and that still

All we can really do is raise the bar so high that widespread attacks

influences how I approach security. I’m a private person online—I

become impractical.

avoid sharing much personal data, use minimal social media, and enable security best practices like multi-factor authentication. At

CyberByte: Where do you see the field heading in the next decade, particularly with AI in the mix?

the same time, I acknowledge that if a nation-state actor truly wants

Yelgundhalli: Supply chain security is about authenticated

practical risk minimization—controlling what data I expose rather than

communication—tracking data transformations, whether in software

chasing perfect security, which doesn’t exist.

to target you, there’s not much you can do. My approach is about

or AI models. AI doesn’t change this; it’s just another artifact with

Cybersecurity isn’t just about tech—it’s about understanding human

dependencies. OpenSSF and companies like Google are already

behavior, trust, and communication. Whether you’re securing

applying supply chain principles to AI, using tools like Sigstore for

software supply chains or improving privacy, the best security

model signing and provenance. What’s likely to happen is that with

measures are the ones people actually use. Find work that has real

increased use of AI in decision making, there will also be higher

impact, collaborate with the open source community, and don’t get

expectations for how and why we can trust those AI models.

caught up in theoretical perfection at the cost of practical solutions.

I think regulations (U.S./E.U.) will drive adoption, with near-term focus on “low-hanging solutions,” like requiring SBOMs and provenance for software artifacts. With all that metadata being produced, I think aggregation, such as in OpenSSF’s GUAC (https:// openssf.org/projects/guac/), will become key, both for AI decisionmaking and to help humans reason about software and assess trustworthiness.

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ALUMNI PROFILE:

academia. This balance allows me to do applied research while also contributing to fundamental advancements in security.

TRISHANK KARTHIK KUPPUSAMY

CyberByte: Your early career as a full-stack developer didn’t focus on software supply chain security. How did your time at NYU and working on these projects shape your perspective towards it?

Kuppusamy: When I was working as a full-stack developer, I wasn’t focused on software supply chain security per se. But I had an interest in security from a self-taught perspective. For instance, back then, PyPI

Trishank Karthik Kuppusamy is a Staff

wasn’t using HTTPS everywhere, so man-in-the-middle attacks were

Engineer at Datadog. As a Ph.D. student

a real issue. Software supply chain security became a bigger focus for

at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, he worked with Professor

me during my Ph.D. work. At the time, there was no systematic study

Justin Cappos (https://engineering.nyu.edu/faculty/justin-cappos)

of it, not in industry and definitely not in academia. It took several

on software update security issues. Kuppusamy led the specification

years for people to even recognize it as a critical security domain. The

for Uptane (https://uptane.org/), which delivers secure software

NYU Secure Systems Lab was—and still is—a pioneer in this area. It

updates for automobiles. He also worked on improving the security

produced some of the foundational work that has influenced the way

and efficiency of The Update Framework, better known as TUF

industry thinks about software supply chain security today.

(https://theupdateframework.io/), a predecessor to Uptane that

CyberByte: You’ve been involved in projects like TUF (The Update

has been adopted by notary, trdl, Automotive Grade Linux, Kolide,

Framework), Uptane, and in-toto. Can you explain their significance

and sigstore. The full list of adoptions can be found at https:// theupdateframework.io/community/adoptions/.

and how they contribute to the space?

CyberByte: Let’s start with your journey. You went from being a

Kuppusamy: One of the common questions I get is: why do we

Ph.D. student to becoming a Staff Engineer at DataDog. Can you

need multiple systems instead of just one? The answer is that they

walk us through that transition?

each solve different parts of the problem.

• TUF focuses on securing the last mile of software distribution.

Kuppusamy: I started my Ph.D. at the end of 2012 and joined

• in-toto goes deeper, ensuring that the entire software

DataDog in the fall of 2017. It was an interesting journey as I’m sure every Ph.D. student’s journey is. More recently, I became an Adjunct

development pipeline is secure before software even reaches the

Professor at Tandon as well, so that added another layer to my

last mile.

career.

• Uptane is a generalized extension of TUF designed for software updates where dependency resolution happens in the cloud, such

To summarize my journey, I point to four projects:

as for automotives.

1. Private information retrieval and scaling security systems that

These are complementary, rather than competing technologies. TUF

make secure software update systems more practical and usable.

and in-toto work together to secure different stages of the software

2. Diplomat—the first of several projects that adapted TUF to

supply chain, while Uptane adapts TUF’s principles for diverse

defend against specific repository issues, in this case the volume

domains, such as the automotive industry.

of projects community repositories must deal with.

CyberByte: Uptane is specifically designed for over-the-air (OTA)

3. Mercury—another TUF variant designed to protect against

software updates in vehicles. What were some of the key challenges

rollback attacks, without significant drawbacks in performance.

in developing it? What lessons did you learn?

4. Artemis—identifying new use cases for securing software updates, like container image registries and the automotive industry.

Kuppusamy: One of the biggest challenges was adapting security

So, in a way, my research evolved into practical applications that

principles to a completely different computing environment. Cars are not like cloud servers or laptops. They have dozens, sometimes

bridged academia and industry, which naturally led me to where I

hundreds, of tiny computers called ECUs (Electronic Control

am today.

Units). Some are very powerful, while others are extremely limited

CyberByte: What motivated you to focus on this intersection

in capability. Another challenge was the way vehicle networks

between academia and industry?

operate. In some older car models, once an attacker breaches one ECU—like the cellular modem—they can potentially control critical

Kuppusamy: I guess I’ve always wanted to be an academic of some

components like the engine or brakes. There have been real-world

sort. As a kid, I was fascinated with the idea of being a scientist.

hacks exploiting this (see the YouTube presentation at https://www.

But, over time, I realized that I didn’t want to be just in academia

youtube.com/watch?v=OobLb1McxnI). Another challenge is that

or in industry. I found that the intersection of the two is the most

manufacturers control software updates, not the car owners. That’s

interesting space. In game theory, this is called a mixed strategy or

different from how most personal devices work. Another layer of

a barbell strategy. I spend 80% of my time in industry and 20% in

complexity came from legal and regulatory requirements. For example,

10

SPRING 2025

in some cases, fleet managers or even governments may have a say in

One project I’m particularly excited about is Robusto (see

what software gets installed in vehicles. We had to design Uptane to

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D_8mbINXihT_

ensure safe updates while considering all these unique constraints. So,

UxN86oO6eg0w5Ik7zjtF80medlJNWtg/edit?tab=t.qgduozt32mvu),

Uptane had to account for multiple sources of truth.

a system we’re working on that integrates various security frameworks to create a standardized, open-source solution for

In development, a major lesson learned was that while security

securing open source repositories. If we do it right, it will solve these

principles remain consistent, real-world implementations vary

problems once and for all.

drastically. Different industries have different constraints, so you have to design systems that are flexible enough to accommodate

CyberByte: What are your thoughts on privacy and decentralized

those differences while staying true to core security principles.

architectures? Are we moving toward a more decentralized future?

For instance, not every system uses the same data format—some use JSON, others use XML or CBOR. When designing security

Kuppusamy: I used to be more optimistic about decentralization,

frameworks, we need to avoid being overly prescriptive and allow

but I’ve realized that the real-world trade-offs make it difficult.

for variation in implementation. And, furthermore, we found there

Decentralization gives you more privacy and freedom, but it also

is a need for clear specifications. Before Uptane, TUF didn’t have

sacrifices usability and performance. People want simplicity. You

a detailed client-side implementation guide. Working on Uptane

can’t expect your grandmother to use a decentralized social network

pushed us to create more rigorous documentation, which actually

if even tech-savvy people struggle with it. Ultimately, privacy and

improved TUF as well.

decentralization must be balanced with real-world usability. If it’s too

CyberByte: You taught supply chain security at NYU. What’s the

difficult for the average person to adopt, it won’t succeed.

key takeaway you want students to glean from your course?

CyberByte: With advancements in quantum computing, how do you see it impacting security and cryptography?

Kuppusamy: I’ve always loved teaching. I firmly believe that teaching forces you to learn better. If you can’t explain something simply, you

Kuppusamy: Quantum computing is a fascinating challenge for

don’t understand it well enough. Another reason is that I want to pass

cryptography. The industry is already preparing for the post-

on knowledge to the next generation. Supply chain security is still an

quantum era, and organizations like NIST are standardizing post-

evolving field, and we need more people working on it.

quantum cryptographic algorithms.

The main thing I emphasize is that there is no magic bullet for software

In security, we talk about crypto agility—the ability to switch

supply chain security. It’s all about defense in depth. You can’t rely on

between cryptographic algorithms as needed. Some companies are

just one tool or framework. Instead, you need a layered approach, using

now testing classical and post-quantum algorithms simultaneously,

multiple security mechanisms to cover different attack vectors.

which is a great approach. It’s like insurance—you prepare for the

One of the biggest challenges in teaching security is avoiding

worst-case scenario even if quantum computers never become

getting lost in technical details. I try to provide a historical

powerful enough to break current encryption.

perspective to show how security problems evolved over time. I also

The important thing is that we don’t take an extreme approach.

break down software supply chain security into key components so

Security should be flexible enough to adapt to new threats without

students can see the bigger picture before diving into specifics. This

being too rigid to implement real-world solutions.

approach helps both students and industry professionals understand where each security measure fits into the broader system.

One of the biggest mistakes made today is treating security as a separate discipline from software engineering. It’s almost like we’re telling engineers, “Don’t try to do this yourself—you’ll get it wrong.”

But imagine if civil engineers were taught that bridge safety was optional! Security should be embedded in the development process from day one. Students learning to code should also learn to design fundamentally secure systems.

CyberByte: Where do you see this field going in the next 5-10 years? What are you looking forward to?

Kuppusamy: Right now, we’re still in the early days of securing software supply chains, but I’m optimistic that within a decade this will no longer be a major issue. We need what I call the “TLS of software supply chain security”—a solution so seamless that developers don’t even have to think about it. For example, today, TLS (Transport Layer Security) is so ubiquitous that turning it off is more work than enabling it. That’s the level of integration I envision for software supply chain security.

11

SPRING 2025

12

SPRING 2025

CSAW ’24 KICKS OFF DECADE THREE From November 6-9, hundreds of next-generation cyber defenders converged on Brooklyn and four other geographic sites around the globe for CSAW ’24. During these events, attendees participated in competitions based on real-world problems, listened to technical talks by cybersecurity insiders, and took advantage of opportunities to network with representatives from public and private institutions.

As it matures into its third decade, the world’s most comprehensive student-run cybersecurity event remains an important source of ideas for defending against increasingly sophisticated new cyber threats. This year, in Brooklyn, there were noted changes to existing competitions to better reflect shifting needs within the field, and at other global CSAW sites, change was also in the air.

For example, the BioHack 3D competition was added to CSAW India, as well as CSAW MENA, where it was initially created, and CSAW Europe added a new challenge in which participants submitted posters warning the general public against the consequences of poor cybersecurity practices.

CSAW BY THE NUMBERS 3,000 +

11

total

unique global

participants

challenges

in all rounds

500+ finalists

5 global sites

16 partner organizations

FOR THE US-CANADA SITE

13

300+

13

attendees

sponsors

85

6

finalists

competitions

SPRING 2025

SPEAKER SERIES REFLECTS THE DIVERSITY OF CYBER TASKS Following an opening dinner on the 6th, CSAW ’24 in Brooklyn kicked off on Thursday morning, November 7, with its Industry Speaker Series. The six cyber professionals who addressed attendees accurately represented the diversity of the cybersecurity field, both in terms of the various job responsibilities they hold and the industry sectors—including finance, critical infrastructure, and system/software security—in which they serve.

Leading off was Luna Tong, the CEO and co-founder of Zellic. Tong, who was a founding member of Perfect Blue, the #1-ranked Capture the Flag team in 2020, 2021, and 2023, spoke about “the value of the hacker ‘ethos’ in the marketplace,” and suggested that the skills and determination that characterize the hacker mindset “need to be applied where they’re desperately needed.”

Next up was Gaurav Kumar Srivastava, a cybersecurity consultant and former research professional with Siemens.

Srivastava made a case for why vulnerability managers are the “unsung

heroes of cyber defense,” In a similar vein, Michael Zelinski, a systems specialist at Con Edison, devoted his talk to the importance of incident response, another task critical to protecting cyberphysical systems like power grids.

A duo of speakers from TIAA—Lead Cybersecurity Governance and Risk Specialist Kanan Vaidya and Director of DevSecOps—Cloud Elizabeth Vasquez–followed Zelinski’s talk with insights on “Cybersecurity in Action” within their organization. The session wrapped up with a talk by Dan Guido, CEO and founder of the open source software security company Trail of Bits. Guido, a frequent presence at CSAW in a number of capacities since he participated as an undergraduate computer science student, exposed some of the prevailing security myths of working with AI. After a lunch break, representatives of the speakers’ companies, joined by personnel from the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the National Science Foundation, met with potential job seekers at the CSAW Career Fair, where they discussed various professional options in the domain of cybersecurity and left resumes for consideration for current and future openings.

14

SPRING 2025

LET THE GAMES BEGIN Of course, the heart and soul of CSAW continues to be its competitions. So, on Friday, November 8, the finals of six challenges got underway, both in person and online. At the US-Canada site, the contests included second iterations of the LLM CTF Attack

Two other 2024 competitions made changes to their focus and

Competition and the AI-Based Hardware Attack Challenge (AHA),

judging criteria.

In the case of the AHA competition, its second go-round in Brooklyn

The Policy Competition was renamed Cyber Policy and offered

boasted an important new sponsor, the Northeast Regional Defense

participants two different focus areas. According to Jasnoor Mann,

Technology Hub (NORDTECH), a consortium that aims to boost

a graduate assistant at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs (CGA),

chip manufacturing research and productivity through improved

which partnered with CCS on the challenge, the first focus area

education and training. Built around the growing demand for secure

involved “balancing software security with innovation, defining

and reliable hardware, AHA asked participants to design strategies

reasonable security precautions, and developing legislation that

for automatically inserting backdoors into an open source digital

supports small businesses and startups while upholding industry

design, such as OpenTitan, Ariane, or a design from OpenCores.

standards.” The second focus area “addressed global approaches

Resulting vulnerabilities had to be simulatable and synthesizable,

to software liability, the potential for a universal software security

and needed to demonstrate the effects of the added vulnerability

standard, and the integration of open source software in global

(e.g., Hardware Common Weakness Enumeration and Common

security frameworks.” Students submitted a 500-word response

Vulnerability Scoring System). As noted in an article on the

to a challenge from one of the focus areas. Three entrants,

NORDTECH news site (https://www.nordtechub.org/nordtech-new

Kaleigh Kornfeld (NYU), William Allen (NYU), and Eric Somogyi

s/0mnmaalrlbu74sey4chajtr7k9z52j), bringing the resources of the

(DePaul), were selected to deliver Powerpoint presentations at

consortium to the AHA competition added new strengths and tools.

the finals. Kornfeld, was selected as the winner for her policy

It also served to expand the scope of CSAW to integrate AI-driven

recommendations in the area of software security and liability,

hardware attack simulations. Note that both the MENA and India

which addressed such questions as what constitutes a “reasonable

CSAW sites also added their own iterations of the AHA challenge

precaution” in software security, and how legislation can ensure

for 2024.

liability doesn’t stifle small businesses and startups.

AHA Global Chair: Hammond Pearce, a Lecturer in Computer

Faculty Chair: Christopher P Ankersen, Clinical Professor,

Science and Engineering at the University of New South

Center for Global Affairs, NYU

Wales Sydney.

Student Lead: Graduate Assistant Jasnoor Mann

Student Leads: Jason Blocklove (NYU), Prithwish Basu Roy

Co-organized by CCS and the NYU Center for Global Affairs

(NYU Abu Dhabi), and Vishesh Mishra (IIT Kanpur),

15

SPRING 2025

The Applied Research Competition, another perennial CSAW fixture, also had something of a facelift with the addition of a second judging category. Papers were reviewed and rated on the strength of “technical impact” or “significant social impact,” and a first place and runner-up award was presented in each category.

According to the competition’s faculty advisor, Danny Huang, this year’s conference received 194 submissions.

A program committee composed of 46 volunteers reviewed and assessed the submissions and selected 15 finalists who were invited to present their research posters during the CSAW event. At the end of the judging, the winners were:

Social Impact

Technical Impact

First Place: “Privacy Requirements and Realities

First Place: “Passive SSH Key Compromise via Lattices”

of Digital Public Goods,” by Geetika Gopi,

by Kaiwen He, George Arnold Sullivan, Nadia Heninger,

Aadyaa Maddi, and Giulia Fanti, Carnegie Mellon

University of California, San Diego. Originally presented

University; and Omkhar Arasaratnam of OpenSSF.

at the 2023 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and

Originally presented at the 2023 USENIX

Communications Security (SIGSAC ‘23).

Conference on Privacy Engineering Practice and Respect (PEPR ‘23)

Runner-up: “Gotcha! I Know What You are Doing on the

Runner-up: “‘The Times they are A-Changin’:

Accelerators via Measuring Communication Links” by

Characterizing Post-publication Changes to Online

Chongzhou Fang, UC Davis; Ning Miao, UC Davis; Han

News” by Chris Tsoukaladelis, Brian Kondracki,

Wang, Temple; Jiacheng Zhou, UC Davis; Tyler Sheaves,

Niranjan Balasubramanian, and Nick Nikiforakis,

UC Davis; John M. Emmert, Univ of Cincinnati; Avesta

Stony Brook University. Originally presented at the

Sasan, UC Davis; Houman Homayoun, UC Davis; ACM

2024 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy.

Conference on Computer and Communications Security

FPGA Cloud: Fingerprinting Co-Located Cloud FPGA

(CCS ‘23).

ARC Faculty Chair: Danny Huang, Assistant Professor, ECE/CSE/CCS NYU Student Leads: Ph.D. Students Mo Satt and Grace McGrath, MS student Shubh Kamdar Judges: Ronald Jones (DTCC), Ashish Pujari and BK Das (Google), Kanan Vaidya (TIAA), Howdy Fisher (Greynoise), Luna Tong (Zellic), and Yixin Sun (University of Virginia).

Global Perspectives: Highlights from Other CSAW Sites CSAW is truly a global affair and so no report on the events of 2024 would be complete without checking in with a few of our global sites: CSAW Europe, CSAW MENA, and CSAW Mexico.

Thanks to Hari Ramasubbu, Senior Center Coordinator at the Center for Cyber Security at NYU Abu Dhabi; AnneLaure Duee, CSAW Europe coordinator at Grenoble INP-Esisar; and Felipe A. Trujillo Fernández, Maestro en Ciencias at Universidad Iberoamericana, Ciudad de México, and site coordinator for CSAW Mexico, for providing details and descriptions of their respective events.

16

SPRING 2025

EUROPE The CSAW Europe event packed a lot of activities, camaraderie, and information into a two day program at Grenoble INP-Esisar in Valence, France.

BY THE NUMBERS

220

51

K-12 school children

145

The following day, CSAW events were divided between CyberDay

45

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Entreprises, is a program devoted to raising professional awareness of cybersecurity by presenting keynotes

participating

institutional

universities

and industrial

5

partners

activities and student competitions. CyberDay, co-sponsored by

on topics such as geopolitical issues and the economic impact of cybersecurity issues on businesses. The program also introduced attendees to an immersive game where they got to experience a cyberattack in a company.

competitions

finalists

The brand new Cybersecurity Awareness Communications Challenge, open to students at all levels, asked participants to create a high impact communication medium to raise awareness of cybersecurity to the general public. The winning poster, from a team at Sapienza Universitá in Rome, reminded viewers that “even their minds can be hacked” and that they should take steps to protect their personal information.

On the same day, Esisar students also took local school children on guided tours of CSAW events, with workshops especially designed for them. These tours served to raise awareness of cybersecurity and stimulate interest in cyber and technical careers.

The first day was designated “Research Day,” with programming devoted to presentations on the security of hardware and software systems. The event was hosted by the ARSENE project, part of the French cyber defense agency PEPR Cybersécurité, and drew approximately 90 attendees. On the same day, CSAW volunteers also conducted visits to K-12 schools in the region, working with students in hands-on programs designed to stimulate interest in cyber and technical careers.

17

SPRING 2025

MENA

Hack My Robot: With a focus on autonomous soil compactors, this

2024 marked the 11th anniversary of CSAW MENA, and its

quality implications of potential compromises. Nineteen participants

newest edition was a resounding success. The event brought

from four different countries competed in the final round, with 5

cybersecurity researchers, students and professionals from

teams emerging as finalists. In the final rounds, challengers had to

nine countries—Jordan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco,

hack a construction environment robot to disrupt functionalities

Pakistan, Israel, Egypt, China (Shanghai)—to the United Arab

and steal data. All finalists displayed the ability to defend against

Emirates to share knowledge, engage in friendly competition,

creative and technically complex attacks.

year’s Hack My Robot competition highlighted the critical safety and

and contribute to the advancement of the cybersecurity field.

LLM Attack Challenge: With the burgeoning popularity of LLMs,

A total of 118 students and researchers took part in the finals, a

the capabilities of new models are rising, including the ability to

34% surge in participant numbers compared to previous years.

pinpoint software vulnerabilities while also generating the code to exploit them. The success of the LLM Attack Challenge at CSAW

Here is a round-up of the competitions.

2023 set the stage for this year’s edition, which drew 41 participants.

Applied Research: The Applied Research “best paper award” has a reputation for attracting some of the world’s best

CSAW ’24 MENA also

global security research. This year’s competition featured nine

featured an engaging

exceptional participants from 5 countries.

keynote by Luca Di

BioHack 3D: BioHack 3D marked a groundbreaking event as

assistant with HexHive

only the second workshop and hackathon solely dedicated

Laboratory at the Swiss

to biochip security and its intersection with 3D printing

Federal Technology

technology. The one-day event focused on shedding light on

Institute of Lausanne. An

security vulnerabilities in PCR biochips. With participation

experienced competitor

from across the UAE, a total of 21 teams engaged in the virtual

in global CTF finals,

qualifying round, with only 5 elite teams advancing to the final

including DEFCON and

Bartolomeo, a doctoral

XCTF, Luca’s talk on “The

round.

CTF Player Pipeline: From Noob to Addicted,” shared insights on Capture The Flag: Ten teams of 37 participants from five

becoming a dedicated participant in these types of competitions.

different countries emerged as finalists out of 90 in the

His expertise inspired attendees to explore and excel in the dynamic

qualifying rounds.

world of cybersecurity challenges.

18

SPRING 2025

MEXICO

The latest edition of CSAW Mexico was designed to foster interest in cybersecurity

CSAW Mexico brought together many activities, promoting collaboration and innovation to a program that has grown since its creation at New York University in 2003.

among high school students, as well as to promote awareness of current cyber risks.

Since its first edition, in 2018, the event has been organized by the Universidad Iberoamericana, under the vision of NYU Ph.D. graduate Santiago Torres Arias, who collaborated with his alma mater to bring the competition to his home country.

CSAW Mexico held more than 15 training and awareness actions aimed at students and teachers of different educational levels.

These activities not only assessed technical skills, but also promoted best practices in cybersecurity and a broader understanding of contemporary challenges in this field.

Looking ahead to 2025, CSAW Mexico seeks to continue evolving beyond an annual event, developing outreach, training, and awareness activities throughout the year. This effort will include the

BY THE NUMBERS

13

high school teams

participation of recognized cybersecurity

5

institutions

5

55

undergraduate

students

experts and institutions to further strengthen the ecosystem in Mexico.

In addition, this expanded approach will ensure that CSAW remains both an

level teams

educational and professional benchmark.

19

SPRING 2025

GLOBAL FIRST-PLACE ROUND-UP AI Hardware Attack (Global) • Seal | IIT-Kharagpur (India) Shubhi Shukla, Tishya Sharma Sarkar, Upasana Mandal, Kislay Arya

Cybersecurity Awareness Communication Challenge

NYU New York: OSIRIS Lab, Center

(Europe only) • Mashers, Sapienza Universitá di Roma and Roma Tre University, Rome (Italy)

Applied Research Competition

Tiziano Caruana and Mohammed Ryan Shaikh

presenting “What All the PHUZZ is About: A Coverage-guided Fuzzer for

for Global Affairs, Cyber Fellows, Wasserman Center for Career Development, Tandon Career Hub. NYU Abu Dhabi: Center for Cyber Security, the Modern Microprocessors Architecture Lab

• Europe | Sebastian Neef, Technische Universität Berlin (Germany)

CSAW 2024 Global Partners

Embedded Security Challenge • E urope | The Roman Xpl0it, Sapienza

Global and Domestic Affiliates: IIT-Kanpur Interdisciplinary Centre for Cyber Security and Cyber

Finding Vulnerabilities in PHP Web

Universitá di Roma and Università di

Defense of Critical Infrastructures,

Applications”

Verona (Italy)

the University of Delaware

Kristjan Tarantelli, Simone Di Maria,

College of Engineering, Grenoble

Lorenzo Colombini, Francesco Bianchi

Alpes Cybersecurity Institute,

• MENA | Marouene Boubakri, University of Carthage Tunis (Tunisia) presenting “Architectural Security and Trust Foundation for RISC-V” • US-Canada-Social Impact | Geetika Gopi, et al., Carnegie Mellon University (USA) presenting “Privacy Requirements and Realities of Digital Public Goods” • US-Canada-Technical Impact | Keegan Ryan, et al., University of California, San Diego (USA), presenting “Passive SSH Key Compromise via Lattices”

BioHack 3D • Team AltF4, University of Wollongong, Dubai (UAE) Hadiyya Mattummathodi Mariah, Khalifa Riaz Mohammed, Muhammad Ansari

Capture the Flag • Europe | pwn-la-Chapelle, RWTH Aachen University (Germany) Felix Schaub, Anton Fricke, Dorian Koch, Daniel Petri • MENA | 0x1a4, TEK-UP University, (Tunisia)

• U S-Canada | Yellow Hackets, Georgia Tech University/University of North Georgia (USA)

Mohamed Aziz • US-Canada | Shellphish, Arizona State University (USA) Audrey Dutcher, Justin Miller

et de Management, the Global CyberPeace Challenge, and CTFd.

Tracy Guo, Henry Bui, Shayan Aqeel,

Corporate and Government

Smit Patel

Sponsors for CSAW ’24 USCanada: Con Edison, Cubic Defense, DTTC, Google, HP, Intel,

Hack3D (Global)

Metropolitan Transit Authority,

• Greeks for Geeks, National Technical University of Athens (Greece) Christos Madamopoulos, George Karapidakis, Stasinos Ntaveas, Nicholaos Moraitis

Hack my Robot • M ENA | Mr. Robot, Princess Sumaya University for Technology (Jordan) Badi AbuAlGhanam, Mohammad AlSarabi

LLM CTF Attack Competition • M ENA | Team PBD, UAE Pearl Rwauya, Simon Grange, Safa Al Almeri • U S-Canada | NYU Tandon (USA) Shiv Thaker, Samkit Shah

Knani Alaaeddine, Chebbi Jasser, Badreddine Chamkhi, Knani

Grenoble INP Institut d’ingénierie

Red Team Attack (Europe only) • Les Nanoninjas, Lycée FrancoAllemand de Buc (LFA) (France) Matan Israël, Anaëlle Letailleur, Enguerrand Boucly

20

the National Science Foundation, NORDTECH, Synopsys, TIAA, Trail of Bits, and Zellic.io

SPRING 2025

CyberByte: So now we know why you both “dived in,” the question becomes, what keeps you coming back each year?

Tsoutsos: I would say the vibrant community and the continuous innovation within the field are what keeps me coming back. CSAW is more than just a competition; it is a forum for exchanging ideas, networking with professionals, and staying updated on the latest advancements in cybersecurity. The ESC competition (for which Tsoutsos now serves as global lead) in particular, offers a unique platform to contribute to cutting-edge research that has real-world implications.

Guido: CSAW was very special to me during college. It was something I felt a sense of ownership over and represented

FOREVER CSAW:

one of my earliest experiences with

WHY THESE FORMER COMPETITORS ARE STILL ALL IN

entrepreneurial activity. What keeps me coming back is simply that it’s fun, and I enjoy seeing others succeed. I experience a sense of vicarious fulfillment watching students engage with the competition. You can really feel the drive, especially at the

Nektarios Tsoutsos, Assistant Professor and Associate Director, Center for Cybersecurity,

finals event. Everyone there has worked

Assurance, and Privacy at the University of Delaware, and Dan Guido, co-founder and CEO

hard to earn their place. They’re passionate

of Trail of Bits, are members of a unique club. Both are former CSAW competitors who have

about the field, and those are the people

continued to remain engaged with the event in some way. As a Ph.D.student in 2013, Tsoutsos

I want to be around and support. I see my

captured first place in the 6th iteration of the Embedded Security Contest (ESC), while Guido

younger self in them.

became involved in the program as an undergraduate, back in the early days when CTF was the only CSAW competition. After the 2024 event, we caught up with them to find out why the competition remains such an important part of their lives..

My participation has evolved significantly.

After competing as a student, I began running the CTF competition—at one

CyberByte: As students, what initially drew you to CSAW?

point, in 2008, even hosting it from

Tsoutsos: Initially, what drew me was my deep interest in embedded systems and cybersecurity. At the time, I was already conducting research in these areas, so the competition felt like a natural extension of my academic interests. Additionally, it was very appealing to me that ESC was addressing real-world problems, and offered the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded peers.

my apartment. After graduation, I became an adjunct faculty member at Polytechnic, teaching penetration testing and application security courses while mentoring students running competitions.

I also played matchmaker with sponsors,

Guido: I came to [what was then called] Polytechnic University specifically because of

connecting the largest firms in New York

its strong cybersecurity program. Once on campus, I was immediately on the lookout

City with this event to help them find

for opportunities to engage with other students and professors in the field. That’s when

new talent—which further expanded

I discovered CSAW in the fall of 2004. Vikram Padman, a former research technology

opportunities for students.

specialist at Polytech and now a Cyber Security Systems engineer for Lockheed Martin, had set up a stand in the hallway recruiting participants for the contests. I’ve always thrived on competition—in high school I competed in football, wrestling, track, and baseball, and I had that same adversarial, competitive nature when it came to technology. I was eager to dive right into CSAW, and that’s really what attracted me to cybersecurity in the first place.

About five years later, I created THREADS, a research conference showcasing both academic research and industry presentations alongside CSAW. We ran it for three years (2012-2014), with each

CSAW provided the perfect vehicle for experimentation in an environment that reflected

event focusing on a different theme. When

real-world problems. The reason these contests have such staying power in the community,

THREADS ran its course, I contributed

and why employers respect them is that they genuinely mirror the challenges cybersecurity

to the CSAW Summer Program for High

professionals face daily. Unlike coursework, which students often dismiss as theoretical or

School Women by delivering the opening

outdated, CTF competitions feel immediately relevant and practical.

lecture and developing a short course.

21

SPRING 2025

Next up, In 2015 and 2016, I helped to

Guido: I believe CSAW fundamentally

advice for would-be competitors, which

shape the CSAW Policy Competition. We

changed when we shifted from local to

can be found at https://blog.trailofbits.

challenged students to explore innovative

global scope. Before that transformation,

com/2014/05/20/trail-of-bits-releases-

solutions, like national bug bounty

CSAW was effectively a recruiting drive

capture-the-flag-field-guide/).

programs and present workable proposals

to get people to join our security lab at

to industry experts. In the last few years, as

Polytechnic University. The first year I

Trail of Bits grew, my involvement shifted to

participated, we faced an uphill battle

contributing challenges for the Capture the

convincing even our fellow students that

Flag competition. We developed real-world

cybersecurity was worth caring about. Once

challenges based on the PlayStation 3 hack

we opened CSAW to people around the

and created Windows-based challenges—

United States and around the globe, that

something rare in CTF competitions

decision transformed everything. Today,

but crucial for comprehensive security

people are banging down the door to

education. In recent years, I’ve returned to

participate and gain recognition for their

understanding.

CSAW to give keynote presentations on

work.

CyberByte: Dr. Tsoutsos, you were last

emerging technologies and industry trends.

What’s particularly gratifying is seeing

featured in CyberByte back in 2020 and

CyberByte: Dr. Tsoutsos, CSAW ‘24 also

how the industry recognition has grown.

marks 18 years of ESC competitions at

Now, CSAW attracts sponsorship and

CSAW. As someone who has been involved

participation from major technology

for more than a decade, how has the nature

companies, government agencies, and

of the challenge changed since you first

security firms that all recognize its

became involved?

value in identifying and nurturing talent.

NYU Tandon has become a significant

We apply cutting-edge research to solve real-world security problems, showing others how to do the same.

Both CSAW and Trail of Bits operate on the principle that deep technical understanding is essential to effective security work, and that practical, hands-on experience is the surest path to developing that

were quoted as saying, “I immediately understood that CSAW was much more than a student competition: it was a forum to talk about cybersecurity, a unique opportunity to meet peers and area experts, and a driver for state-of-the-art research.”

Do you believe this description still holds true today? And, what types of research do

Tsoutsos: ESC has evolved significantly.

player in this field, with CSAW as its

The challenges have become more

flagship event.

you see coming out of these competitions?

CyberByte: Since your CSAW days, Mr.

Tsoutsos: Absolutely, I believe this

Guido, you have gone on to found your own

description still holds true today. CSAW

company, Trail of Bits, and to become an

continues to be a dynamic platform that

important voice in cybersecurity. Do you

fosters discussion, collaboration, and

think your CSAW experience helped you

innovation in cybersecurity. The research

prepare for the challenges you have faced in

coming out of these competitions often

these posts?

pushes the boundaries of what is possible,

complex and now address a wider range of real-world issues. The contest has also embraced emerging technologies and methodologies, making it more relevant and impactful. Solutions proposed by ESC participants are aligned with innovative cybersecurity practices and have the potential to influence real-world impacts.

CyberByte: In recent years, ESC has been

Guido: What CSAW did was transform my

adopted by two other CSAW sites—Europe

scope of operation from local to global. I still

and India. Is there any interaction between

meet people around the world who tell me

the leaders of these other sites and your

they know me because they participated

team in Delaware?

in a CSAW CTF competition I ran 20 years ago—this happened just two weeks ago with

Tsoutsos: Yes, there is considerable interaction between the local leaders of the other CSAW sites and our team at the University of Delaware. We regularly collaborate to ensure the consistency and quality of the challenges across all sites.

This collaboration also allows us to share insights and best practices, ultimately

ranging from advanced threat detection methods to secure embedded system designs. The forum remains a critical driver for state-of-the-art research and a breeding ground for the next generation of cybersecurity experts.

someone who works at SpaceX.

CyberByte: Mr. Guido, you have been

CSAW provided an environment with just

part in how I came to love cybersecurity,

enough challenge to match my skill level at 19. It offered significant opportunities for success, with a limited downside if things didn’t go perfectly. This created a perfect stretch opportunity where I could grow my

quoted as saying, “CSAW played a large and I’m glad it still does so for many students.” What about the competition stimulated this connection to the discipline that has become your life’s work?

abilities. The technical and organizational

Guido: Before CSAW and Polytechnic

skills I developed through CSAW directly

University, I was swimming against the

translated to founding Trail of Bits in

current. My high school years were

CyberByte: Mr. Guido, other than faculty,

2012. What connects these endeavors is

marked by a fundamental disconnect—I

you are one of the few people who was

a commitment to pragmatic security and

was developing technical skills that

there when CSAW began. Could you

education. Trail of Bits isn’t just a consulting

weren’t recognized or supported by the

imagine then what this competition would

firm—we’re an educational venture at heart.

educational system around me. I pushed

grow into? And what is the most important

(Note that the company released a Capture

technical boundaries out of necessity and

change you have seen in the event?

the Flag Field Guide in 2014 providing

curiosity. I discovered vulnerabilities in my

enriching the experience for all participants.

22

SPRING 2025

CSAW through the years with Dan and Nektarios

school’s network, but faced punishment

clear roadmap for improvement. I could

rather than mentorship. The school banned

see precisely what I needed to learn next,

me from using computers and even

which was exactly what I’d been searching

prevented me from writing for the school

for.

newspaper because the club met in the computer lab. I responded by creating my own website and independent student

In an era where cybersecurity education is now widespread, CSAW continues to set

newspaper—finding a way forward when

the bar higher than any classroom could. It

conventional paths were blocked.

provides a proving ground where ambitious

CSAW represented a complete reversal of this dynamic. The competition didn’t just tolerate my curiosity, but rewarded it.

It was revolutionary to me that my skills

students can test their limits, connect with industry professionals, and chart their path to excellence. CSAW isn’t just a competition—it’s a launchpad for careers, a

were valuable, not problematic. I didn’t win

forge for technical skills, and a community

first place in my first CSAW CTF—I came

that recognizes and nurtures talent. Twenty

in second. But that outcome was actually

years later, that remains its greatest gift

perfect. It showed me exactly where my

to the field and to the students who will

knowledge gaps were and gave me a

define its future.

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SPRING 2025

24

SPRING 2025

CCS NEWS

NYU CCS and Abu Dhabi Researchers Identify Significant Security Risks in Labs-on-chips

DOE Funds New Electric Power

Labs-on-chips is an exciting new medical technology that enables technicians to perform

Cybersecurity Center at NYU

multiple laboratory tests on tiny fluid samples, such as blood droplets. Unfortunately,

NYU will soon be home to a new federally funded center dedicated to the protection of America’s electric power infrastructure.

The new center will be one of several regional cybersecurity hubs established by the Department of Energy’s Office

malicious parties are already finding ways to tamper with these devices and affect their functionality. In a study published last fall in Scientific Reports, a team of researchers from CCS and NYU Abu Dhabi reported that in one type of these devices, called flow-based microfluidic biochips (FMBs), the microscopic valves that control the fluid flow can be subtly altered during manufacturing. Such tampering affects a critical parameter for the integrated microfluidic circuitry of the device.

of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) to promote and support innovative research, and to train the energy workforce in cybersecurity skills.

According to an announcement from CESER, the NYU team will lead a project called “Innovations in Securing the Power Grid by Integrated Research and Education” or INSPIRE. The research team will “focus on addressing gaps in cybersecurity that arise from integrating components into the electric grid, such as electric vehicle charging infrastructure and distributed energy resources.” The team is charged with developing an anomaly detection system that “can be used on the grid and its distributed assets to monitor for malicious cyber activities in real-time.”

In announcing NYU’s addition to the project, Puesh M. Kumar, Director of

An Illustration showing the FMB manufacturing process. At the manufacturing stage, attackers with access to materials could compromise FMBs through chemical tampering methods, such as altered curing ratios, harmful chemical doping, or deliberate material degradation. From “BioTrojans: Viscoelastic microvalve-based attacks in flow-based microfluidic biochips and their countermeasures”

CESER, observed,“Universities are pivotal partners to help us build a more secure and resilient energy sector. I am thrilled that NYU will be joining the network of university-based cybersecurity centers to

According to an NYU Research story about the investigation, the team found that “stealthy tampering can be achieved by introducing harmful chemicals or by altering the associated chemical composition, which significantly changes the energetics of the microvalve deformation. The researchers, who include lead author Navajit Singh Baban, a

help tackle the growing cyber threats to

CCS postdoctoral associate, named these bad valves “BioTrojans,” and cautioned that they

U.S. energy systems.” New York Senator

“look identical to normal valves but behave very differently under stress.” As microfluidic

Kirsten Gillibrand also praised the initiative,

biochips are increasingly used in critical applications, such as disease diagnosis, DNA

adding, “Our energy sector is a target for

analysis, drug discovery, and biomedical research, the presence of these BioTrojans could

cyber actors from around the world.The

have devastating consequences. Ramesh Karri, the senior author of the study and chair of

work NYU will do is critical to ensuring that

NYU Tandon’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, adds, “This isn’t just about

advancements in the electric grid are done

a malfunctioning medical device. It’s about the potential for malicious actors to intentionally

with a cyber workforce aware of and able

sabotage these critical tools in ways that are very difficult to detect.”

to address cyber threats. I look forward to seeing the work done by NYU in this important project.”

For more information about the project, go to

The research team proposed several solutions in their Scientific Reports article, including recommending design modifications to make valves more resilient, and a novel authentication method using fluorescent dyes to detect tampered components.

To learn more about the study, read the NYU Research story at https://engineering.nyu.edu/ news/nyu-tandon-researchers-uncover-security-flaw-miniature-medical-labs or download the

https://www.energy.gov/ceser/articles/nyu-

Scientific Reports article “BioTrojans: Viscoelastic microvalve-based attacks in flow-based

selected-university-based-cybersecurity-

microfluidic biochips and their countermeasures,” published in August 2024, at https://www.

research-and-training.

nature.com/articles/s41598-024-70703-0.

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SPRING 2025

THROUGH THE NYU MS-CR MASTER’S PROGRAM, VETS CONTINUE TO SERVE AND PROTECT For many students in the Master of Science in Cybersecurity Risk and Strategy (MS-CRS) program, addressing tomorrow’s cyber challenges is just a continuation of a commitment to service that began in the U.S. Armed Forces. According to an NYU News story, written

by Addison Dunlap and posted November 12, 2024, the master’s degree program, which is offered jointly by NYU’s School of Law and NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, is proving appealing to veterans. At the time the article was published, the program’s student cohort included 21 former servicemen and women, and throughout it’s five-year history, its offerings have been a strong draw for veterans.

While the factors that draw veterans to the program likely vary from person to person, one reason for its popularity could be the school’s willingness to go the extra mile for this cohort. NYU participates in Yellow Ribbon, a scholarship program that helps students supplement their Post 9/11 GI Bill tuition benefits. In addition, Tyler Hornbeck, a current student in the program who was a cyber operations specialist in the U.S. Army and is now an enterprise services engineer at Tanium Inc, told NYU News that the University also assists veterans in “filling out the potentially confusing paperwork of utilizing veterans benefits, and having tons of veteran resources to answer questions and foster a robust veteran community.”

To learn more about the veteran presence in MS CRS, read the NYU News article at https://www.nyu.edu/about/newspublications/news/2024/november/

Veteran participants in NYU School of Law and NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Master of Science in Cybersecurity

former-us-veterans-drawn-to-combatting-

Risk and Strategy program (l to r): Tyler Hornbeck, Mark Blomquist, Mark Follo, Isidoro Ramirez, AnnMarie Saran, and

cyber-threats-.html.

Swain Sulker. ©Giordano: Used courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau.

Forbes Names NYU CS4CS as a Top Summer Option for High School Students The synergism between the trained corps of the service people and the master’s degree program offers a win-win for both groups. The veterans get to put their critical thinking

NYU Computer Science for Cyber

and rapid response skills to use against new threats to the country, while the school

Security (CS4CS), a three-week summer

gets what Randal Milch, faculty director of the program and co-director of NYU’s Center

cybersecurity program for high school

for Cybersecurity, calls, “hard-earned practical experience—usually gained in stressful

students, was named a “top option”

situations—and a can-do approach to our discussions of cybersecurity policy.” Erin O’Brien,

by Forbes magazine for “tech focused

executive director of NYU Law’s Institute for Executive Education, adds, “Members of the

summer programs.” The program, offered

military are uniquely positioned to lead in an era when AI is reshaping the digital landscape.

tuition-free with support from The

Professionals need more than just coding expertise or legal knowledge in isolation—they

Depository Trust & Clearing Company

need the strategic vision to anticipate threats, the technical acumen to implement solutions,

(DTCC), is run through the university’s

and the regulatory understanding to ensure responsible innovation.”

Center for K12 STEM Education, and offers hands-on instruction in digital forensics, steganography, hacking, and cryptography.

No prior experience in computer science is required, and it particularly aims to empower underrepresented populations in cybersecurity. This year’s program will run from July 1 to August 9, and is open to 9th through 11th graders from NYC and neighboring cities.

The Forbes article can be found at https://www.forbes.com/sites/ kristenmoon/2024/12/09/top-10-techfocused-summer-programs-for-highschool-students-in-2025/.

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SPRING 2025

EVENTS

infrastructure defense, and identifying how NSA can leverage NYU’s expertise and resources.

CENTER FOR CYBERSECURITY WELCOMES US CYBER COMMANDER TO TANDON

development of practical solutions to real-world challenges.

Discussion topics included potential workforce development initiatives, including capstone projects and student competitions, which could offer opportunities for mentorship, and the

Afterwards, General Haugh spent time with CCS faculty, who had a chance to showcase their latest research and explore potential collaborations, as well as with students in the Scholarships for Service CyberCorps and ROTC.

In January, NYU Tandon was honored to host General Timothy D. Haugh, 4th Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command and the 19th Director of the National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service, for a day of discussions on such crucial issues as cyber workforce development and potential research partnerships.

During his time on the Tandon campus, General Haugh, whose academic background includes three master’s degrees in Telecommunications, Joint Information Operations, and National Resource Strategy, met with NYU Executive Vice President for Global Science and Technology and NYU Tandon Executive Dean Juan J. de Pablo, and other members of the school’s senior leadership. Participants focused on aligning NSA’s objectives with NYU Tandon’s

NYU Executive Vice President for Global Science and Technology and NYu Tandon Executive Dean Juan de Pablo (l) and

strengths in Al security, cybersecurity, and

General Haugh.

Among the faculty who met with General Haugh were Justin Cappos (2nd from l), Senior Director of CCS Joel Caminer (4th from l), Ramesh Karri (Center), and to his right, Edward Amoroso, Nikhil Gupta, CCS co-director Damon McCoy, along with some of the veterans in attendance.

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SPRING 2025

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SPRING 2025

AWARDS AND HONORS CYBER FELLOWS COLLECT SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS

CONGRATULATIONS TO CCS BEST PAPER HONOREES

Several current and past Cyber Fellows have distinguished themselves in recent months.

Over the past few months, several CCS

Sasha LaPommeray, who graduated in 2024, and Ankhi Afroz Howlader, who completed her

at conferences for outstanding papers.

master’s degree in 2022, have been selected for the third cohort of the U.S. Digital Corps

These include:

(USDC). This initiative of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is designed to give early-career technologists the chance to work on some of the nation’s most pressing challenges, and to introduce them to careers in public service. LaPommeray will spend her two years as a cyber specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, and

faculty and students have been recognized

“Orion: A Fully Homomorphic Encryption Framework for Deep Learning.” Named Best Paper at the 2025 ACM International

Howlader will join the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Conference on Architectural Support for

In an NYU News article released in late December, Abhijit Chitnis, the director of Tandon’s

Systems (ASPLOS). The lead author on

cybersecurity master’s program stated,“I am proud of both Sasha and Ankhi for being

the paper is Austin Ebel, a Ph.D. student,

selected to the latest cohort of the U.S. Digital Corps. As empowered technology leaders,

and his collaborators are Karthik Garimella,

they will now have a chance to apply their skills to public service for solving the most

and his advisor, Brandon Reagen. Read the

challenging issues. I am sure they will make NYU and Tandon proud as they start their careers

paper at https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.03470v3.

Programming Languages and Operating

and continue to shine.”

“Stoking the Flames: Understanding

The two-year fellowships are highly competitive, with thousands of applicants each year

Escalation in an Online Harassment

vying for available spots. And, while there is no commitment to continue working in the

Community.” Received an Honorable

public sector after the fellowship is completed, 95 percent of the fellows in the program’s

Mention at the ACM Conference on

first cohort chose to remain. Thus, according to GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan Fully,

Computer-Supported Cooperative Work

“Growing the U.S. Digital Corps is crucial to driving innovation across the federal government,

and Social Computing (CSCW1). The lead

especially as emerging technologies like AI evolve.”

author of the paper is Kejsi Take, a Ph.D.

You can read more about the program in the NYU News article, which also includes a Q and A with LaPommeray, at https://engineering.nyu.edu/news/nyu-tandon-alumni-earn-importantfederal-fellowships.

graduate in 2024 and now a security engineer at Meta. Her collaborators on the project were Victoria Zhong, Chris Geeng, Emmi Bevensee, Damon McCoy, and Rachel

Kimberly Milner, a current M.S. Cybersecurity student, has won the inaugural Cyber Range Challenge. Hosted by SecureAcademy, the virtual event is designed to provide cybersecurity students and enthusiasts with real-world, hands-on experience competing in Red Team-Blue Team, CTF-style cyber ranges. Participants from 11 countries and 12 academic institutions took part in the event, which challenged them to conduct a thorough vulnerability assessment of an exposed server to aid a company in identifying potential security risks, and then delve into specific vulnerabilities. The competition featured two sessions, each producing a winner.

Greenstadt. Read the paper at https://doi. org/10.1145/3641015.

“Rethinking Trust in Forge-Based Git Security,” Won a Distinguished Paper Award at the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium 2025. The lead author on the paper is Aditya Sirirsh A Yelgundhalli, then a Ph.D. student. His

When interviewed for a blog post on the SecureAcademy website, Milner observed that she “enjoyed participating in Check Point’s SecureAcademy Cyber Range challenge, as the platform provided a secure environment to practice essential skills for mitigating security vulnerabilities in systems.” To read more about the competition, go to https://blog. checkpoint.com/infinity-global-services/a-milestone-in-hands-on-cyber-security-trainingsecureacademys-first-global-cyber-range-challenge/?utm_source=sociabbleapp&utm_ medium=social&utm_campaign=none&utm_term=2XJC2SrVMkSg&socid=2XJC2SrVMkSg.

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collaborators are Ph.D. student Patrick Zielinski, Professor Reza Curtmola, from New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Tandon Professor Justin Cappos.

SPRING 2025

CENTER FOR

CYBERSECURITY cyber.nyu.edu

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