In the Applications, Platforms and Systems Security (APSS) research group we work toward enabling trustworthy systems and machine learning models. This requires addressing security, privacy and performance challenges across heterogeneous interconnected systems and application domains. We use measurements to improve our understanding of the issues which inform the design of novel methods for protecting user privacy and software integrity across mobile platforms, cyber-physical systems , and large-scale systems. Through collaborations we draw expertise across domains and work with industry to transfer knowledge to computing environments used by billions of users.   

Below are some examples of our work:

• Authentication, Authorization and Access Control:  Study of effective and efficient authentication, authorization and access control mechanisms.
• Mobile Device and IoT Systems Security: Study of adversarial capabilities and development of novel defense strategies for smartphone and IoT systems.
• Security and Privacy in Machine Learning and CPS: Study on the security and privacy of machine learning models and other applications in IoT and cyber-physical systems.

Director: Dr. Soteris Demetriou

Related Modules at Imperial College London: (70004-97109-97110) Advanced Computer Security [Description] [Website]

We are always looking for outstanding PhD candidates to join our growing team. If you are excited about mobile and IoT systems security, have strong evidence of relevant research experience (demonstrated through publications in top international venues), and you are interested in joining apss, please send Dr. Soteris Demetriou an email using “Prospective Security PhD Student” as subject. Learn more about how to apply and preferred qualifications here. 

Announcements

• Publication (October, 2024): Our paper titled “DiDOTS: Knowledge Distillation from Large-Language-Models for Dementia Obfuscation in Transcribed Speech” has been accepted to the 25th Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS) 2025.
• Publication (July, 2024): Our paper titled “Rain-Reaper: Unmasking LiDAR-based Detector Vulnerabilities in Rain” has been accepted at the 2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS ’24).
• Publication (July, 2024): Our paper titled “Prosody-Driven Privacy-Preserving Dementia Detection” has been accepted at the 25th Interspeech Conference (Interspeeech ’24).
• Award (May, 2024): Our paper titled “Adversarial 3D Virtual Patches using Integrated Gradients” has won the best paper award at the 8th IEEE/ACM Workshop on the Internet of Safe Things (IEEE/ACM SafeThings 2024), co-located with the 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy.
• Publication (December, 2023): Our paper titled “MobileConfig: Remote Configuration Management for Mobile Apps at Hyperscale” has been accepted at the 21st USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI ’24).
• Publication (November, 2023): Our paper titled “Username Squatting on Online Social Networks: A Study on X” has been accepted at the 19th ACM ASIA Conference on Computer and Communications Security (ACM ASIACCS ’24).
• Publication (July, 2023): Our paper titled “Evaluating User Behavior in Smartphone Security: A Psychometric Perspective” has been accepted at the 19th Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS ’23).
• Publication (July, 2023): Our paper titled “XFaaS: Hyperscale and Low Cost Serverless Functions at Meta” has been accepted at the 29th ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP ’23).
• Publication (March, 2023): Our paper titled “ServiceRouter: Hyperscale and Minimal Cost Service Mesh at Meta” has been accepted at the 17th USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI ’23).
• Publication (March, 2023): Our paper titled “Conveyor: One-Tool-Fits-All Continuous Deployment at Meta” has been accepted at the 17th USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI ’23).