Open postdoc positions

We at the Secure Systems group at the University of Waterloo are looking for postdoctoral researchers in systems security, particularly (but not limited to) those specializing in:

• Platform Security: We explore how to make use of hardware support to imporve the security and privacy of software.

  
  Here are some examples of our recent work in this area: BliMe (NDSS '24 and HOST '24'), PACStack (Usenix SEC '21), PAC-it-up (Usenix SEC '19), HardScope (DAC '19), C-FLAT (CCS '16), and LO-FAT (DAC '17). Visit our Platform security research page for more details.

  Do you like to work with low-level system software? Are you excited to design your own (minimal) hardware extensions that are efficient and effective in securing software? If so, we want to hear from you.

• Machine Learning and Security/Privacy: We explore this topic in two directions: (a) understanding and addressing the security/privacy concerns that arise in systems based on machine learning, and (b) using machine learning techniques to effectively address security/privacy problems.

  
  In the former, we have explored unintnded interactions among ML risks and defenses (IEEE S&P '24, AAAI '23), model extraction attacks and defenses (Usenix SEC '24, IEEE S&P '24, AAAI '23, ACM MM '21, SRDS '21, AAAI-EDSMLS '20, Euro S&P '19), adversarial examples (AISec '19), and privacy-preserving (oblivious) inference (CCS '17). In the latter, we have investigated detecting vulnerable/compromised IoT devices (ICDCS '17, ICDCS '19, IEEE JSAC '19), and detecting phishing websites (ICDCS '16, IEEE TC '17). Visit our MLSec research page for more details.

  Do you have a solid grounding in both machine learning techniques and security/privacy concepts? Are you excited about building trustworthy systems that use machine learning? If so, we want to hear from you.

We have several graduate students, who are part of the Secure Systems Group working on both of these themes. As is typical in systems security, our work covers both offensive and defensive aspects. The postdoc will help lead this research theme by working with the graduate students on selected topics. A candidate who is interested in exploring the interplay between platform security and machine learning is particularly welcome!

Apart from these two major research themes, we have also been working on other topics related to systems security, notably on using hardware assistance to secure blockchains, and the interplay between text analysis techniques and deception.

About Secure Systems

The positions are in projects led by N. Asokan. Asokan is a Professor at the University of Waterloo where he holds a David R. Cheriton Chair. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Aalto University. He joined academia after a long career as a security and privacy reseracher in leading industrial research laboratories. The mission of the group is to find ways of designing systems that are simultaneously secure, easy-to-use, and inexpensive to deploy. The group was part of the Priavate AI Collaborative Research Institute, a research program supported by a group of companies led by Intel. We have been publishing and presenting our work in top tier security (like Usenix Security or ACM CCS), privacy (like PETS) and systems (like DAC or ICDCS) venues. As a systems security group, we believe in building (and breaking) things. As a result, we also demonstrate our work in high profile industry events (like BlackHat Europe or CeBIT). We collaborate with top security researchers from academia and industry around the world.

We are committed to placing all our results in the public domain, and open-sourcing all software resulting from our projects.

At the University of Waterloo, the Secure Systems group is part of the Cryptography, Security, and Privacy (CrySP) research area. CrySP currently has ten (and counting!) faculty members and over 35 graduate students, working on a wide range of topics. University of Waterloo ranks first in Canada for security and privacy research and is among the best in the world.

About these positions

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will help lead our activities in systems security. You will be working with Prof. Asokan and talented doctoral and master's students involved in these activities which span multiple on-going projects, sponsored by public funding bodies like NSERC as well as leading technology companies like Intel.

Required qualifications

You have a profound understanding of your major research theme in systems security (like those listed above) and have prior experience using it in non-trivial applications. You have prior research experience as evidenced by publications in top-tier venues. (If you don't yet have top-tier papers, but have all the other qualifications, still talk to us -- like many postdocs before you, you may end up getting your first top-tier papers with us!) In addition to subject matter expertise, you

• are excited about applying these skills to solve practical problems,
• are eager write code and run experiments to test your ideas, and
• have excellent oral and written communication skills in English.

If you are interested in this position, drop a message to Asokan with your current CV and a description of why you think you are a good fit.

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Last modified: Fri, 22 Mar 2024 10:00:11 +0200