Students

Note: unlike in other countries, Masters programs in most Canadian universities, particularly UBC, usually involve refereed publications in reputable journals and conferences, and thesis. Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.) also involves a thesis defense.

I have two Ph.D. student vacancies starting September of next year. The application deadline is some time in January. Find more about this opportunity.

current postdoctoral fellows and graduate students

Postdoctoral fellows

• (no vacancies currently)

Ph.D. students

• Yue Huang

Master of Applied Science (with refereed publications and thesis) students

• Azadeh Mokhberi

alumni

Postdoctoral Fellows

• Dr. Nalin Asanka, Associate Lecturer at University of New South Wales, Australia.

• Dr. Hyoungshick Kim, 2013, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea.

• Dr. Kirstie Hawkey, 2010, Assistant Professor in Computer Science, Dalhousie University, NS, Canada.

• Dr. Kasia Muldner, 2008, Assistant Professor, Institute of Cognitive Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.

Ph.D.

• Masoud Mehrabi Koushki

• Borke Obada-Obieh

• Artemij Voskobojnikov, 2021, dissertation “Towards understanding and improving the crypto-asset user experience“, Research Analyst at OneSixtyTwo Digital Capital.

• Ildar Muslukhov, 2018, dissertation “Analysis of Data-At-Rest Security In Smartphones“, Machine Learning Engineering Manager at Workday.

• Primal Wijesekera (co-supervised with Serge Egelman, ICSI), 2018, dissertation “Contextual Permission Models for Better Privacy Protection“, postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley.

• Dr. Yazan Boshmaf (co-supervised with Matei Ripeanu), 2015, dissertation “Security Analysis of Malicious Socialbots on the Web,” Research Scientist, Cyber Security Qatar Computing Research Institute, HBKU.

• Dr. Pooya Jaferian, 2014, thesis “User-centered design of identity and access management systems,” Frontend Engineer at Parsable, Vancouver, Canada.

• Dr. San-Tsai Sun, 2013, thesis “Towards Improving the Usability and Security of Web Single Sign-On Systems,” Advanced Security Engineer at Staples Global Security, Vancouver, Canada.

• Dr. Qiang Wei (co-supervised with Matei Ripeanu), 2009, thesis “Towards Improving the Availability and Performance of Enterprise Authorization Systems“, VP of IT, China Construction Bank (CCB) International, Hong Kong.

Master of Applied Science (with refereed publications and thesis)

• Salma Koshani (co-supervised with Matei Ripeanu), 2019, thesis “Privacy on Social Networking Sites Among Canadian Teenagers“.

• Lina Qiu (co-supervised with Alex de Luca, Google), 2018, thesis “Advancing the Understanding of Android Unlocking and Usage“, software engineer at Google, Montreal.

• Wali Ahmed Usmani (co-supervised with Ivan Beschastnikh), 2017, thesis “‘Not able to resist the urge’: Physical Insider Attacks on Facebook”, Software Engineer at Two Tall Totems, Vancouver.

• Sadegh Torabi, 2016, thesis “Towards understanding users’ motivation to share health information on Facebook,” Ph.D. student at Concordia University, Montreal.

• Ivan Cherapau, 2015, thesis “Towards understanding how Touch ID impacts users’ authentication secrets selection for iPhone lock,” Software Engineer, California.

• Hootan Rashitan, 2014, thesis “Towards understanding how users decide about friendship requests in Online Social Networks,” Ph.D. student at UBC

• Andreas Sotirakopoulos, 2011, thesis “Influencing User Password Choice Through Peer Pressure,”   Software Engineer and Systems Administrator, VoiceWeb, Greece.

• Sara Motiee, 2011, thesis “Towards Supporting Users in Assessing the Risk in Privilege Elevation,” Software Development Engineer, Microsoft.

• Kyle Zeeuwen (co-supervised with Matei Ripeanu), 2011, thesis “Optimizing Re-Evaluation of Malware Distribution Networks,”

• Fahimeh Raja, 2011, thesis “Towards Improving the Usability of Personal Firewalls,” Project Manager, Microsoft.

• Pranab Kini, 2010, “Towards Improving the Performance of Enterprise Authorization Systems using Speculative Authorization,” Software developer at AeroInfo Systems, a Boeing Company.

• Wesam Darwish, 2009, “Analysis of ANSI RBAC Support in Commercial Middleware,” Microsoft, Vancouver, Canada.

• Rodrigo Werlinger, 2008, “Challenges, Collaborative Interactions, and Diagnosis Performed by IT Security Practitioners: An Empirical Study,” IT consultant, Telefonica Chile, formerly CTC (Company de Telefonos de Chile).

• Yong (James) Song, 2004, “Multiple-Channel Security Model and Its Implementation over SSL,” Database Engineer at Datawave Services Inc.

Exchange Ph.D. students

• Yingting (Sherry) Chen, 2022, University of Tokyo.

• Ahmed Mahfouz, 2015, Minia University, Egypt.

Exchange Masters Students

• Andrea Cuadros, 2015, “Android Rooting Methods,” Universitat Politôlcnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.

• Fabrizio Monticelli, 2008, “Creation and Evaluation of SQL Injection Security Tools,” IT Innovation Lab of Motion Global, Shanghai, China.

• Dr. Mathias Kohler, 2005, “A Method for Assessing the Trustworthiness of an Entity by Cooperating Authorities,” Researcher at SAP.

Master of Engineering (no thesis)

• Kai X, 2010. Developer at Electronic Arts, Canada.

• Kartik Markandan, 2008, graduation project “A Study of Security Administration Errors,” Analyst with the Government of Canada.

• Ming-Che (Johnson) Tsai, 2006, “SaamViz – Visualizer for SAAM,” Software Engineer with Electronic Arts.

• Johnson Lee, 2006, “Promising Developments in Key Management for Wireless Sensor Networks,” Project Manager, CGTV Games.

Undergraduate

• Oliver Zheng, USRA 2009 summer student, Software Development Engineer, Microsoft.

• Levi Stoddard, USRA 2009 summer student.

• André R. Gagné, 2008, Masters student at SFU.

• Jeanette Tsang, 2005, consultant in Security & Privacy team of Deloitte & Touche LLP (London).

committee member of other graduate students

• External examiner for Ph.D. thesis defence

  • Sonia Chiasson, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, 2008

  • Bart de Win, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, 2004

• University examiner for Ph.D. thesis defence

  • Amir Valizadeh, 2013

  • Brett Cannon, 2011

  • Jan Hannemann, 2005

• Departmental Ph.D. Examination Committee Member

  • Jun Wang, 2011

  • Ali Al Shidhani, 2010

  • Yew Lam, 2007

• Ph.D. Qualifying Exam Committee Member

  • Amir Valizadeh, 2009

  • Tony Tang, 2009

  • Ali Bakhoda, 2009

  • Ali Al Shidhani, 2007

  • Jun Wang, 2007

  • Majid Khabbazian, 2006

  • Maryam Razavi, 2005

  • Xiang Cao, 2004

  • Mandana Sotoodeh, 2004

  • David Tompkins, 2003

• Master Thesis Defense Committee Member

  • Madhu Sharm, 2011

  • Armin Bahramshahry, 2009

  • Larix Lee, 2008

  • Nima Kaviani, SFU, 2007

  • Xiang Cao, 2006

  • Ashley Gadd, 2005

• Master Thesis Reader

  • Peng Peng, 2004