Habiba Farrukh

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Assistant Professor @ UC Irvine
Dept. of Computer Science
Office: ICS 430C

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine. My research interests broadly lie in the areas of mobile computing and security and privacy. Mobile systems, such as smartphones, wearables (e.g., smartwatches, AR/VR headsets), and IoT devices, have come a long way from being just a method of communication to sophisticated sensing devices that monitor and control several aspects of our lives. While these devices’ advanced computing and sensing capabilities enable several valuable applications, they also make them attractive targets for attackers, opening doors to several threats to users’ security and privacy.

My research combines system design, signal processing, computer vision, and machine learning methods to investigate these threats and then proposes methods for securing modern mobile and IoT devices and protecting users’ privacy. I envision developing practical solutions to the security limitations of existing systems and emerging computing platforms. My goal is to also investigate the impact of these limitations on developers and end users and propose secure systems that address the challenges of these new platforms.

I received my Ph.D. in Computer Science from Purdue University, where I was advised by Dr. Z. Berkay Celik and was a part of the PurSec Lab. My dissertation focused on leveraging multimodal sensing to improve the security and privacy of mobile and IoT systems.

Prospective Students

[Spring/Fall 24]I’m looking for motivated Ph.D. students who are interested in working on security and privacy systems. If you are interested in working with me and applying to UCI's Ph.D. program, please reach out to me through email and submit your application here by December 15. To ensure that I review your submitted application, please indicate me as a potential advisor in your application package.

If you are a student at UCI, there are research opportunities for undergraduate/graduate students interested in the security and privacy of emerging computing platforms. Please email me for more details.

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