Who
Assoc. Prof. Jason Polakis
When
07 Jul 2026, 11:00 Athens time, Science Building 145Π58
Title
Thinking Like Attackers: Advancing Internet Security and Privacy Through Offensive Research
Abstract
The modern Internet ecosystem has become increasingly complex, creating new opportunities for adversaries to exploit subtle design and implementation flaws in ways that challenge existing security and privacy protections. In this talk, I will present an overview of my research on identifying emerging threats by adopting an adversarial perspective. My work combines empirical analysis, automated black-box testing, and large-scale measurements to uncover previously unknown attack vectors and inform the design of more secure and privacy-preserving systems. I will highlight research demonstrating how seemingly benign platform features can be repurposed for persistent user tracking, how automated methods can systematically uncover previously overlooked privacy risks across modern web platforms, and how mechanisms intended to strengthen authentication can inadvertently undermine security. Together, these works illustrate how offensive security research can reveal hidden weaknesses, leading to stronger defenses and more trustworthy Internet technologies.
About the Speaker
Jason Polakis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). He received his B.Sc. ('07), M.Sc. ('09), and Ph.D. (’14) degrees in Computer Science from the University of Crete, Greece, while working as a research assistant in the Distributed Computing Systems Lab at FORTH-ICS. Prior to joining UIC he was a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Columbia University, in NYC. He is broadly interested in identifying the security and privacy limitations of Internet technologies and mobile systems, and designing fully automated auditing frameworks, robust defenses, and privacy-preserving mechanisms. His work has revealed significant flaws in popular web services and browsers, and major vendors have deployed his proposed defenses. His research is regularly published in the premier computer security conferences (IEEE S&P, USENIX Security, ACM CCS, ISOC NDSS), and has been covered by popular media outlets (e.g., The New York Times, WIRED, CNN, NPR). His research has also been recognized with the best paper award at NDSS '21, and he has received the NSF CAREER award.
