SEMINAR:Security and Privacy in the age of Ubiquitous Computing

Guest: Mohamed Khamis, Glasgow University 

Title: Security and Privacy in the age of Ubiquitous Computing (CS, DSA, EE)

Date/Time: March 19, 2025, 13:40

Location: https://sabanciuniv.zoom.us/j/2193563576?omn=93601346959

Abstract: Today, a thermal camera can be bought for < £150 and used to track the heat traces your fingers produced when entering your password on your keyboard. We recently found that thermal imaging can reveal 100% of PINs entered on smartphones up to 30 seconds after they have been entered. Other ubiquitous sensors are continuously becoming more powerful and affordable. They can now be maliciously exploited even by average non-tech-savvy users. The ubiquity of smartphones can itself be a threat to privacy; with personal data being accessible essentially everywhere, sensitive information can easily become subject to prying eyes. There is a significant increase in the number of novel platforms in which users need to perform secure transactions (e.g., payments in VR stores), yet we still use technologies from the 1960s to secure access to them. Mohamed will talk about the implications of these developments and his work in this area with a focus on the challenges, opportunities, and directions for future work.

Bio: Dr. Mohamed Khamis is an Associate Professor at the University of Glasgow's School of Computing Science, where he leads the SIRIUS Lab. Mohamed and his team conduct research in Human-Computer Interaction, with a focus on Human-centered Security. His work focuses on assessing threats to privacy, security and safety that are caused or exacerbated by ubiquitous technologies, and then developing user-centered systems that mitigate said threats. He regularly publishes in top HCI and Security venues, such as CHI, TOCHI, IMWUT, CSCW, USENIX Security, IEEE S&P and Privacy-Enhancing Technologies. As a PI, his research has received PI on more than £1 million in funding from various bodies including UKRI, the UK National Cybersecurity Centre, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Meta Reality Labs, the UK National Research Centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial Influence Online,  the UK National Research Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems, and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He regularly serves on editorial boards, funding panels, and program and organizing committees for top conferences.