Eugene Y. Vasserman's home at KSU

Although I don't necessarily have open paid research positions right now, I'm always looking for bright and motivated graduate and undergraduate students who share my research interests or just want to learn more about security. If you are already at KSU then email me, schedule a meeting, or just stop by my office. Tell me about yourself, your experience with security, and what you might enjoy working on.

If you aren't at KSU then I would encourage you to apply and indicate an interest in computer and information security. (While I try to answer all emails, I don't always get the chance.) A way to make yourself stand out in a good way is to have specific questions, comments, or suggestions regarding security research or papers. A way to make yourself stand out in a bad way is to ask questions to which you can easily find the answer yourself.

I have the privilege of working with a number of bright and talented students:

A photo students and Eugene in the lab

Current:

Ke Dong
Sahar Ghorbani
Matthew Kelley

Graduate alumni:

Qais Tasali, PhD, 2020. Dissertation: "Authorization in interoperable medical systems." After graduation: Paycom
Chandan Chowdhury, MS, 2019. Thesis: "Finding malicious usage via capture, storage, analysis and visualization of DNS packets." After graduation: Corelight
Matt Webb, MS, 2018. Thesis: "Evaluating tool based automated malware analysis through persistence mechanism detection." After graduation: Sandia National Labs
Hong Liu, PhD, 2017. Dissertation: "Black-, grey-, and white-box side-channel programming for software integrity checking."
Sajid Rahman, MS, 2017. Report: "An empirical case study on Stack Overflow to explore developers' security challenges." After graduation: University of Florida Institute of Cybersecurity
Zainab Ruhwanya, MS, 2015. Thesis: "Attitudes toward, and awareness of, online privacy and security: A quantitative comparison of East Africa and U.S. internet users." After graduation: University of Cape Town
Scott Bell, PhD, 2014. Dissertation: "Low overhead methods for improving education capacity and outcomes in computer science." After graduation: Northwest Missouri State University
Kevin Dean, MS, 2014. Thesis: "TrustVoucher: Automating trust in websites." After graduation: Xpanxion
Carlos Salazar, MS, 2014. Thesis: "A security architecture for medical application platforms." After graduation: Cerner
Jayson Sharp, MS, 2014. Thesis: "A logging service as a universal subscriber." After graduation: Microsoft
Keith McVey, MS, 2014. Thesis: "Modeling vulnerabilities in cyber-physical spaces." After graduation: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

Teaching

Spring 2025:	CIS 525: Introduction to Network Programming CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Vishnu Bondalakunta)
Spring 2025:	CIS 520: Operating Systems I CIS 755: Systems Security CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Vishnu Bondalakunta) CIS 599: Cybersecurity Capstone / MITRE eCTF
Fall 2024:	CIS 525: Introduction to Network Programming CIS 551/751: (Fundamentals of) Computer and Information Security CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Vishnu Bondalakunta)
Spring 2024:	CIS 520: Operating Systems I CIS 755: Systems Security CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Vishnu Bondalakunta) CIS 599: Cybersecurity Capstone / INSuRE
Fall 2023:	CIS 525: Introduction to Network Programming
Spring 2023:	CIS 755: Systems Security CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Joel Bland) CIS 599: Cybersecurity Capstone / INSuRE
Fall 2022:	CIS 525: Introduction to Network Programming CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Habib Hamedy)
Spring 2022:	CIS 755: Systems Security CIS 599: Cybersecurity Capstone / INSuRE
Fall 2021:	CIS 525: Introduction to Network Programming CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Abiola Arise)
Spring 2021:	CIS 755: Systems Security CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Abiola Arise)
Fall 2020:	CIS 525: Introduction to Network Programming CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Abiola Arise)
Spring 2020:	CIS 755: Systems Security CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Qais Tasali)
Fall 2019:	CIS 525: Introduction to Network Programming CIS 890: Research Methods in Computer Science (with George Amariucai) CIS 351: Cyber Defense Basics (with Qais Tasali)
Spring 2019:	CIS 755: Systems Security
Fall 2018:	CIS 525: Introduction to Computer Networks
Spring 2018:	CIS 755: Advanced Computer Security
Fall 2017:	CIS 525: Introduction to Computer Networks CIS 490: Cyber Defense Basics (with Chandan Chowdhury)
Spring 2016:	CIS 755: Advanced Computer Security
Fall 2015:	CIS 525: Telecommunications and Data Communications Systems CIS 551/751: (Introduction to) Computer and Information Security
Spring 2015:	CIS 755: Advanced Computer Security
Fall 2014:	CIS 525: Telecommunications and Data Communications Systems
Spring 2014:	CIS 755: Advanced Computer Security
Fall 2013:	CIS 525: Telecommunications and Data Communications Systems
Spring 2013:	CIS 755: Advanced Computer Security
Fall 2012:	CIS 525: Telecommunications and Data Communications Systems
Spring 2012:	CIS 755: Advanced Computer Security
Fall 2011:	CIS 590/798: Secure Networks and Distributed Systems
Spring 2011:	CIS 590/890: Advanced Computer Security
Fall 2010:	CIS 890: Secure Networks and Distributed Systems