Department of Cyber Security Engineering faculty

Your watch knows what you did last summer

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:36:08 +0000

Your watch knows what you did last summer Nathan Kahl Mon, 06/15/2026 - 13:36

A smartwatch sitting quietly on someone’s wrist may seem unremarkable. But in a criminal investigation, that device could become a witness.

Umit Karabiyik. Photo provided

911�� Cyber Security Engineering Associate Professor Umit Karabiyik helps law enforcement agencies across the country understand how data from everyday connected devices can provide critical evidence in criminal cases. Through a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)–funded project, Karabiyik and researchers trained thousands of criminal justice professionals and provided technical assistance on cases involving everything from smartwatches and fitness trackers to smart home devices and medical technologies.

“We try to understand this Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem and extract data from these technologies for evidentiary purposes in courts, criminal investigations, and criminal litigation,” said Karabiyik.

The project, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, was first awarded in 2021 while Karabiyik was at Purdue University. Originally planned as a short-term effort, the grant was extended multiple times, allowing the team to continue responding to a growing challenge: helping investigators keep pace with the expansion of connected technologies in everyday life.

IoT devices include smartwatches, fitness trackers, smart appliances, home security systems, smart glasses, medical monitoring devices, and countless other products that collect and exchange data. “Law enforcement agencies need to understand what these technologies are, what the security issues are, what the privacy issues are, and most importantly, how to investigate them,” Karabiyik said.

Geolocation data points generated by an iPhone alongside data from nearby WiFi access points. Despite iPhone location services being disabled, information from surrounding devices is still collected. Image provided.

That work often goes beyond research papers and conference presentations. Since the project began, Karabiyik’s team has trained more than 7,000 criminal justice professionals through conferences, webinars, and specialized workshops. They have also become a resource for investigators facing technical questions in active cases.

“We get phone calls from law enforcement agencies that say, ‘I’ve got this case, and I got stuck. What do I do?’” Karabiyik said.

One line of research focused on how devices within Apple’s ecosystem communicate with one another. Karabiyik’s team discovered that Apple devices can collect identifying information about nearby Apple products even without direct interaction from users. The findings created new possibilities for investigators attempting to establish whether individuals or devices had been in proximity to one another.

After presenting the research, Karabiyik received inquiries from investigators working homicide and cold cases who wanted to know whether data from nearby Apple devices could help narrow the list of potential suspects. “These kinds of calls keep coming,” he said.

As part of the project, Karabiyik and colleagues serve as a criminal IoT helpdesk, of sorts.

In one case, Karabiyik served as an expert witness in a murder trial where investigators examined data from a smartwatch worn by the defendant, who maintained she had been asleep during the time prosecutors alleged the crime occurred.

“We looked at the technology and proved that she was indeed sleeping,” Karabiyik said. “There were no steps taken, and her stress level was perfectly fine until she found the victim dead.” The defendant was ultimately found not guilty.

While much of the project focuses on digital forensics, Karabiyik’s research also examines the privacy and security risks associated with connected devices. His team has built databases of vulnerabilities and studied how data collected by consumer technologies is stored, shared, and potentially exposed.

He noted that his research influences his own personal use. “I’m very picky about what technologies I use,” he said. He avoids devices with microphones and cameras whenever possible, does not use voice assistants such as Alexa or Google Home, and is cautious about products that collect large amounts of personal data.

At the same time, he sees enormous value in connected technologies when they are used responsibly. “Unless you are a bad person, these technologies can be super helpful,” he said. “If something happens to me, I know these devices are going to tell law enforcement a lot of things.”

As connected devices continue to multiply, Karabiyik expects demand for digital forensic expertise to grow as well. The current project concludes later this year, but he is already pursuing new DOJ funding opportunities aimed at helping forensic examiners, law enforcement agencies, and criminal justice professionals navigate an increasingly connected world.

Explore more research at 911��

Topics

Cybersecurity Research

Department of Cyber Security Engineering faculty

Internet of Things

Department of Justice

Research

Matthew Jablonski

Tama Moni — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 18:31:00 +0000

Matthew Jablonski Tama Moni Thu, 08/07/2025 - 14:31

Assistant Professor, Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Contact Information

Building: Vernon Smith Hall
Campus: Mason Square
Email: mjablons@gmu.edu

Biography

Matthew Jablonski joined the Department of Cyber Security Engineering at 911�� in 2025 as an Assistant Professor. Before this position, he served as a research assistant professor within the College of Engineering and Computing for the prior year. His research is currently focused on applying cybersecurity within manufacturing systems, battery systems, vehicle systems, and AI systems as well as applying formal methods towards threat modeling and within model-based systems engineering. Jablonski earned his IT PhD from 911�� in 2023 as a part-time student while working full-time in industry focused on systems engineering and penetration testing / red teaming. He has over 20 years of industry experience.

Degrees

PhD, Information Security and Assurance, 911��
MS, Information Security and Assurance, 911��
BS, Computer Science, Virginia Tech

Military 5G gets a security boost with anti-jamming research

tdonnel — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 19:01:12 +0000

Military 5G gets a security boost with anti-jamming research tdonnel Mon, 10/21/2024 - 15:01

As communication networks evolve, they present both opportunities and security challenges to military technicians. Over the past year, Assistant Professor Moinul Hossain from 911��’s Department of Cyber Security Engineering has contributed to a research initiative aimed at ensuring the safety and integrity of 5G networks used by the United States military. Sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and led by the University of Maryland (UMD), the project focused on safeguarding military communications against potential threats such as jamming attacks.

Hossain’s colleagues will present their work, a research paper titled “Phantom Guard: An MDP-Based Anti-Jamming Defense Strategy for Military 5G Networks,” at the end of this month at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Military Communications Conference (MILCOM). As Hossain will be on leave during the conference, 911�� doctoral student Mahmudul Hassan Ashik, who contributed to the project, will join ARL’s Jeffrey Twigg and Fikadu Dagefu and UMD colleagues for the presentation.

Moinul Hossain. Photo provided

"As 5G technology becomes a cornerstone of global communications, safeguarding its security within military applications is crucial,” said Ashik, who is working on a PhD in cyber security engineering. “Our research tackles these complex challenges of protecting sensitive data transmitted over 5G networks in high-risk, adversarial environments."

While commercial 5G is already widely used for communication between devices, the military’s adoption of this technology necessitates additional measures to safeguard sensitive data and ensure secure communication, even in contested environments. Hossain’s project, which began in May 2023 and concluded in August 2024, centered on addressing this critical security concern.

"5G is a major pillar of national security, alongside emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing,” Hossain explained. “Its high throughput and low latency make it ideal for various applications, including the military. However, military use of 5G requires certain modifications to meet security standards, particularly to defend against adversarial threats like jamming."

Jamming occurs when an adversary sends a disruptive signal to interfere with communication channels, making it difficult for a receiver to decode the intended message. While this threat is not normally a concern for commercial 5G users, it is a major risk in military settings, where communication must be maintained even in hostile environments.

The research team focused on developing anti-jamming strategies to ensure military communications networks could withstand such attacks. Hossain likened this issue to bad actors compromising a secure office building (say, a headquarters) by infiltrating a less-protected satellite office. In military applications, particularly those involving unmanned vehicles or robots, compromising such resource-constrained devices could result in the loss of critical information at headquarters or even control over sensitive devices.

As the military continues to integrate emerging technologies like 5G into its operations, safeguarding these networks from adversarial threats becomes increasingly important. The collaboration between 911��, UMD, and ARL demonstrates the critical role academic research plays in fortifying national security.

At MILCOM, the team’s work will be shared with a wider audience of defense and communication experts, contributing to the ongoing efforts to secure military networks in a connected world.

In This Story

Moinul Hossain

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Topics

Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Department of Cyber Security Engineering faculty

5G/6G Wireless Communications

Zhuangdi Zhu

Tama Moni — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:23:41 +0000

Zhuangdi Zhu Tama Moni Mon, 03/11/2024 - 13:23

Assistant Professor, Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Contact Information

Campus: Fairfax
Building: Research Hall, room 343
Email: zzhu24@gmu.edu

Personal Websites

Zhuangdi Zhu

Biography

Assistant Professor Zhuangdi Zhu obtained her PhD from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Michigan State University in 2022, advised by Jiayu Zhou. She was a Senior Data and Applied Scientist at Microsoft in 2022-2023. Her research interest resides in both applied and fundamental Machine Learning. Her long-term research goal is to develop accountable AI systems with robustness, privacy, scalability, security, and ethics in holistic Machine Learning life cycles. She has been developing principled algorithms that facilitate Knowledge Transfer across heterogeneous domains. Her recent research largely involves Federated Learning and Reinforcement Learning. More details can be found on her website.

Degrees:

PhD, Computer Science, Michigan State University

Vijay Shah joins $2M NTIA-funded project on 5G cybersecurity

tdonnel — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 21:06:24 +0000

Vijay Shah joins $2M NTIA-funded project on 5G cybersecurity tdonnel Thu, 02/08/2024 - 16:06

In This Story

911�� researcher Vijay Shah has joined a $2 million project to develop a system to secure 5G Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture.

Funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the project "A Holistic Cybersecurity Testing Framework for 5G Radio Access Networks" is a collaboration with Virginia Tech, Penn State University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Shah, who leads Mason’s NextG Wireless Lab, will be allocated nearly a quarter of the project’s budget and be working with Nishith Tripathi and Jeff Reed from Virginia Tech, Syed Rafiul Hussain from Penn State University, and Bo Tang from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Vijay Shah

Security vulnerabilities in O-RAN present a critical cybersecurity challenge in the era of 5G. The team aims to create “a holistic and automated cybersecurity testing framework for O-RAN,” per the project’s executive summary.

Shah will also receive funding from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) to investigate fingerprinting technology for 5G/NextG O-RAN supply chain risk management, additional funding that highlights the multifaceted approach taken by the NextG Wireless Lab to address 5G networks cybersecurity challenges.

As part of these initiatives, the NextG Wireless Lab is actively growing its research team, with opportunities for postdoctoral researchers and PhD students interested in O-RAN cybersecurity, testing, and supply chain management.

Those interested in contributing to cutting-edge research in this field should email Shah.

Topics

Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Department of Cyber Security Engineering faculty

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI)

5G/6G Wireless Communications

Anomadarshi Barua

Tama Moni — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 20:18:16 +0000

Anomadarshi Barua Tama Moni Thu, 08/03/2023 - 16:18

Assistant Professor, Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Contact Information

Building: Research Hall, Room 347
Email: abarua8@gmu.edu
Phone: 703-993-6760

Personal Websites

Anomadarshi Barua Website

Biography

Anomadarshi Barua is an assistant professor in the Department of Cyber Security Engineering at 911��. His research interest broadly lies in the areas of system design and its security, particularly focusing on healthcare assistive systems, industrial control systems, sensors, and robotics. He leads the System Design and Security research group, which focuses on designing and improving the security of multimodal systems using secured software/hardware implementations of multimodal data. He uses audio, visual, pressure, vibration, mmWave, and electromagnetic data from multimodal systems and provides targeted solutions by combining data, sensors, and systems together. He publishes in top-tier security conferences like ACM CCS, USENIX, ACSAC, RAID, and CHES and system conferences, like HOST, ICCPS, and ICCAD. He also has worked in several industries in North America and Europe, such as Intel Corporation (USA), Solidigm (USA), Nordic Semiconductor (Norway), and IDEAS (Norway).

Degrees

PhD, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine
MS, Embedded Computing Systems, University of Southampton and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
BS, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

Tanvir Arafin

Tama Moni — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 16:36:51 +0000

Tanvir Arafin Tama Moni Tue, 02/14/2023 - 11:36

Assistant Professor, Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Contact Information

Email: marafin@gmu.edu

Biography

Tanvir Arafin's work focuses on hardware security and trust issues in emerging computing platforms. His work has been published at flagship venues in hardware design and security, such as IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration Systems, IEEE Transaction of Computers, ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, and Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference.

Moinul Hossain

Tama Moni — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 14:49:05 +0000

Moinul Hossain Tama Moni Thu, 08/11/2022 - 10:49

Assistant Professor, Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Contact Information

Campus: Fairfax

Building: Research Hall, Room 326A

Mail Stop: 6B1

Email: mhossa5@gmu.edu

Phone: 703-993-6760

Personal Websites

Professional Website

Biography

Dr. Hossain is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cyber Security Engineering at 911��. Before joining 911��, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at Towson University, Maryland. His current research interests include but are not limited to, security assessment of wireless network protocols, threat modeling and counter-mechanism design, cross-technology spectrum sharing, dynamic spectrum access, and vehicle-to-vehicle communications.

Degrees

PhD, Electrical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2020)
BSc, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (2011)

Mingkui Wei

Martha Bushong — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 17:40:46 +0000

Mingkui Wei Martha Bushong Wed, 04/07/2021 - 13:40

Associate Professor, Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Contact Information

Phone: 703-993-1861

Campus: Fairfax

Building: Research Hall, Room 340

Mail Stop: 6B1

Email: mwei2@gmu.edu

Personal Websites

Professional Webpage

Biography

Mingkui Wei is an associate professor in the Department of Cyber Security Engineering. His current research interests focus on network security, especially on the application layer. He takes approaches including mathematical modeling and analysis, simulation and experiment, and machine learning, to identify and address security threats on the Internet.

His research results have been published in top-tier venues including IEEE INFOCOM, Usenix Security, and ACM CCS. He was a faculty in Computer Science at Sam Houston State University before joining Mason in 2021.

Degrees

PhD, Computing Engineering, North Carolina State University, 2016
MS, Information Systems, Southeast University (China), 2008

Mohamed Gebril

Martha Bushong — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 12:19:49 +0000

Mohamed Gebril Martha Bushong Tue, 09/08/2020 - 08:19

Associate Professor, Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Contact Information

Phone: 703-993-6509

Campus: Fairfax
Building: Research Hall 341

Mail Stop: MS 6B1
Email: mgebril@gmu.edu

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Biography

Mohamed Gebril is an associate professor in the Cyber Security Engineering department. He joined Mason after working as a primary patent examiner for the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In his seven years at USPTO, he was involved in patent examination and prosecution areas in the data storage and networking fields, where he worked in intellectual property matters directed to computer security, enterprise network security and authentication, databases, data processing, and memory storage devices.

Gebril completed his PhD in electrical engineering at North Carolina A&T State University in 2011 in the area of big data indexing, machine learning, and AI applications. He received his MS in electrical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University in May 2008 in the area of robotics navigation and optimization and completed his undergraduate studies in electrical engineering at Alexandria University, Egypt.

Degrees

PhD, Electrical Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University

Research Interests

Threat Modeling
Cyber-Physical Systems
UAV security

Department of Cyber Security Engineering faculty

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