Bio: I am a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at Information Security Group (ISG), Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL), UK, joined in September 2022. Before that, I was a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the Secure and Resilient Systems (SRS) group, Newcastle University, UK, and a Visiting Professor at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2022. Between 2016 and 2022, I was a tenured track Research Fellow (Research Assistant), at Newcastle University, UK. Read page 13 of the ISG's Newsletter (2023) for a more detailed bio.

Education: I have a PhD in Computing Science (2013-16, funded by Newcastle University, UK), an MSc in Information Security (2008-11), and a BSc in Computer Engineering (2004-08), both at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Iran. I have studied at the Iranian National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents High School (SAMPAD, 2000-04). 

Research: I am interested in Security and Privacy Engineering topics where the research projects are informed by real-world problems. I work on: Emerging technologies via research on a wide range of sensors (motion and ambient sensors, NFC, Bluetooth, etc.) and platforms by performing attacks (e.g., side-channel, fingerprinting, tracking, etc.) and designing secure systems (e.g., for IoT authentication, and secure contactless payment). Ialso work on Usable security and privacy by conducting measurement and evaluation research (both system and user studies) across platforms (web, mobile, IoT) and demography (gender, nationality, age, etc.). I am particularly interested in the complex risks and harms enabled by modern tech concerning Minority and Minoritized user groups, e.g., female-oriented technologies (FemTech) and users with visual impairments. My research also covers Security standardisation by actively following the real-world practices of industry and policymakers (e.g., W3C and ICO), examining the safeguarding methods for user security, privacy, and safety in the wild, and engaging with the community; providing them with research results to inform the current and next generations of the policies and standards. See my publications for more info.

Impact: I work with W3C as an invited expert and am particularly interested in real-world multi-disciplinary projects and working with academia, industry and standardisation bodies. My research has changed international standards e.g., W3C sensor specifications, and fixed vulnerabilities on software products e.g., Mozilla Firefox’s fix on Firefox 46 (CVE-2016-2813, reported as high impact), Apple’s fix on Safari in IOS 9.3 (CVE-2016-1780). My research is also featured in the national and international media e.g., sensor security in BBC, and Guardian, FemTech security in Information Security Buzz, and blockchain in CoinDesk.