Majed Almansoori

(قم بزيارة الصفحة العربية)

Ph.D. Candidate, Computer Science

I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin—Madison working with Professor Rahul Chatterjee. I am also affiliated with the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU). I work on improving data privacy and security while maintaining usability and user experience. I also work on integrating security topics into CS core courses to ensure students graduate with the necessary security knowledge. My primary research interests include 1) usable security and privacy, 2) data security and privacy, and 3) security education. I also am interested in exploring other security areas such as authentication, biometrics, and cryptography. I mainly use mixed methods analysis to conduct research and am open to exploring other methodologies.

I earned my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Computer Science also at UW-Madison. Besides my studies, I have worked as a freelance graphic and UI designer for seven years, and I still occasionally design for fun.

Please email me if you are interested in working with me. (Email found above)

Latest updates:

• Our paper got accepted to PETS 2025.

• Our paper got accepted to EuroS&P 2024.

Education.

  • 2020-Pres.

    Ph.D., Computer Science

    University of Wisconsin–Madison

    Advisor: Rahul Chatterjee

    Area: Computer security and privacy

  • 2020-2023.

    Masters, Computer Science

    University of Wisconsin–Madison

    Advisor: Rahul Chatterjee

    Area: Computer security and privacy

  • 2016-2020

    Bachelor of Science, Computer Science

    University of Wisconsin–Madison

    Minor in Mathematics.


Research.

Understanding and Mitigating Digital Interpersonal Attacks.

Many technologies help attackers engage in interpersonal attacks with the goal of spying on targets and harassing them. We aim understand these technologies and provide mitigations for targets.

Published studies:

Majed Almansoori, Mazharul Islam, Saptarshi Ghosh, Mainack Mondal, Rahul Chatterjee, "The Web of Abuse: A Comprehensive Analysis of Online Resource in the Context of Technology-Enabled Intimate Partner Surveillance", IEEE EuroS&P, 2024

Sophie Stephenson, Majed Almansoori, Pardis Emami-Naeini, Rahul Chatterjee, "“It’s the Equivalent of Feeling Like You’re in Jail”: Lessons from Firsthand and Secondhand Accounts of IoT-Enabled Intimate Partner Abuse", USENIX Security, 2023

Sophie Stephenson, Majed Almansoori, Pardis Emami-Naeini, Danny Yuxing Huang, Rahul Chatterjee, "Abuse Vectors: A Framework for Conceptualizing IoT-Enabled Interpersonal Abuse", USENIX Security, 2023

I am open to collaborating on projects related to usable security and privacy.

Security Education

Many students can graduate without taking any security courses. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate how to secure our current computer science courses and integrate security topics into the required courses.

We evaluated the Computer Systems course offered by 16 of the top CS programs in the US by analyzing the types of vulnerable functions students and instructors use in the course. We further assessed the lecture notes and the textbooks used by these universities. In the 760 thousand lines of C/C++ code we collected, we found thousands of extremely dangerous functions that can lead to serious security issues. We also found that most universities and textbooks do not warn students of these vulnerable functions.; even worse, some keep using them even after warning about them. We are evaluating existing tools to integrate security into the grading system to ensure that students will learn about vulnerable functions.

Privacy features on social media applications.

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Privacy Education for Users.

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Improving Privacy Interfaces.

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Description will be added soon

Publications.

2025

Can Social Media Privacy and Safety Features Protect Targets of Interpersonal Attacks? A Systematic Analysis

Majed Almansoori, Rahul Chatterjee

PETS 2025

Paper

2024

The Web of Abuse: A Comprehensive Analysis of Online Resource in the Context of Technology-Enabled Intimate Partner Surveillance

Majed Almansoori, Mazharul Islam, Saptarshi Ghosh, Mainack Mondal, Rahul Chatterjee

IEEE EuroS&P 2024

Paper

2023

“It’s the Equivalent of Feeling Like You’re in Jail”: Lessons from Firsthand and Secondhand Accounts of IoT-Enabled Intimate Partner Abuse

Sophie Stephenson, Majed Almansoori, Pardis Emami-Naeini, Rahul Chatterjee

USENIX Security 2023

Paper

Abuse Vectors: A Framework for Conceptualizing IoT-Enabled Interpersonal Abuse

Sophie Stephenson, Majed Almansoori, Pardis Emami-Naeini, Danny Yuxing Huang, Rahul Chatterjee

USENIX Security 2023

Paper

Towards Finding the Missing Pieces to Teach Secure Programming Skills to Students

Majed Almansoori, Jessica Lam, Elias Fang, Adalbert Gerald Soosai Raj, Rahul Chatterjee

SIGCSE TS 2023

Paper

2022

A Global Survey of Android Dual-Use Applications used in Intimate Partner Surveillance

Majed Almansoori, Andrea Gallardo, Julio Poveda, Adil Ahmed, Rahul Chatterjee

PETS 2022

Paper Slides Talk at PETS 2022

Identifying Gaps in the Secure Programming Knowledge and Skills of Students

Jessica Lam, Elias Fang, Majed Almansoori, Rahul Chatterjee, Adalbert Gerald Soosai Raj

SIGCSE TS 2022

Paper

2021

Textbook Underflow: Insufficient Security Discussions in Textbooks Used for Computer Systems Courses

Majed Almansoori, Jessica Lam, Elias Fang, Adalbert Gerald Soosai Raj, Rahul Chatterjee

SIGCSE TS 2021

Paper Slides PDF

2020

How Secure are our Computer Systems Courses?

Majed Almansoori, Jessica Lam, Elias Fang, Kieran Mulligan, Adalbert Gerald Soosai Raj , Rahul Chatterjee

ACM ICER 2020 (Acceptance Rate: 23%)

Paper Slides PDF Talk at ACM ICER 2020
All Publications