Welcome to the Systems and Internet Infrastructure Security (SIIS) Laboratory in the department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at Penn State, and member lab of the Network and Security Research Center (NSRC). The SIIS Laboratory develops advanced security technologies for critical components of the modern computing infrastructure. Our researchers consider security problems at all levels of systems design, from theoretical cryptography to physical hardware. Our research has been published in top academic venues in security, networking, operating systems, software engineering, and cryptography, as well as featured in many outlets in popular press.

News

March 20, 2013:

Professor McDaniel was featured on the Penn State News for his Google Research Award on Android Inter-Application Communication.

January 8, 2013:

The paper "Process Firewalls: Protecting Processes During Resource Access" written by Hayawardh Vijayakumar, Joshua Schiffman and Trent Jaeger was accepted to the 8th ACM European Conference on Computer Systems (EUROSYS 2013) to be held in April 2013.

August 15, 2012:

The paper "Hi-Fi: Collecting High-Fidelity Whole-System Provenance" written by Devin J. Pohly, Stephen McLaughlin, Patrick McDaniel and Kevin Butler was accepted to the 28th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC) to be held in December 2012.

August 15, 2012:

The paper "Transforming Commodity Security Policies to Enforce Clark-Wilson Integrity" written by Divya Muthukumaran, Sandra Rueda, Nirupama Talele, Hayawardh Vijayakumar, Trent Jaeger, Jason Teutsch and Nigel Edwards was accepted to the 28th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC) to be held in December 2012.

July 9, 2012:

The paper "Leveraging "Choice" to Automate Authorization Hook Placement" written by Divya Muthukumaran, Trent Jaeger and Vinod Ganapathy was accepted to the 19th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) to be held in October 2012.

July 9, 2012:

The paper "SABOT: Specification-based Payload Generation for Programmable Logic Controllers" written by Stephen McLaughlin and Patrick McDaniel was accepted to the 19th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) to be held in October 2012.

June 18, 2012:

The paper "Retargeting Android Applications to Java Bytecode" written by Damien Octeau, Somesh Jha and Patrick McDaniel was accepted to the 20th International Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE) to be held in November 2012.

April 24, 2012:

The paper "STING: Finding Name Resolution Vulnerabilities in Programs" written by Hayawardh Vijayakumar, Joshua Schiffman and Trent Jaeger was accepted to the 21st USENIX Security Symposium to be held in August 2012.

  • News Archive

    • Awards and Grants

    April 29, 2013:

    Stephen McLaughlin received one of three Outstanding Research Assistant awards from the CSE Department. Congratulations to Stephen!

    April 4, 2013:

    Damien Octeau was awarded the 2013 AT&T Graduate Fellowship. Congratulations to Damien!

    February 22, 2013:

    Dr. Patrick McDaniel was awarded a Google Faculty Research Award for his proposal on Android Inter-Application Communication Analysis. Congratulations to Professor McDaniel!

    November 13, 2012:

    The paper "Retargeting Android Applications to Java Bytecode" written by Damien Octeau, Somesh Jha, and Patrick McDaniel was awarded the Best Artifact Award for the Dare tool at the 20th International Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering. The Best Artifact Award recognizes the value of a significant and high-quality artifact to the research community. Congratulations to Damien and Professors Jha and McDaniel!

    October 4, 2012:

    Stephen McLaughlin has been awarded a two-year Diefenderfer Graduate Fellowship by the Penn State College of Engineering. Congratulations to Stephen!

  • Awards and Grants Archive

    • Upcoming Events

    Mission

    The following mission statement best sums up the activities of the SIIS Laboratory:

    The SIIS Laboratory promotes student and scientific advancement through the investigation of emerging technologies upon which computer, network, and information security is based.

    Credo

    I cannot think of a better statement of how I feel about scientific discovery than the following poem by Bill Watterson. I think it truly reflects the dual promise of both fun and discovery, which I feel should be the real objectives of any scientific endeavor. Put another way, life is simply too short to do work that is not both simultaneously engaging and enjoyable. To wit:

    Explorers are we, intrepid and bold,
    Out in the wild, amongst wonders untold.
    Equipped with our wits, a map, and a snack,
    We're searching for fun we're on the right track!

    - Bill Watterson, Author of Calvin and Hobbes

    Sponsors

    The laboratory is actively seeking sponsorship for its activities. We are receiving or have received support from the following agencies and organizations:


       
       

    Contact Information

    This webpage details the laboratory objectives and past and current research. If you are interested in learning more about the laboratory, current research, or possibilities for sponsorship, please contact the lab directly. All electronic communications should be directed to the laboratory administration at siis@cse.psu.edu. All physical correspondence should be directed to:

    Systems and Internet Infrastructure Laboratory
    Department of Computer Science and Engineering
    The Pennsylvania State University
    344 IST Building
    University Park, PA 16802

    Other laboratory contact information:

    Phone: +1 (814) 863-3599
    Fax: +1 (814) 865-3176
    Web: http://siis.cse.psu.edu/

    Note: Given the large number of applicants, the laboratory must defer all admissions issues to the department of Computer Science and Engineering. Hence, if you are a student looking to be admitted to Penn State University, contact the department directly. If you are already a student at Penn State and wish to participate in SIIS research, please contact one of the faculty members in the lab.