Expertise

Topics:  Network Monitoring and Measurement, Cybersecurity, Information Networking, Security and Systems, Networking, Network Security, Distributed Systems, Computer Security, Content/Video Delivery Systems, Middleboxes, Energy Grid Security

Industries: Computer/Network Security, Education/Learning

Vyas Sekar is the Tan Family Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the ECE Department at CMU with a courtesy appointment in the Computer Science Department. He is also affiliated with Cylab and co-direct the Future of Enterprise Security initiative at Cylab. He works broadly at the intersection of networks, systems, and security.

Vyas is also a cofounder of Rockfish Data and serves as Chief Scientist at Conviva.

Vyas received his Ph.D. from the computer science department at Carnegie Mellon University in 2010. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, where he was awarded the President of India Gold Medal. His work has been recognized with best paper awards at ACM SIGCOMM, ACM CoNext, and ACM Multimedia.

Media Experience

Risk of AI "going rogue is very real," but dire warnings are misplaced, CMU professor says  — CBS News Pittsburgh
The leaders of multiple AI companies are calling for a global slowdown and government regulation and oversight of AI development because of fears that it could literally destroy humanity. Kristine Sorensen spoke with a Carnegie Mellon professor who specializes in AI security to get more understanding of the real risks.

Can hackers pull your fingerprints from photos on social media? Experts explain.  — CBS News
"This sounds like the stuff out of spy novels or 'Mission Impossible,'" said Vyas Sekar, an electrical and computer engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University. "In theory, it's possible, especially if people are posting high-resolution images." A hacker also would need to be "fairly determined" and likely choose a "high-value target" that renders a fingerprint valuable, such as someone with access to a high-security facility, Sekar said.

Power shift: How CMU is helping shape America’s energy evolution  — Philadelphia Business Journal
CMU researchers Lujo Bauer, Larry Pileggi and Vyas Sekar are calling on the research and policy communities to develop more comprehensive and accurate grid evaluation frameworks and datasets, and for updating threat models and grid resiliency requirements to match cyber attackers’ realistic capabilities. “Our work has shown that inconsistencies in threat assessments occur because of ad hoc simulation and modeling methodologies, as well as dataset errors,” Sekar said. “This shows the need for the creation of standardized public toolkits and datasets and for recommending ways to increase the accuracy of evaluations. This will enable us, as well as other researchers, to develop more rigorous foundations for securing tomorrow’s electric energy grid.”

Why AI Is Creating a Data Security Crisis  — Wall Street Journal
The sprawling and dynamic nature of the cloud, SaaS and AI landscape exposes businesses to a growing number of vulnerabilities, says Vyas Sekar, a professor in Carnegie Mellon University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering department and co-director of the CMU Cylab Future of Enterprise Security Initiative. “Data is a double-edged sword,” he says. “It’s what all modern AI, analytics and optimized workflows rely on. But every piece of data is also a toxic asset in the sense that if there’s a breach and your proprietary business secrets or user data get exposed, you could face major costs and consequences.”

This is AI's brain on AI  — Axios
The bottom line: AI-generated data is "an amazingly useful technology, but if you use it indiscriminately, it's going to run into problems," Vyas Sekar, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, told Axios.

7 ways to protect your iPhone from being hacked  — Business Insider
Vyas Sekar, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, says staying safe is all about "good digital hygiene."

Q&A with Vyas Sekar on the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on cybersecurity  — Tech Xplore
Vyas Sekar, a professor in Carnegie Mellon's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department whose work focuses on network security, thinks that enterprises need to be thinking very critically about the security of their networks—maybe more now than ever.

Stop! Don’t Charge Your Phone This Way  — The New York Times
Like scammers who steal debit card numbers by putting illegal card-reading devices, or skimmers, on A.T.M.s, hackers can easily rip out USB ports and replace them with their own malicious hardware, said Vyas Sekar, a professor at CyLab, a security and privacy research institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

Are Your Facebook Messages Really Private? Here’s the Truth  — Time Magazine
Here, Facebook shares information on how some of its security works, while Vyas Sekar, a faculty member of CyLab at Carnegie Melon University and a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, breaks down how someone might still find ways around it.