Ruhr-Uni-Bochum

Kevin Borgolte Wants to Improve Software-Based Systems

His research focuses on real networked and distributed software systems.

Kevin Borgolte joined the Faculty of Computer Science at Ruhr University Bochum in January. Copyright: RUB, Katja Marquard

Prof. Dr Kevin Borgolte joined the Faculty of Computer Science at Ruhr University Bochum on 22 January 2024. He holds the professorship for Software Security, which he already held as a junior professor from May 2021. Borgolte previously studied and researched at various high-ranking international universities: he completed his master's degree at ETH Zurich, his doctorate at the University of California, Santa Barbara and was a postdoc at Princeton University.

Kevin Borgolte is also a member of the Horst Götz Institute for IT Security at Ruhr University Bochum and the Cluster of Excellence CASA - Cyber Security in the Age of Large-Scale Adversaries. His research focuses on vulnerabilities, malware and cyber attacks. "I want to improve the security, resilience and data protection of software-based systems, with a focus on real-world networked and distributed software systems," explains the computer scientist. "Broadly speaking, this includes detecting and fixing vulnerabilities, analysing programs and protocols, understanding how networked software is deployed and used, and how this affects the security and privacy of systems and their users. Sometimes I also work on related topics such as governance and policy."

In previous work, Kevin Borgolte has developed novel techniques and methods to detect and mitigate different types of security threats from and on the Internet. These include the detection of malicious software and compromised websites, the detection and mitigation of previously unknown attacks on networked systems, for example attacks enabled by new deployment types and environments, such as hyperscalable clouds, and interactions between networks and protocols, and the performance of security-related measurements.

About the person

  • Studied computer science at the University of Bonn, Bachelor 2010
  • Master's degree in Computer Science at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, graduated in 2012
  • Doctorate in Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, graduated in 2018
  • Postdoc at Princeton University, USA, 2018 to 2020
  • Junior professor at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, 2020 to 2021
  • Junior professor at Ruhr University Bochum, May 2021 to January 2024
  • Professor for Software Security at Ruhr University Bochum, since January 2024

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