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J. Alex Halderman

The science behind election security

How one professor is working toward more secure voting technology.

These CSE PhD alums have accepted faculty positions

Congrats to these new faculty!

Hacked voting machine donated to Henry Ford museum

The machine was used by Prof. J. Alex Halderman for election cybersecurity research, and in a demonstration during which then-Senator Kamala Harris voted on it.

CSE researchers win Distinguished Paper Award at USENIX Security for work on voter privacy

Their research shows that flaws in randomization put voters’ secret ballots at risk.

J. Alex Halderman receives H. Scott Fogler Award for Professional Leadership and Service

The award recognizes Halderman’s exceptional leadership and service in the area of computer security.

J. Alex Halderman installed as Bredt Family Professor of Engineering

The endowed professorship recognizes Prof. Halderman’s record of accomplishment and excellence in computer and network security.

Congrats to CSE alums who have accepted faculty positions

Congrats to these new faculty!

Expert: 4 ways Americans can keep their vote secure and accurate

With election security experts waylaid by years debunking false claims of election fraud, little has improved since 2020.

Research on key VPN vulnerabilities recognized with USENIX Internet Defense Prize, Best Paper Award

The study authored by Prof. Roya Ensafi's lab found that network administrators, like ISPs and governments, could easily detect and block the use of VPNs on a large scale.

Researchers earn USENIX Test of Time for work in exposing network key vulnerabilities

The award recognizes “Mining Your Ps and Qs” for its lasting contributions to the field of security and encryption.

Work on debunking 2020 election fraud claims in Antrim County incident recognized with USENIX Best Paper

The paper presents an independent investigation of the county’s election management system and identifies weaknesses, solutions.

Election lessons from Michigan

Election security expert J. Alex Halderman dissects Antrim County’s election debacle to help future contests go more smoothly.

After five years, Let’s Encrypt, a non-profit based on tech developed at Michigan, has helped to secure the internet

Today, over 225 million websites are protected by free certificates issued by Let’s Encrypt.

5 ways Americans can keep their vote secure and accurate

Expert advice for voting in an unprecedented election.

New remote voting risks and solutions identified

The upcoming presidential election in the middle of a pandemic has jurisdictions exploring new technologies. They’re not secure.

IEEE security conference features six accepted papers from CSE researchers

The projects impact voting systems, physical sensors, integrated circuit fabrication, and multiple microarchitectural side-channel vulnerabilities.

Halderman honored for public engagement efforts

The U-M presidential award honors individuals who provide sustained, dedicated, and influential leadership and service in major national or state capacities.

$1M grant to develop U-M high-capacity research network

The team will develop a secure, data-intensive network solution to effectively transport extremely high volumes of research data on and off campus.

Not enough voters detecting ballot errors and potential hacks, study finds

Researchers carried out the first study on voter behavior with electronic assistive devices, found 93% missed incorrect ballots.

How Let’s Encrypt doubled the percentage of secure websites in four years

A Q&A with J. Alex Halderman, who co-founded the nonprofit organization.

New tool combats evolving internet censorship methods

Technology pioneered by Michigan researchers can circumvent many effective website blocking tools

Prof. J. Alex Halderman named a 2019 Andrew Carnegie Fellow

Halderman will work to further educate lawmakers, future cybersecurity experts, and the public about how to ensure that election results can relied upon and verified

Michigan’s new Election Security Commission holds inaugural meeting on U-M Campus

The meeting began the commission’s review and assessment of election security in Michigan.

Halderman co-chairs new commission to protect Michigan votes

The effort seeks to protect the integrity of every vote.

Election security: Halderman recommends actions to ensure integrity of US systems

In congressional testimony, professor urges $370M in federal funding to replace outdated machines.

Facebook Fellowship for research on web privacy, security, and censorship

McDonald works to develop better privacy and security tools for marginalized communities

A secure future for US elections starts in the classroom

A new special topics course on election cybersecurity gives students an examination of the past, present, and future of US elections.

Undocumented immigrants’ privacy at risk online, on phones

When it comes to their smartphones, immigrants struggle to apply instinctive caution, according to a study by a team of University of Michigan researchers.

‘I hacked an election. So can the Russians.’

Professor Alex Halderman and the New York Times staged a mock election to demonstrate voting machine vulnerability.

CSE PhD student Matt Bernhard on the Facebook data breach

In this video, CSE PhD Student Matt Bernhard weighs in on the matter Facebook data harvesting, such as that done by Cambridge Analytica.

Internet-scanning U-M startup offers new approach to cybersecurity

Censys is the first commercially available internet-wide scanning tool. It helps IT experts to secure large networks with a constantly changing array of devices.

Prof. J. Alex Halderman testifies in front of senate intelligence committee on secure elections

His remarks focused on vulnerabilities in the US voting system and a policy agenda for securing the system against the threat of hacking.

CSE and local community turn out for Science on Screen movie and lecture

The evening’s program included a screening of I Voted? and a lecture by Prof. Halderman.

Several Michigan Papers Presented at 2016 USENIX Security Symposium

A total of five papers authored by CSE researchers were presented.

Researchers David Adrian and Alex Halderman receive Pwnie Award for work on DROWN attack

DROWN allows attackers to break encryption used to protect HTTPS websites and read or steal sensitive communications.

With over 7 million certificates issued, Let’s Encrypt aims to secure the entire web

In order to bring HTTPS to everyone, Prof. Halderman joined forces in 2012 with colleagues at Mozilla and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to found Let’s Encrypt, a non-profit certificate authority with the mission of making the switch to HTTPS vastly easier.

Secure your website now: Let's Encrypt enters Public Beta

Let's Encrypt allows anyone to request a free website security certificate without needing an invitation.

Michigan Researchers Win the 2016 Applied Networking Research Prize

In their paper, the researchers present the first report on global adoption rates of SMTP email security extensions.

Computer Scientists Win Best Paper Award at ACM Conference on CCS for Exposing the Vulnerabilities of the Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange

Diffie-Hellman is a popular algorithm used for encrypted communications, including emails VPNs, HTTPS, and other protocols where a client and server negotiate a shared secret key for communication

J. Alex Halderman Named One of Popular Science's Brilliant Ten

Halderman has met significant contributions in the areas of electronic voting security, internet security, and electronic censorship resistance.

J. Alex Halderman and Collaborators Receive NSF Cybersecurity Award to Develop Rapid-Response Architecture

This project strives to positively impact the availability and reliability of the Internet and provide the security community with tools, platforms, and comprehensive vulnerability measurement data.

Zakir Durumeric Named MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35

A CSE graduate student, Durumeric’s work focuses on developing quantitative, measurement-based approaches to combat threats against hosts and networks on the Internet.

2015 promotions of our faculty – congratulations!

Congratulations to the faculty members that received promotions this year.

Security Flaw in New South Wales Puts Thousands of Online Votes at Risk

Securing Internet voting requires solving some of the hardest problems in computer security, and even the smallest mistakes can undermine the integrity of the election result.

Dutta and Halderman Named Morris Wellman Faculty Development Professors

The professorship is awarded to junior faculty members in recognition of outstanding contributions to teaching and research.

Two Michigan Engineers selected for Sloan research fellowships

The foundation honors researchers it deems “rising stars, the next generation of scientific leaders,” according to a statement. The fellows, who were nominated by their peers and chosen by a panel of senior scholars, each receives $50,000 to further their research.

J. Alex Halderman Selected for Sloan Research Fellowship

Prof. Halderman’s research interests span software security, network security, data privacy, anonymity, electronic voting, censorship resistance, digital rights management, computer forensics, ethics, and cybercrime, as well as the interaction of technology with law, governmental regulation, and international affairs.

Four CSE Faculty Selected for 2014-15 College of Engineering Awards

Congratulations to the following CSE Faculty recipients of 2014-15 College of Engineering Awards.

Computer science researchers aim to securely encrypt every website

A project is underway which will offer a free, automated, and easy process for converting webservers from HTTP to HTTPS that is implemented with a single command.

Computer Scientists Win Best Paper Award at 2014 ACM Internet Measurement Conference

The research team performed a comprehensive, measurement-based analysis of the impact of the recent Heartbleed vulnerability.

Researchers Expose Security Flaws in Backscatter X-ray Scanners

Zakir Durumeric Selected for Google PhD Fellowship

Researchers Identify Security Risks in Estonia's Online Voting System

Heartbleed: behind the scenes at CSE

Iranian internet censorship system profiled for first time

Download ZMap and scan the entire internet in less than 45 minutes

Researchers' work recognized amongst notable computing books and articles of 2012

Halderman's "Securing Digital Democracy" opens on Coursera

Computer scientists named runners up for PET Award

J. Alex Halderman to Teach Course on Electronic and Internet Voting through Coursera

The 5-week course will provide the technical background and public policy foundation that today's citizens need to understand the electronic voting debate.

Security researchers publish details of online voting hack

Prof. J. Alex Halderman featured in PBS story on the security of internet voting

Security researchers describe newly discovered vulnerabilities in public key encryption

Computer science researchers introduce Telex to circumvent state-level internet censorship