06-10-2025 Purdue Computer Science News: Purdue University’s cybersecurity researchers have been awarded a contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to investigate security vulnerabilities affecting modern smartphones. The project, led by Principal Investigator Antonio Bianchi, assistant professor, alongside co-Principal Investigators Dave (Jing) Tian, assistant professor, and Eugene H. Spafford, professor, will receive approximately $2.2 million in funding.

The funding will be provided as part of the DARPA INGOTS program, and it will primarily support Ph.D. students, with opportunities for master’s and undergraduate researchers to contribute. The research team, based at the Purdue Security Laboratory (PurSec Lab) and affiliated with the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS), intends to systematically analyze smartphone vulnerabilities and their exploitability at scale.

“Our goal is to move beyond the current case-by-case approach to smartphone security research and develop systematic, automated techniques for identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities,” said Bianchi. “This project will help us better understand the security landscape of modern smartphones and develop methods to strengthen their resilience against attacks.”

The research will focus on studying existing vulnerabilities in Android devices, examining real-world software exploits, and compiling a comprehensive database of security flaws and their impact. The team is particularly interested in vulnerabilities related to Linux-based systems and software exploitation, making Purdue an ideal environment for this research, given its past contributions to Android security analysis.

Despite significant efforts by major software companies to enhance smartphones’ security over the past two decades, vulnerabilities continue to be discovered and exploited by malicious actors. This project addresses the lack of effective automation in detecting software bugs and their root causes, which remains a major challenge.

“This project enables us to tackle critical security concerns affecting billions of users worldwide,” said Bianchi. “By developing scalable methods for vulnerability discovery and exploitation, we intend to make a lasting impact on the field of cybersecurity.”

The Purdue team is actively seeking students and postdoctoral researchers interested in joining the project. Those with experience in Linux and software exploitation are encouraged to apply.

About the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University

Founded in 1962, the Department of Computer Science was created to be an innovative base of knowledge in the emerging field of computing as the first degree-awarding program in the United States. The department continues to advance the computer science industry through research. US News & Reports ranks Purdue CS #8 in computer engineering and #19, #16, and #18 overall in undergraduate and graduate computer science, respectively. Additionally, the program is ranked 6th in cybersecurity, 8th in software engineering, 13th in systems, 15th in programming languages and data analytics, and 18th in theory. Graduates of the program are able to solve complex and challenging problems in many fields. Our consistent success in an ever-changing landscape is reflected in the record undergraduate enrollment, increased faculty hiring, innovative research projects, and the creation of new academic programs. The increasing centrality of computer science in academic disciplines and society, and new research activities—centered around foundations and applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, such as natural language processing, human-computer interaction, vision, and robotics, as well as systems and security—are the future focus of the department. cs.purdue.edu

About CERIAS

The Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security at Purdue University is a world-renowned interdisciplinary academic center dedicated to advancing the knowledge and practice of information assurance, security and privacy. It is the world’s foremost interdisciplinary academic center for cyber and cyber-physical systems. More than a hundred CERIAS researchers are addressing issues of security, privacy, resiliency, trusted electronics, autonomy and explainable artificial intelligence.