ABSURD is a regional event for the Boston area to meet and discuss recent work in Usable Security and Privacy, broadly construed. We hope that this can be a venue for everyone to meet, hear more about each others’ work, and potentially develop fruitful collaborations. The ABSURD schedule consists of both research talks and networking events.

The first ABSURD will be held on April 19th, 2024 at Tufts University.

Registration

To register for the event, please fill out the following form. There is no cost to attend.

Schedule

Below is a draft schedule of events and are subject to change. More details will be available as the event approaches.

Long talks are 12 minutes with 3 minutes of questions, and short talks are 3 minutes with 2 minutes of questions.

April 19th, 2024

  • 9:00am: Arrival Coffee, tea, light breakfast foods

  • 9:15am-9:30am: Welcome and Intros

  • 9:30am-10:15am: Research Talks
    • Ronald Thompson, Tufts University
      • "There are Rabbit Holes I Want to Go Down that I'm Not Allowed to Go Down": An Investigation of Security Expert Threat Modeling Practices for Medical Devices
    • Pujan Paudel, Boston University
      • Improving Soft Moderation Interventions on Social Media Platforms
    • Sarah Radway, Harvard University
      • An Investigation of US Universities’ Implementation of FERPA Student Directory Policies and Student Privacy Preferences

  • 10:15am-10:45am: Break

  • 10:45am-11:30am: WiP/Short Talks
    • Simson Garfinkel, BasisTech LLC
      • The Digital Corpora Project: Powering Usable Security Research and Education with Realistic Data That Doesn’t Require IRB Approval.
    • Cordelia Ludden, Tufts University
      • An Investigation of Google Page Rank Manipulation by Political and Corporate Bodies
    • Matthew Soto, Tufts University
      • A Comparison of Vulnerability Notification Strategies' Impacts on Institution-Wide Patch Rates
    • Julie Ha, Boston University
      • Cryptography in Context: The Case Study of Apple's CSAM Scanning Proposal
    • Christopher Pellegrini – Tufts University
      • A Naturalistic Threat Modeling Support Tool

  • 11:30am-1:30pm: Lunch (provided)

  • 1:30pm-2:15pm: Research Talks
    • Ben Ballard, MITRE Corporation
      • From Compliance to Risk: Developments in Privacy Threat Modeling
    • James Mattei, Tufts University
      • Just Google It!: An Observational Study of Novice Learning Strategies and Misconceptions in Vulnerability Discovery Exercises
    • Samantha Katcher, Tufts University
      • "Should I Even Be Here?" Perceptions and Experiences of Safety and Belonging in the Cybersecurity Community

  • 2:15pm-2:30pm: Break

  • 2:30pm-3:00pm Panel - What to know getting started in Usable Security

  • 3:00pm-3:15pm: Break

  • 3:15pm-4:45pm BOF Sessions - To suggest topics, please use this form

  • 4:45pm-5:00pm: Closing Remarks

Location

All events will take place at Tufts University in room 270 of the Joyce Cummings Center (JCC).

Directions and other information

Transportation information is available here, including information for driving/parking and transit. If you are coming from downtown Boston, the easiest way to get to Tufts is via the Green Line E branch. The Tufts/Medford stop is next to the JCC

Visitor parking information for Tufts is available here. The daily rate is $20.

Virtual attendees

Zoom information will be sent to attendees who register for virtual participation a week ahead of the event

Sponsors

We wish to thank the Tufts University Department of Computer Science and the Center for Computing and Data Sciences at the Boston University for their support to make this event happen.