Making Internet applications more secure

Riccardo Scandariato is a new professor at TU Hamburg

22.01.2021

Making Internet software invulnerable is an important task: almost half of all users have already felt the effects of malware on their smartphones or computers. In the process, personal data is often passed on without being asked. This is exactly what Prof. Riccardo Scandariato wants to prevent in the future with his research at the newly founded Institute of Software Security at TU Hamburg. "My task is to define software engineering methods that help developers create more secure and privacy-friendly applications," says the new TU professor. A native of Italy, he moved from the University of Gothenburg to TU Hamburg in October 2020.

Lightweight, but secure

When asked about his personal motivation, Scandariato sees cybersecurity and privacy protection as an important societal task that he wants to champion. Comprehensibility is an important criterion in his work. In it, he focuses on the design of secure applications, such as distributed systems, Internet-of-Things apps (IoT) or automotive software. The software specialist is already in the middle of his first research project. It is called AssureMOSS (Assurance and certification in secure Multiparty Open Software and Services). "The mission of our project is to provide lightweight and scalable techniques that can be effectively used to verify the security of complex software development projects."

Creating collaborations

In addition to academic excellence, Scandariato's ambition is to build a rich network of collaborations with German industry, especially in the Hamburg region. The computer scientist says, "My goal is to always be inspired by real-world problems while being able to offer innovative and practical solutions. In my experience, this kind of collaborative research is also a lot of fun." He also wants to inspire his students to do the same. There is a general shortage of qualified security experts in industry, Scandariato said. That's why he hopes to give TU students an incentive to start their careers here. "I also hope that I can inspire some of them to pursue a research career, and I am very happy that four PhD students are already joining my team."

Scandariatio is married to a German woman, so after studying computer science at Politecnico di Torino, Belgium's KU Leuven and Uni Gothenburg, he was finally drawn to the Elbe. He already got to know and appreciate Hamburg during several visits. He likes to spend his free time with his family, his two sons and his hobby, photography.

TUHH - Public Relations Office
Elke Schulze
E-Mail: elke.schulze@tuhh.de