Ahmet Salih Buyukkayhan

Education

• MS in Computer Engineering, Bogazici University - Turkey
• BS in Computer Engineering, Istanbul Technical University - Turkey

About Ahmet

• Hometown: Edirne, Turkey
• Field of Study: Web Security
• PhD Advisor: Engin Kirda

Biography

Ahmet Salih Buyukkayhan is a PhD candidate studying web security at Northeastern University's Khoury College of Computer Sciences, advised by Professor Engin Kirda. He is also a research assistant and member of the Systems Security Laboratory (NEU SecLab). His interests are web security and security analytics. Previously, Ahmet worked in the Research and Development department of Nortel Netas.

What are the specifics of your graduate education (thus far)?

I have studied systems, web and application security.

What are your research interests?

I discovered my interest in systems security during my undergraduate degree. However, I was not ready to pursue a research path at that time. I worked in Research and Development department of a global company where I integrated new technologies to our products. After gaining experience in different roles, I decided to lead the development of technology instead of applying it and began my career as a researcher in systems security.

What’s one problem you’d like to solve with your research/work?

Conventional information security tools are not effective against new types of security threats. For example, attackers can compromise a web browser without being detected by an anti-virus or being blocked by a firewall. I would like to contribute to the development of new defense tools and techniques against these new web security threats.

What aspect of what you do is most interesting?

Working on real-world problems and finding innovative and practical solutions fascinates me. Many people are surprised when they notice current system vulnerabilities, and I like to show them how we mitigate these issues with simple, innovative, and practical solutions.

What are your research or career goals, going forward?

I would like to become an influential researcher in the systems security field.