Dr. Jiska Classen is an expert for the security and privacy of mobile and wireless applications such as iOS, Android, and IoT devices. Dr. Jiska Classen previously worked at the Technische Universität Darmstadt, where she was part of the international research team SEEMOO (Secure Mobile Networking Lab). Dr. Classen and her junior research group will be part of the "Security" research cluster at Hasso Plattner Institute.
Regarding her future work at HPI, Dr. Jiska Classen says: "I am very much looking forward to the research work at Hasso Plattner Institute and the interaction with students. In addition to continuing my practice-relevant research, I will offer events where students learn basics about the security of mobile and wireless systems—and can apply this knowledge directly."
Dr. Classen conducts crucial basic research to minimize IT security risks—for example, in mobile devices. On modern devices, security-critical components are often not open source; thus, their security is not visible even to experts with programming knowledge. Dr. Classen is committed to greater transparency in order to better assess the vulnerability to attacks.
To enable security analyses, Dr. Classen works with the concept of reverse engineering—that is, the reconstruction and backward analysis of already existing systems. This allows the functionality of proprietary systems to be reconstructed so that they can then be tested for security risks. With her work, the IT security researcher has uncovered vulnerabilities in billions of mobile devices. These were determined in coordination with the manufacturers to increase security in the long term.
She and her research team have also developed tools to test the security of standards such as Bluetooth, LTE, Wi-Fi, and UWB. As more and more products rely on mobile communication and wireless technology, this research contributes significantly to improving the security of these applications. Dr. Jiska Classen has presented her research results at international IT conferences, such as Black Hat USA and DEFCON, as well as high-level scientific conferences.
