Mohammad Iftekhar Husain – Cal Poly Pomona Experts

Expertise:

Cyber Security, Data Privacy in Social Networks, Neurophysiology and Cyber Security, Blockchain, Secure UAV Communication, Smartphone Security, Cloud Security, Wireless Security, Privacy and Social Media, Government & Cyber Security

Mohamad Husain is a cybersecurity expert whose work focuses on data privacy in social networks, emerging data protection laws, and neurophysiological approaches to cybersecurity, including brainwave-based authentication. His research also examines the expanding use of personal data — such as DNA testing — and the growing risks associated with how that data is collected, shared, and used.

At Cal Poly Pomona, Husain is the founding director of the PolySec Cyber Lab, a center for cybersecurity and digital forensics education, research and outreach. He has led and co-led more than $28 million in externally funded research and training initiatives supported by federal agencies including the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Defense.

His work bridges research and real-world application, with students trained under his programs going on to roles at organizations such as the NSA, DHS, NASA, MITRE, and U.S. military branches. His research on brainwave authentication has been patented and featured in national media, including Time and PC Magazine. He also directs Cal Poly Pomona’s Virtual Reality Lab and leads national cybersecurity training initiatives, including programs for CyberCorps Scholarship for Service scholars.

Recent Grants and Fellowships:

Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarship for Service (SFS) Grant, ”An Interdisciplinary, Learning-by-Doing Approach to Identify and Prepare Cyber Warriors,” ~$2,000,000 (including supplemental awards), 2015-19
Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation (NSF) EAGER Project Title” S^2 Lab: An Experimental Framework for Smartphone Security Education,” Collaborative award with SUNY-Buffalo, ~$300,000, 2016-19
Principal Investigator, National Security Agency (NSA) GenCyber Grant, “Cyber Security Summer Camp for K-12 Students and Educators,” ~$210,000, 2015-18
Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant, “NSF REU site in Big Data Security and Privacy,” ~$300,000, 2018-20
Principle Investigator; Northrop Grumman Corporation, Intel Corporation, and Google; ~$100,000 in industry gifts, 2012-present

Selected Publications:

With G. Kutukian, “Design and Development of an IoT Home Network Monitoring System,” International Workshop of Security and Trust in Mobile Network at the 7th IEEE International Conference on Mobile Cloud Computing, Services, and Engineering, 2019

With L. Gutierrez, “Design and Development of a Mobile EEG Data Analytics Framework,” 5th IEEE International Conference on Big Data Service and Applications, 2019

With N. Pantic and Mohammad Husain, “A Decision Support System for Personality Based Phishing Susceptibility Analysis,” The 2nd International Workshop on Big Data Analytics for Cyber Crime Investigation and Prevention in conjunction with IEEE Big Data, 2018

With H. Darvish, “Security Analysis of Mobile Money Applications on Android,” The 2nd International Workshop on Big Data Analytics for Cyber Crime Investigation and Prevention in conjunction with IEEE Big Data, 2018

With N. Pantic, “Covert Botnet Command and Control Using Twitter,” 31st Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC’15), 2015

With B. Wu, T. Nguyen, “Implementation Vulnerability Associated with OAuth 2.0: A Case Study on Dropbox,” 6th Symposium on Security and Privacy in Next Generation Networks in conjunction with 12th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations, 2015

With S. Fang and D. Rajamanthri, “Facebook Privacy Management Simplified,” 6th Symposium on Security and Privacy in Next Generation Networks in conjunction with the 12th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations, 2015

Interviews:

“What’s in the Password? Play Some Music and Log In Via Brain Waves,” PC Magazine, Oct. 5, 2018
“Why We Shouldn’t Know Our Own Passwords,” Time Magazine, March 11, 2017
“How to Make Passwords That Cannot Be Compromised by Torture or Coercion,” MIT Technology Review, May 12, 2016
“Local Edition: Dr. Mohammad Husain,” Time Warner Cable, Feb. 17, 2016

Education:

B.S., Computer Science, Yamagata University (Japan)
M.S. & Ph.D., Computer Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (SUNY-Buffalo)

Languages:

English, Bengali and Japanese