• Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
  • Associate Director, Texas A&M Global Cyber Research Institute
  • Engineering Dean’s Research Fellow
Google Scholar Profile
Dr. Nitesh Saxena

Educational Background

  • Ph.D., Information and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine — 2006
  • M.S., Computer Science, University of California, Santa Barbara — 2002
  • B.S., Mathematics and Computing, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India — 2000

Research Interests

    • Computer systems and network security
    • AI security
    • Mobile and wireless security
    • Applied cryptography
    • User-centered security
    • Web privacy
    • Cross-cutting AI, ML, theory and HCI with psychology and neuroscience, and criminal justice.
    • Cybersecurity education and workforce development, including Scholarship for Service programs and MS/BS cybersecurity degree programs.

Awards & Honors

  • Engineering Dean’s Excellence Award – 2025
  • Distinguished Paper Award at the Association for Computing Machinery Conference on Computer and Communications Security (ACM CCS) – 2025
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham’s MS Cybersecurity Program Ranked Best by Fortune (Architected and directed this program for almost a decade before joining Texas A&M University in 2021) – 2023
  • Engineering Dean’s Research Fellow – 2022
  • Facebook Explorations of Trust in AR, VR, and Smart Devices, Finalist – 2020
  • Graduate School Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentorship, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) – 2017
  • Distinguished Paper Award at NDSS 2014, the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium – 2014
  • Google Faculty Research Award – 2011 and 2013
  • The Kevin and Jo Ann Reilly Endowment (UAB, CS) – 2012

Selected Publications

  • A. Anand and N. Saxena. “Speechless: Analyzing the Threat to Speech Privacy from Smartphone Motion Sensors,” IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, May 2018.
  • M. Shirvanian, S. Jarecki, H. Krawczyk and N. Saxena. “A Password Store that Perfectly Hides Passwords from Itself: Design and Usability,” In IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, Special Issue on Paradigm Shifts in Cryptographic Engineering, Volume 16, Issue 5, 2019. This is an extended version of: M. Shirvanian, S. Jarecki, H. Krawczyk and N. Saxena. “SPHINX: A Password Store that Perfectly Hides Passwords from Itself,” IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems, June 2017.
  • A. Neupane, N. Saxena, J. O. Maximo and R. K. Kana. “Neural Markers of Cybersecurity: An fMRI Study of Phishing, and Malware Warnings,” IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, Volume 11, Issue 9, 1970-1983, 2016. This is an extended version of: A. Neupane, N. Saxena, K. Kuruvilla, M. Georgescu and R. Kana. “Neural Signatures of User-Centered Security: An fMRI Study of Phishing, and Malware Warnings,” Network and Distributed System Security Symposium, February 2014. (Distinguished Paper Award)
  • M. Shirvanian, S. Jarecki, N. Saxena and N. Nathan. “Two-Factor Authentication Resilient to Server Compromise Using Mix-Bandwidth Devices,” Network and Distributed System Security Symposium,” February 2014.
  • N. Saxena, J. Ekberg, K. Kostiainen and N. Asokan. “Secure Device Pairing based on Visual Channel,” IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, Oakland, 306-313, May 2006.
Google Scholar Profile