I am a Ph.D. Candidate at the Computer Science Department, William and Mary and a Lead Graduate student in the Secure Platforms Lab (SPL). My research advisor is Dr. Adwait Nadkarni.
My research assesses the security and privacy of consumer-facing computing platforms using a multidimensional approach. To accomplish this, I use mixed methods, combining vulnerability analysis, systematic measurement, and qualitative studies to evaluate artifacts, stakeholder perspectives, and legal perspectives. In particular, I look into these: (i) how the compliance standards and regulations are implemented and being practiced, and (ii) how they should be. I explored these two aspects in the context of the IoT ecosystem. That is, my work identifies the challenges and latent factors in current security compliance and certification practices for IoT products. Further, I investigated the privacy practices of non-profits that collect sensitive user data. The goal is to motivate similar expectations of privacy and regulations to prevent harmful privacy practices within the non-profit sector.
My research has been published in top-tier security and privacy venues, including USENIX Security 2024, IEEE S&P 2024, IEEE S&P 2025, and PETS 2025, as well as in software engineering venues such as ICST 2025 and FSE 2023.
I am on the job market seeking research positions in academia or industry!
News
2025
- (May-August) I was a Research Intern at The Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy.
- (March) Our paper, “We can’t allow IoT vendors to pass off all such liability to the consumer - Investigating the U.S. Legal Perspectives on Liability for IoT Product Security” has been accepted to the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy 2025! 🥂
- (January) Our paper, “Free WiFi is not ultimately free - Privacy Perceptions of Users in the US regarding City-wide WiFi Services” has been accepted to the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS/PoPETS 2025)! 🥂
2024
- (December) Our paper, “Testing Practices, Challenges, and Developer Perspectives in Open-Source IoT Platforms,” has been accepted to the 18th IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST) 2025! 🥂
- (November) Done with my Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal!
- (September) Our paper, “We can’t change it overnight - Understanding Industry Perspectives on IoT Product Security Compliance and Certification,” has been accepted to the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy 2025! 🥂
- (August) Attended USENIX Security Symposium 2024 and presented our paper ‘Belt and suspenders’ or ‘just red tape’?: Investigating Early Artifacts and User Perceptions of IoT App Security Certification! I also received the student travel grant from USENIX 2024!
- (May-August) Worked in the Office of Recovery Services (ORS) at the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services this summer as a 2024 COVES Fellow!
- (May) Attended IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy 2024 (in-person) and presented our poster! I also received student travel grant from IEEE S&P 2024!
- (March) Presented poster at DMV workshop!
- (March) Received International Student Opportunity Scholarship 2024!
- (January) Received COVES Fellowship 2024!
2023
- (November) Two of our papers - “‘Belt and suspenders’ or ‘just red tape’?: Investigating Early Artifacts and User Perceptions of IoT App Security Certification” and “Understanding the Privacy Practices of Political Campaigns,” won the best poster award at WM CS Symposium!
- (October) Our paper, Understanding the Privacy Practices of Political Campaigns: A Perspective from the 2020 US Election Websites has been accepted to the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy 2024! 🥂
- (August) Our paper, ‘Belt and suspenders’ or ‘just red tape’?: Investigating Early Artifacts and User Perceptions of IoT App Security Certification has been accepted at the 33rd USENIX Security Symposium! 🥂
- (July) Our paper, Helion: Enabling Natural Testing of Smart Homes, has been accepted to the Tool Demo Track at ESEC/FSE’23! 🥂
- (March) I, with my loving husband Amit, became parents to a baby girl, named Agnika! 🤱
2022
- (October) Presented poster at the first WM CS Symposium!
- (August) Attended 31st USENIX Security Symposium (in-person) and presented our poster!
- (July) My poster on “Does Compliance Enforcement Work?: Evaluation of Certified Mobile-IoT Apps” has been accepted at the USENIX Security 2022!
- (July) Received Diversity Grant from USENIX Security 2022!
- (June) Serving as an International Peer Leader for new international students (Fall 2022) at William & Mary!
- (May) Attended Capital-Area Colloquium on Trustworthy and Usable Security/Privacy (CATCUS/P) at the George Washington University!
- (May) Attended 43rd IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (in-person) and presented our poster!
- (April) My first poster on “Exploring User Perceptions and Expectations of Privacy in City-wide WiFi Services” has been accepted at the 43rd IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy
- (April) Attened the CCI Symposium 2022 and presented a poster!
- (February) Got selected for 2022 CRA-WP Graduate Cohort for Women Workshop!
2021
- Attened ACM CCS 2021
- Attended ACM CCS Individualized Cybersecurity Research Mentoring(iMentor) Workshop 2021 as a Student Mentee
- Attended GREPSEC Workshop along with SOUPS and USENIX Security 2021
- Got selected for the GREPSEC Workshop 2021
- Attended IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy 2021
- Received student registration grant for the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy 2021
- Attended 2021 CRA-WP Graduate Cohort for Women Workshop
- Received CSCI Incentive Fellowship from the Computer Science Department, William and Mary for good TA performance
- Got accepted to Ph.D. Candidacy on January 2021
2020
- Attended ACM CCS Individualized Cybersecurity Research Mentoring(iMentor) Workshop 2020 as a Student Mentee
- Attended SOUPS and USENIX Security 2020
2019
- Started PhD in the William and Mary on August 2019