Researcher

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

System and network security, Software and application security, Cybersecurity and privacy, Data security and protection

Biography

Arash Shaghaghi is a Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security at the School of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) of UNSW Sydney. Arash has previously been affiliated with RMIT University, Deakin University, Data61 CSIRO, The University of Melbourne, and The University of Texas at Dallas. He completed his PhD in Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW Sydney, MSc in Information Security at University College London (UCL), and BSc at Heriot-Watt...view more

Arash Shaghaghi is a Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security at the School of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) of UNSW Sydney. Arash has previously been affiliated with RMIT University, Deakin University, Data61 CSIRO, The University of Melbourne, and The University of Texas at Dallas. He completed his PhD in Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW Sydney, MSc in Information Security at University College London (UCL), and BSc at Heriot-Watt University. 

Research Profile: Arash has received over 1.7 million AUD funding (Lead CI and CI combined) for his cyber security research from various sources, including industry, government, and universities. Most recently, he has been awarded $528K as the Lead Chief Investigator from CSCRC and Cisco for the "IoT Data Security and Assurance Framework for Intelligent Transport" project. He has received awards and appraisals for his research performance, including university recognitions and best paper awards. In 2024, he has been awarded the Early Career Academic Excellence Award (Research) from the Faculty of Engineering at UNSW Sydney. In 2023, Arash was among the top 200 young computer science and mathematics scientists selected by the Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) in Germany. Arash has contributed to several articles on cyber security incidents or about his research work for various media outlets, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and The Guardian. Arash serves as the Associate Editor for the Journal of Ad Hoc Networks.

Teaching Profile: Arash is an award-winning educator with multiple awards and recognitions for leading the design, development, and delivery of hands-on cybersecurity programs and courses. In 2023, he was awarded the Educational Excellence & Innovation award from the Faculty of Engineering at UNSW Sydney. Before joining UNSW, he led RMIT's Graduate Certificate of Cyber Security Governance and Risk Management. At Deakin University, Arash was the Deputy Academic Director (Teaching) at the School of IT and the Graduate Certificate in Information Technology Director. He was also a member of the team leading the Bachelor of Cybersecurity, which redeveloped the program with a technical and hands-on curriculum by integrating several industry-leading cybersecurity certifications as part of the degree. He has completed training in designing and teaching effective learning programs and holds the Graduate Certificate of Higher Education (Learning and Teaching) from Deakin University.


My Grants

Recent grants at UNSW:

Title Source Year Role
A scalable workflow for the audio monitoring of biodiversity across urban and remote Australia Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (Australia) 2024-2027

Chief Investigator.

Lead Chief Investigator: A/Prof Will Cornwell. 

Quantum-Safe Security Measures for IoT-based Intelligent Transport Systems CSIRO 2024-2026

Lead Chief Investigator.

Other Chief Investigators: Prof Sanjay Jha, Dr Nazatul Sultan, Dr Raymond Zhao. 

IoT Data Security and Assurance Framework for Intelligent Transport Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre and Cisco 2022-2024

Lead Chief Investigator. 

Other Chief Investigators: Prof Sanjay Jha, Dr Aditya Joshi, Dr Jesse Laeuchli, A/Prof Gustavo Batista, Prof Flora Salim.

 

International Seed Funding

Faculty of Engineering, UNSW Sydney 2023

Lead Chief Investigator. 

Other Chief Investigators: Dr Siqi Ma, Dr Mohammad Goudarzi, Prof Salil Kanhere, Prof Sanjay Jha

International International Lectureship Travel Funding Faculty of Engineering, UNSW Sydney 2023 Lead Chief Investigator. 
Advanced IDE for software security support Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre 2022-2024

Chief Investigator.

Lead Chief Investigator: Dr Helen Paik. Other Chief Investigators: Prof Sanjay Jha, Dr Siqi Ma.

ACRA Visiting Fellowship to visit the School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne School of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) 2022 Lead Chief Investigator. 
Taste of Research (ToR) student recruitment scholarship School of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) 2023 Lead Chief Investigator. 

Other grants (selected):

 
  • "Zero Trust Architectures for Australia's Critical Infrastructure Security", Australian Government, 2020. [Role: Co-Investigator, Principal Investigator: Prof Robin Doss]
  • "Fingerprinting Compromised IoT Devices Based on Power Consumption", Source: Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre (CSCRC), 2019. [Honours Project, Role: Primary Supervisor]
  • "Data after Death (DaD): Understanding the Risks to Australians", Source: Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation (CSRI), Deakin University. [Role: Primary Investigator]
  • "Detecting Internet of Thing (IoT) Bots" | Summer Research Project, Source: Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation (CSRI), Deakin University. [Role: Primary Supervisor]
  • "Bitcoin Meta-data and Malware C&C Servers" | Summer Research Project, Source: School of IT, Deakin University. [Role: Primary Supervisor]

My Qualifications

Education:

  • PhD - Computer Science and Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Australia.
  • MSc - Information Security, University College London (UCL), UK.
  • BSc with Distinction -  Heriot-Watt University, UK.

 

Certifications:

  • Negotiation Strategies for Researchers, UNSW Sydney, 2023.
  • Graduate Certificate of Higher Education (Learning and Teaching), Deakin University, Australia, 2021.
  • Essentials of Supervision (for HDRs), UNSW Sydney, 2024.
  • Data: Law, Policy, and Regulation, London School of Economics (LSE), UK, 2021.
  • Oxford Blockchain Strategy Programme, The University of Oxford, UK, 2018.
  • Project Management for Researchers, RMIT University, 2022.
  • Introduction to Qualitative Research, Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research Incorporated (ACSPRI), Australia, 2022.

My Awards

2018 - now:

  • UNSW Sydney, UNSW Faculty of Engineering, Early Career Academic Network (ECAN), Early Career Academic Excellence Award (Research), 2024.
  • UNSW Sydney, UNSW Faculty of Engineering, Educational Excellence & Innovation, Excellence Awards, 2023.
  • Selected as one of the top 200 young computer science and mathematics scientists for the 10th Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF), Germany, 2023.
  • Deakin University, School of Information Technology Award - Excellence in Early Career Research Performance, 2020.
  • Best Demo Award, The 45th IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN) [Core A-ranked], 2020.
  • Deakin University, School of Information Technology Award - Excellence in Teaching & Unit Development, 2020.
  • Deakin University, School of Information Technology Award - Successfully Embedding Industry Certifications within Cyber Security Units, 2020.
  • Deakin University, School of Information Technology Award - Excellence in International Student Engagement, 2020.
  • Deakin University, School of Information Technology - Teaching & Learning Award: Outstanding Industry Capstone Supervisor, 2019.
  • The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), UNSW ARC Research Student Award, 2018

My Research Supervision


Supervision keywords


Areas of supervision

[Upcoming Recruitment]:


Currently supervising

Research Team:

  • PostDoc - Current: Dr Mohammad Goudarzi [Main, CSCRC Project] | Dr Shohreh Deldari [Main, CSCRC Project]
  • Software Developer: Nimesha Wickramasinghe [Main, CSCRC Project], Xinzhang Chen [Main, CSCRC Project], Chengbin Feng [Main, CSCRC Project], Harshmeetsingh Ramindersingh Chandhok [Main, CSCRC Project]
  • Research Assistant: Hassan Ali [Main, CSCRC Project]
  • PhD Students - Current: 3 

 

  • PostDoc - Former: 3 (Co-supervisor)
  • PhD Students - Graduated: 2 (UNSW)
  • Masters with Major Thesis: 3 (Completed)
  • Funded Summer Projects: 2 (Completed)
  • Masters with Minor Thesis: 10 (Completed)

My Engagement

Media Engagements:


My Teaching

  • Operating System Fundamentals for Security (ZZEN9217), Master of Cyber Security, UNSW Online. || Role: Course Developer (H5 2022), Course Convenor (H5 2022).
  • Foundations of Cyber Security (ZZEN9201), Master of Cyber Security, UNSW Online. || Role: Course Convenor (H2 2023).

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Location

School of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE),
Level 4, Building K17,
UNSW SYDNEY 2052.

Map reference
Map reference (Google map)