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Distributed Virtual Private Networks (dVPNs) are new VPN solutions aiming to solve the trust-privacy concern of a VPN's central authority by leveraging a distributed architecture. In this paper, we first review the existing dVPN ecosystem…

We present the design and implementation of the PeerShare, a system that can be used by applications to securely distribute sensitive data to social contacts of a user. PeerShare incorporates a generic framework that allows different…

Android filesystem access control provides a foundation for Android system integrity. Android utilizes a combination of mandatory (e.g., SEAndroid) and discretionary (e.g., UNIX permissions) access control, both to protect the Android…

Virtualization is frequently used to isolate untrusted processes and control their access to sensitive resources. However, isolation usually carries a price in terms of less resource sharing and reduced inter-process communication. In an…

Widely used payment splitting apps allow members of a group to keep track of debts between members by sending charges for expenses paid by one member on behalf of others. While offering a great deal of convenience, these apps gain access to…

This paper presents a secure communication application called DiscoverFriends. Its purpose is to securely communicate to a group of online friends while bypassing their respective social networking servers under a mobile ad hoc network…

Centralized Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) when used in distributed systems have performance constraints as all traffic must traverse through a central server. In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift towards the use of P2P in VPNs…

Despite our growing reliance on mobile phones for a wide range of daily tasks, their operation remains largely opaque. A number of previous studies have addressed elements of this problem in a partial fashion, trading off analytic…

Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions are used to connect private networks securely over the Internet. Besides their benefits in corporate environments, VPNs are also marketed to privacy-minded users to preserve their privacy, and to…

Using smartphones for peer-to-peer communication over the Internet is difficult without the aid of centralized services. These centralized services, which usually reside in the cloud, are necessary for brokering communication between peers,…

Many smartphone apps transmit personally identifiable information (PII), often without the users knowledge. To address this issue, we present PrivacyProxy, a system that monitors outbound network traffic and generates app-specific…

Android's filesystem access control is a crucial aspect of its system integrity. It utilizes a combination of mandatory access controls, such as SELinux, and discretionary access controls, like Unix permissions, along with specialized…

Mobile devices that connect to the Internet via cellular networks are rapidly becoming the primary medium for accessing Web content. Cellular service providers (CSPs) commonly deploy Web proxies and other middleboxes for security,…

Network slicing enables the provision of services for different verticals over a shared infrastructure. Nevertheless, security is still one of the main challenges when sharing resources. In this paper, we study how WireGuard can provide an…

In traditional runtime verification, a system is typically observed by a monolithic monitor. Enforcing privacy in such settings is computationally expensive, as it necessitates heavy cryptographic primitives. Therefore, privacy-preserving…

Cloud storage services like Dropbox and Google Drive are widely used by individuals and businesses. Two attractive features of these services are 1) the automatic synchronization of files between multiple client devices and 2) the…

As privacy features in Android operating system improve, privacy-invasive apps may gradually shift their focus to non-standard and covert channels for leaking private user/device information. Such leaks also remain largely undetected by…

The widespread adoption of encryption in network protocols has significantly improved the overall security of many Internet applications. However, these protocols cannot prevent network side-channel leaks -- leaks of sensitive information…

For years, Digital Right Management (DRM) systems have been used as the go-to solution for media content protection against piracy. With the growing consumption of content using Over-the-Top platforms, such as Netflix or Prime Video, DRMs…

Rapidly changing social norms and national, legal, and political conditions socially constrain people from discussing sensitive topics such as sexuality or religion. Such constrained, vulnerable minorities are often worried about…