Nicolas Christin
Associate Professor, Engineering and Public Policy, Institute for Software Research
Courtesy Appointment, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Information Networking Institute
Nicolas Christin is an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, jointly appointed in the School of Computer Science and the Department of Engineering & Public Policy. He is also an associate professor in the Institute for Software Research and a core faculty member in CyLab, the university-wide information security institute. He also has courtesy appointments in the Information Networking Institute and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Christin holds a Diplôme d'Ingénieur from l'École centrale de Lille, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Virginia. He was a researcher in the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, prior to joining Carnegie Mellon in 2005.
Studying Cybercrime for Prevention and Enforcement
Education
2003 Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Virginia
2000 MS, Computer Science, University of Virginia
1999 Diplôme d'Ingénieur, École Centrale Lille, Franc
Affiliations
Research Interests
- AI and ML for security
- anonymity
- Applications of security and privacy
- authentication and passwords
- autonomy
- blockchain
- censorship resistance and measurement
- computer security
- cryptography
- cybersecurity
- information networking
- Measurement and analysis
- measurements of fraud, malware, spam
- ML and AI
- mobile and app security and privacy
- network security
- privacy
- privacy engineering
- privacy policy and regulation
- risk analysis and management
- security analytics
- security and privacy economics
- security of AI and ML
- security policy and regulation
- systems security
- threat analysis and modeling
- Usability and human behavior
- usable privacy and security
- web security
Media mentions
Newsweek
Christin quoted on Bitcoin security
CyLab/EPP’s Nicolas Christin was quoted by Newsweek on the security of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin after the FBI was able to recover a number of coins from the Colonial Pipeline hackers.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Cryptocurrency derivatives markets are booming
On a busy day, over $100 billion in these derivatives are traded, rivaling the daily volume traded in the New York Stock Exchange, according to a new study authored by Carnegie Mellon University CyLab researchers.
Dark Reading
Bauer, Cranor, and Christin quoted on password security
CyLab’s Lujo Bauer, Nicolas Christin, and Lorrie Cranor were quoted on Dark Reading on their password research.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Finally: a usable and secure password policy backed by science
After nearly a decade of studies, the passwords research group in Carnegie Mellon’s CyLab Security and Privacy Institute has developed a policy for creating passwords that maintains balance between security and usability—one backed by hard science.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Passwords research group awarded the 2020 Allen Newell Award for Research Excellence
A group of CyLab faculty and graduate students were just awarded the Allen Newell Award for Research Excellence for their contributions from a decade of passwords research.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Edge computing, ad-blocking, and more: CyLab announces 2020 seed funding awardees
Over $500K in seed funding has been awarded to 10 different CyLab faculty in six different departments across three colleges at CMU.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
The curious case of OpenBazaar
This week, CyLab’s Nicolas Christin and graduate student James Arps are presenting the first in-depth look at the decentralized online anonymous market known as OpenBazaar.
Forbes
Christin’s insight featured in Forbes’ “Best Stories of the Decade”
CyLab’s/EPP’s Nicolas Christin was one of the first researchers to take a deep dive into the size of the dark web economy, and his expertise on the matter was featured in a 2013 story that Forbes just named one of the “Best Stories of the Decade.”
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Why people (don’t) use password managers effectively
A recent study by a team of CyLab researchers, including Pearman, provides some insight into how ineffectively people may be using password managers, potentially nullifying the benefits the managers are meant to provide.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Security and privacy need to be easy
In 2005, Carnegie Mellon hosted a first-of-its-kind conference that brought together researchers from dozens of universities and companies around the world with one mission: make privacy and security tools easier to use. That conference, the Symposium On Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS), is holding its 15th annual meeting next month. SOUPS, as well as the entire usable privacy and security field, have deep roots at CMU.
WIRED
Christin says dark-web ecosystem undented by law enforcement efforts
CyLab’s Nicolas Christin takes a look at law enforcement officials’ struggle to deter new dark-web marketplaces from growing in the wake of major law enforcement busts.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Blame the tech, not the users
A recent study led by researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab found that when a personal device has fallen victim to some sort of cyberattack, users often misdiagnose what exactly is going on–but they’re not the ones to blame.