About

The Computer Security Lab (SecLab) at the University of California, Santa Barbara studies how computer systems fail under attack, and uses that knowledge to make them secure. Led by Professors Christopher Kruegel and Giovanni Vigna, the lab takes an offensive approach: understand how a system can be broken, then build tools that find and fix its weaknesses automatically, before attackers do. Its research spans the full computing stack, from vulnerability discovery and fuzzing of applications, kernels and drivers to the analysis of binaries and firmware in embedded, mobile and IoT devices. It also covers the security of web applications, blockchains and smart contracts, and the study of malware and cybercrime. Artificial intelligence runs through much of this work in two directions: the lab uses machine learning, planning and autonomous agents to analyze threats and defend systems at machine speed, and it investigates the security of AI systems themselves. SecLab founded the Shellphish hacking team and the iCTF competition, and anchors the NSF AI Institute ACTION. Its students and researchers publish at the top security venues, release open-source tools used worldwide, and share one conviction: the best way to build systems the world can trust is to know exactly how they break.