LUCY SIMKO
I am a research scientist in the Usable Security and Privacy Lab at the George Washington University, working with Yasemin Acar and Adam Aviv.
My research explores how people use computer security and privacy mechanisms—their needs, experiences, and mental models—specifically focusing on people who are under-served, either by technology, academic researchers, or are marginalized in other ways. Through qualitative methods, I use my research to amplify the voices of marginalized groups. I envision a world in which everyone has access to safe, well-fitting, and appropriate security and privacy mechanisms and mental models.
My research vision involves (1) naming and measuring the ways that security and privacy harms are distributed inequitably; (2) understanding the root causes for inequitable vulnerability to security and privacy harms; and (3) addressing those causes through policy and technical design, towards a more just and safe world. For a quick sense of what I do, check out my talk at USENIX Enigma 2023 about how geopolitical change makes people (more) vulnerable to security and privacy harms. I earned my PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Washington in 2022 and had the pleasure of being advised by Yoshi Kohno.
You can email me at lucy.simko at gwu.edu.
PUBLICATIONS AND PROJECTS
Security, Privacy, and Data-sharing Concerns and Trade-offs When Moving to the United States: Insights from a Qualitative Study
Mindy Tran*, Harshini Sri Ramulu*, Collins W. Munyendo*, Rachel Gonzalez Rodriguez, Luisa Ball Schnell, Cora Sula, Lucy Simko, Yasemin Acar. To appear at IEEE Security and Privacy (Oakland) 2024.
* co-first authors.
Lost and not Found: An Investigation of Recovery Methods for Multi-Factor Authentication
Sabrina Amft, Sandra Höltervennhoff, Nicolas Huaman, Alexander Krause, Lucy Simko, Yasemin Acar, Sascha Fahl. To appear at ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) 2023.
The Use and Non-Use of Technology During Hurricanes
Lucy Simko, Harshini Sri Ramulu, Tadayoshi Kohno, Yasemin Acar. To appear at the Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work And Social Computing (CSCW) 2023.
Humans and Vulnerability During Times of Change: Computer Security Needs, Practices, Challenges, and Opportunities
Lucy Simko. PhD dissertation, 2022.
Defensive Technology Use by Political Activists During the 2018-2019 Sudanese Revolution
Alaa Daffalla*, Lucy Simko*, Tadayoshi Kohno, Alexandru G. Bardas. IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, March/April 2022.
* co-first authors.
Magazine article of our 2021 paper; selected for submission by the conference chairs.
Would You Rather: A Focus Group Method for Eliciting and Discussing Formative Design Insights with Children
Lucy Simko, Britnie Chin, Sungmin Na, Harkiran Kaur Saluja, Tian Qi Zhu, Tadayoshi Kohno, Alexis Hiniker, Jason Yip, and Camille Cobb. Interaction Design and Children (IDC) 2021.
[ Practical
guidance ] [ Talk ]
Defensive
Technology Use by Political Activists During the Sudanese
Revolution
Alaa Daffalla*, Lucy Simko*, Tadayoshi Kohno, Alexandru G. Bardas. IEEE Security and Privacy (Oakland) 2021.
* co-first authors.
[ Talk by Alaa Daffalla ]
COVID-19 Contact Tracing and Privacy: A Longitudinal Study of Public Opinion
Lucy Simko, Jack Lucas Chang, Maggie Jiang, Ryan Calo, Franziska Roesner, Tadayoshi Kohno
ACM Digital Threats 2021: Research and Practice: Special Issue on Security and Privacy for Covid-19.
Earlier non-peer-reviewed versions:
[ Version 2.0, December 2020 ] [ Version 1.0, May 2020 ]
A Privacy-Focused Systematic Analysis of Online Status Indicators
Camille Cobb, Lucy Simko, Tadayoshi Kohno, Alexis Hiniker. Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS) 2020.
[ Talk by Camille Cobb]
User Experiences with Online Status Indicators
Camille Cobb, Lucy Simko, Tadayoshi Kohno, Alexis Hiniker. ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) 2020.
Computer Security and Privacy for Refugees in the United States
Lucy Simko, Ada Lerner, Samia Ibtasam, Franziska Roesner, Tadayoshi Kohno. IEEE Security and Privacy (Oakland) 2018.
[ Talk ]
Recognizing and Imitating Programmer Style: Adversaries in Program Authorship Attribution
Lucy Simko, Luke Zettlemoyer, Tadayoshi Kohno. Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS) 2018.
CS/crypto activities for kids
With Camille Cobb, Anna Kornfeld Simpson, Ada Lerner, Eric Zeng, and Alex Takakuwa.