PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Engin Kirda

Also known as Engin Kırda

Engin Kirda is a computer security researcher who builds tools for analyzing malware and finding web vulnerabilities, with NSF-funded work that applies graph representation learning to attack detection and a public warning about the security of AI-written code. A Technical University of Vienna PhD (2002), he co-founded the International Secure Systems Lab there, whose tools include Anubis, and later held a tenured post at Institute Eurecom. In 2011, he co-founded the anti-malware company Lastline with Christopher Kruegel and Giovanni Vigna, and VMware acquired it in 2020. He chaired the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium program in 2015, co-chaired USENIX Security in 2017, and became an IEEE Fellow in 2025. He is a professor in Northeastern University's Khoury College of Computer Sciences and College of Engineering in Boston.

Badges

Timeline

  1. By 2002

    A doctorate in Vienna

    He earns his BS, MS and PhD in computer science at the Technical University of Vienna, finishing the PhD in 2002. He also holds a habilitation from the same university.

  2. By 2011

    Anubis and the Secure Systems Lab

    He joins the faculty of the Technical University of Vienna, where he co-founds the International Secure Systems Lab, whose tools include Anubis for analyzing malware, FIRE for finding rogue networks and Pixy for assessing web page vulnerabilities. He then becomes tenured faculty at Institute Eurecom on the French Riviera, and by 2011 he is at Northeastern.

  3. 2011

    An NSF grant and EXPOSURE

    In July 2011, he is an associate professor at Northeastern University and director of its Information Assurance Institute, and he receives a $486K NSF grant for tools that detect a malicious bot trying to connect to a host. At the NDSS Symposium in 2011, he coauthors the paper EXPOSURE: Finding Malicious Domains Using Passive DNS Analysis with Leyla Bilge, Christopher Kruegel and Marco Balduzzi.

  4. 2011–2020

    Co-founding Lastline

    Lastline is founded in 2011 by Kirda, Christopher Kruegel and Giovanni Vigna, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara and Northeastern University. VMware acquires the company in 2020.

  5. 2015–2017

    Chairing NDSS and USENIX Security

    He is program chair of the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS) in 2015 and speaks at SXSW Interactive 2015 on "Malware in the Wild". In 2017, he is program co-chair of USENIX Security alongside Thomas Ristenpart of Cornell Tech.

  6. 2025

    Elevated to IEEE Fellow

    He is elevated to IEEE Fellow in 2025 for contributions to improving the security of computer software, systems, and networks. About 0.1% of IEEE's more than 400,000 members receive the distinction each year.

  7. As of October 2026

    Professor at Northeastern

    He is a professor in Northeastern University's Khoury College of Computer Sciences and College of Engineering in Boston, and co-directs the Secure Systems Lab. His research projects include Flanker, an NSF-funded effort to detect lateral movement in organizations with graph representation learning. In March 2026, he says that a lot of code is now produced by AI of unverified security, and he expects new problems to emerge.

Career

  1. Since 2011Northeastern UniversityAssociate professor
  2. 2011–2020LastlineCo-founder
  3. TU WienFaculty member, Co-founder
  4. EURECOMTenured faculty

Education

  1. 2002TU WienPhD

From the biography.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Engin Kirda. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Northeastern University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Northeastern University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Northeastern University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Engin Kirda yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Engin Kirda - Northeastern University College of Engineering coe.northeastern.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Engin Kirda - Khoury College of Computer Sciences khoury.northeastern.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Engin Kirda ccs.neu.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Kirda Receives NSF Grant - Northeastern University College of Engineering coe.northeastern.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. EXPOSURE: Finding Malicious Domains Using Passive DNS Analysis - NDSS Symposium ndss-symposium.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Lastline - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Engin Kirda | The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future bu.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. USENIX Security '17 | USENIX usenix.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Fei and Kirda Elevated to IEEE Fellows - Northeastern University College of Engineering coe.northeastern.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. After two decades devoted to cybersecurity, Engin Kirda named IEEE fellow - Khoury College of Computer Sciences khoury.northeastern.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.