USC Viterbi’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI) researchers have a strong presence at the 2025 Network and Distributed System Security (NDSS) Symposium, one of the world's top four cybersecurity conferences, held from February 24th to 28th, 2025 in San Diego, California.

ISI Interim Director of Networking and Cybersecurity David Balenson serves as the NDSS 2025 General Chair. As a member of the Privacy and Security Research Group (PSRG) that founded NDSS in 1993, Balenson's involvement highlights ISI's long-standing commitment to the symposium. 

"NDSS is one of the premier cybersecurity conferences, and it's exciting to see so many ISI researchers taking on leadership roles,” he said. “From organizing workshops to shaping discussions on critical topics like SOC operations and space security, our team is making a significant impact." 

Key ISI personnel at NDSS include:

• NDSS Fellow: Al-Majd Zunquti, a doctoral student under ISI Principal Scientist Jelena Mirkovic's supervision, has been named an NDSS 2025 Fellow. The prestigious Internet Society fellowship supports emerging researchers in active symposium participation. “Supporting the next generation of cybersecurity researchers is a priority for ISI, and we're thrilled that Al-Majd Zunquti has been named an NDSS 2025 Fellow,” Mirkovic said. “Programs like this help students engage with the research community and shape the future of security.”
  
  
• Panelist: Stephen Schwab, ISI’s research director for strategic directions for networking and cybersecurity and a distinguished principal scientist, is a panelist discussing "The Space Security Priority: What Matters Most?" at the Workshop on the Security of Space and Satellite Systems (SpaceSec). "As space systems become more integrated into our daily lives, securing them is no longer optional—it's essential,” Schwab said. “I’m happy to discuss the key priorities for space security research during our panel at SpaceSec.” Schwab is also on the Program Committee for the workshop.
  
  
• Poster Presentation: Jelena Mirkovic and David Balenson are showcasing their work on the Security and Privacy Heterogeneous Environment for Reproducible Experimentation (SPHERE) during the symposium's poster session. “Reproducibility and experimentation are critical for security research,” Mirkovic said. “At NDSS, we’re excited to showcase SPHERE, a new platform designed to support easy, scalable, and reproducible cybersecurity experimentation.” 
  
  
• WOSOC Leadership Roles: Several ISIers hold leadership positions at the Workshop on SOC Operations and Construction (WOSOC) 2025, co-located with the NDSS Symposium. Michael Collins, a senior computer scientist and and lead scientist at ISI, is one of the program co-chairs; Stephen Schwab and Alefiya Hussain, a supervising computer scientist and principal scientist at ISI, are on the program committee; and Hussain and Balenson are on the steering committee for the workshop.
  
  
• Workshops Leadership Role: Jelena Mirkovic serves as one of the Workshops chairs, helping NDSS organize an interesting set of co-located events.
  
  
• Photographer: Wes Hardaker, a senior computer scientist and lead scientist at ISI, is also a professional photographer who volunteers as the official NDSS Symposium photographer.

This significant presence at NDSS 2025 highlights ISI's ongoing leadership in cybersecurity while continuing the institute's long history of advancing Internet security research.