I'm a second year Master's student in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, where I am working with Dr. Aaron Striegel at the Wireless Institute.
My latest research focuses on developing advanced techniques to detect and prevent sophisticated identity spoofing attacks, particularly those leveraging AI-generated content. I am exploring how AI can be responsibly integrated with Security & Privacy.
Before pursuing my Master's degree at Notre Dame, I developed strong practical expertise in the security industry, specializing in threat hunting methodologies, digital forensics analysis, and threat & anomaly detection engineering.
I am excited to explore research problems at the intersection of network security, internet security, threat detection, and AI. What drives me most is the opportunity to dig deep into these challenging problems, to experiment, fail, learn, and ultimately contribute something meaningful to the field.
I earned my B.S. in Computer Science from North Central College, Illinois in May of 2021.
I completed high school at The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, India in 2017.
Current Activity
As I work through my thesis research, I'm also committed to growing as a researcher and practitioner.
- Enhancing my practical cybersecurity skills through TryHackMe challenges
- Working toward earning another Splunk certification by January 2026
- Exploring advanced topics in AI and Machine Learning to enhance my research capabilities
Research
Thesis Research
My thesis research focuses on detecting and preventing sophisticated identity spoofing attacks, particularly those used by malicious actors to infiltrate organizations as seemingly legitimate remote workers. State-sponsored IT workers have deployed thousands of skilled workers who use stolen identities, AI-generated images, and voice-changing software to secure positions at companies worldwide, with hundreds of organizations unknowingly employing these workers in recent years.
What drives my work is how rapidly this threat is evolving. These actors now use AI tools to manipulate employment documents and are experimenting with voice-changing technology that could soon bypass traditional verification methods entirely. I'm developing a practical detection framework that focuses on identifying AI-generated content. These infiltrators don't just generate revenue for hostile regimes; they steal intellectual property, source code, and trade secrets, and sometimes even extort their employers. We're in a race against adversaries who are leveraging the same AI technologies we're trying to protect, and my goal is to give organizations the tools they need to identify and stop these threats before sensitive data is compromised.
Additional Research: Graph Learning for Adaptive Access Control
Beyond my thesis work, I'm conducting research for one of my graduate courses taught by Dr. Fanny Ye on applying graph learning techniques to develop adaptive access control systems. This project explores how graph transformer networks can model complex relationships between users, resources, and access patterns to create more intelligent and context-aware security frameworks that evolve with organizational needs and emerging threats.
Resume
Education
Double Minor in English Writing and Mathematics
Research
As an active member of the Wireless Institute at the University of Notre Dame, I conduct research under the guidance of my advisor, Dr. Aaron Striegel. I'm working on detecting malicious North Korean workers who exploit AI-generated deepfakes to pose as legitimate remote IT professionals. My work focuses on developing a framework to identify and prevent these sophisticated identity spoofing attacks.
Relevant Courses
- Special Topics in Advanced & Secure Networks
- Computer Security
- Computer Networks
- Secure Software Engineering
- Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
- Cybercrime and the Law
- Graph Learning
- Graduate Human Computer Interaction
Professional Experience
- Discrete Mathematics - Fall 2024
- Logic Design - Spring 2025
- Principles of Computing - Fall 2025
- Designed and developed alarms for multiple products by conducting thorough R&D and collaborating with onboarding teams
- Created comprehensive alarm logic, assigned risk scores, and correlated threats with MITRE framework categories
- Led investigations to protect customer data by monitoring security systems and identifying suspicious activity
- Mentored Level 1 security analysts and provided direct technical support to customers
- Assisted in security audits and investigations
- Championed and executed automation of monthly and quarterly security reports
- Engineered custom dashboards and alarms in Splunk using Splunk Search Processing Language (SPL)
- Championed creation and automation of a penetration testing dashboard
- Created several pentest reports
- Acted on high-priority security tickets to triage and validate alerts
- Built and delivered monthly security review reports for diverse customer base
- Led client onboarding meetings and conducted ActiveDefense demos
- Oversaw portfolio of customer implementation projects
- Assisted clients throughout onboarding process and provided direct support
- Collaborated with sales, support engineering, and customer service teams
Industry Certifications
- CompTIA Security+
- Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
- Splunk Core Certified User
- Splunk Core Certified Power User
- Cisco CCNA [In Progress]
Technical Skills
Security Tools: Cisco Secure Endpoints, Microsoft Defender, CrowdStrike, Darktrace, Palo Alto Cortex
Cybersecurity Skills: Threat Intelligence R&D, Detection Engineering, Alarm Development, Anomaly Detection, Threat Hunting
Networking: IP, TCP, Switches, Routers, HTTP, HTTPS, NTP, SDN, SSH, Zero Trust, Wireshark, Putty
Programming: Python, Java, C++, SQL, Splunk SPL, HTML, JavaScript
Languages: English (Fluent), Hindi (Fluent), Urdu (Advanced), Telugu (Advanced), French (Novice)
Leadership & Service
- Vice President, Graduate Student Government (University of Notre Dame) - Current
- Team Lead, CS4GOOD: Computer Science for Good (University of Notre Dame)
- President, Dev131: Computer Science Club (North Central College)
- Writing Center Tutor (North Central College)
- Member, Blue Key: Leadership, Ethics, and Values Honors Society (North Central College)
- Editor, 30 North: Undergraduate Literary Magazine (North Central College)
- President, Sigma Tau Delta: International English Honors Society (North Central College)
I believe in living fully on both sides: work that challenges me and moments that ground me.
Let's Connect
I'd love to hear from you. If you have questions, ideas, or just want to connect, email me at rana@ranahussain.com