ABOUT NILS

I am a faculty at the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security, heading the SCy-Phy research group. Until 2018, I was an Assistant Professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design ( SUTD). I earned my Dr. Sc. in Computer Science from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) in 2012. At ETH, I was part of the System Security group led by Prof. Srdjan Capkun. In 2007, I received a degree in Computer Engineering (Dipl. Ing.) from the Hamburg University of Technology (Germany). As part of my undergraduate studies, I visited the University of Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) between 2004-2005 supported by a DAAD scholarship. My full CV is available here.

Interests

  • Security of Cyber-Physical Systems
  • Security of Physical-Layer Wireless
  • IoT Security

Education

  • PhD in Computer Science, 2012

    ETH Zürich, Switzerland

  • Dipl.-Ing. Computer Engineering, 2007

    Hamburg University of Technology, Germany

  • 1 Year of Exchange Studies, 2004

    University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Research Interests

I am interested in information security aspects of practical systems. In particular, I am currently working on security of industrial control systems and the Industrial Internet of Things, for applications such as public infrastructure (e.g., public water systems and power grids). At SUTD, I was involved in the construction and operation of several of our practical testbeds in those areas (SWaT, WADI, EPIC). In addition, I have worked on physical layer security aspects of wireless and embedded systems, for example secure ranging, distance measurements and communication using wireless signals. I continue to work in those areas in the context of (I)IoT security. I contributed to the DP3T project on privacy-preserving COVID-19 contact tracing, and designed and implemented the "cloud" backend of the National Science Experiment (a project with 50,000 mobile sensors deployed in Singapore, used by more than 90,000 students). For three years, I co-organized the Secure Cyber-Physical Systems Week event at SUTD. I also co-organized the BATADAL competition for physical process attack detection algorithms.

I co-founded SUTD’s kopipacket CTF team, and (if I have time) practise my applied security skills by particpating in CTF events together with Saarsec.

Service

I am Program Co-Chair of WiSec'23, and serve(d) as PC member on conferences such as Usenix Security, CCS, Esorics, AsiaCCS, ACNS, and Wisec. I am area editor for TIFS, and have served as reviewer for journals such as TIFS, TOPS, Sensors, TWC, TII. More info here.

Teaching

I am currently teaching the core lecture Security in the Winter term, and the advanced lecture on Physical-Layer Security in the Summer term. I also support the Perspectives on Cybersecurity and Hacking classes with content and guest lectures.

Awards

General Interests

  • Mechanical keyboards, typography, and vector graphics
  • History, languages, and music
  • Outdoor sports (climbing, hiking, and camping)

Research Group / Open positions

My research group is focusing on Security of Cyber-Physical Systems. I have exciting opportunities for PhD students and a PostDoc.


Do only what only you can do

~ attributed to Edsger W. Dijkstra

Es gibt nichts Gutes, außer man tut es

~ Erich Kästner

Recent Posts

2023 in numbers

My year in numbers for 2023.

Google’s Security Conference/Journal ranking 2023

An analysis of the Google Metrics 2023 for security venues.

Best paper award at DIMVA 23

Another one of Alessandro’s papers recently received a best paper awards, this time at DIMVA'23

Contact

  • tippenhauer@cispa.de
  • Kaiserstrasse 170, St. Ingbert, 66386
  • In the Beckerturm Innovation Park, contact me for detailed instructions.