About Me

I am a Senior Research Scientist at RISE (Stockholm), specialising in cybersecurity leadership, systems architecture and applied research to secure complex, multi‑domain digital ecosystems. With a Ph.D. in applied cryptography from KU Leuven/COSIC, I integrate security‑ and privacy‑by‑design principles into cloud–edge–IoT, NGWN/6G, EV/SDV platforms, Data Spaces and Digital Twin systems.

I lead and contribute to working groups and EU projects (Horizon, Digital Europe, COST), coordinating cross‑sector expert teams to define security roadmaps, requirements and governance for large‑scale pilots and testbeds. My technical focus areas include Zero‑Trust architectures, secure data lifecycles, identity & access control, connector hardening for interoperable Data Spaces, and AI/ML robustness and threat modeling.

I am a team‑first leader with strong stakeholder engagement skills and an ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Auditor certification. I translate research into industrial impact-co‑securing research funding (≈SEK 10M), authoring R&I roadmaps, and producing policy‑relevant outputs. My work has been covered in Wired, NBC News and The Atlantic.

Areas of Expertise

I combine cybersecurity leadership, systems architecture, and applied research to secure multi-domain digital ecosystems - spanning cloud–edge–IoT, NGWN/6G, EV and SDV platforms, Data Spaces, and large-scale EU research infrastructures.

  • Cybersecurity Leadership & Strategy:
    • Leading security work in EU-funded initiatives (Horizon, Digital Europe, COST), coordinating 25+ experts across WGs.
    • Security-by-Design, Privacy-by-Design, Threat Modeling, Risk Analysis, Secure Architecture & Governance.
    • Definition of cybersecurity priorities, roadmaps, and regulatory alignment (NIS2, AI Act, ISO/IEC 27001).
    • Developing cybersecurity requirements for large-scale pilots, testbeds, and multi-stakeholder ecosystems.
  • Secure Systems Architecture & Technical Expertise:
    • Zero-Trust architectures, secure data lifecycles, and identity/access control.
    • Secure Data Spaces, edge–cloud security, interoperability (MIM6), connector hardening.
    • Next-Generation Wireless (NGWN, 5G/6G), physical-layer security, behavioral security models.
    • Security for EV ecosystems, SDVs, Digital Twins, and TwinOps pipelines.
  • Research, Innovation & Funding Expertise:
    • Leading and shaping R&I roadmaps in the Cloud–Edge–IoT Continuum (e.g., NexusForum).
    • Applied research in cryptography, privacy engineering, anomaly detection, and AI/ML security.
    • Contributing to Horizon Europe and Swedish research proposals (co-secured ~SEK 10M).
    • Bridging academic research with industrial prototyping, pilots, and technology validation.
  • Professional, Teaching & Stakeholder Engagement:
    • ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Auditor; security reviews, assessments, and governance processes.
    • Cross-sector engagement with industry, municipalities, policymakers, and research partners.
    • Teaching and supervising PhD/MSc students in networked systems, secure architectures, and privacy engineering.

Current Projects (Selection)

  1. – Current

    TWINLOOP - Secure Digital Twin Framework & TwinOps for Software-Defined EVs [Horizon Europe 🇪🇺]

    Role: Secure Systems Architecture & Contributor (RISE)

    Role Description: Design and deliver the secure reference architecture for an open, interoperable Digital Twin framework and TwinOps lifecycle for Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs), enabling secure cross‑OEM data exchange.

    Consortium / WG: multi‑stakeholder research & industry consortium (see project page)

    Funding agency: Horizon Europe (2ZERO Partnership)

    Call / Instrument: Advanced digital development tools for SDVs - HORIZON-CL5-2024-D5-01-05

    Learn more: twin-loop.eu ·

    Contributions (selection): Secure reference architecture; Zero‑Trust; Digital Twin & TwinOps; Threat Modeling & DevSecOps; Multi‑OEM interoperability; Data protection; Edge‑cloud integration; coordinating project activities.

    Expand “Details” to read selected contributions and technical priorities; expand “Metrics (KPIs)” for quantified impact.

    Contribution details
    1. Leadership & coordination: Secure reference architecture, contributing to technical & security requirements.
    2. Outputs / Deliverables: Reference security architecture & threat models.
    Metrics (KPIs)
  2. – Current

    NexusForum Research & Innovation Roadmap, Cognitive Computing Continuum [Horizon Europe 🇪🇺]

    Consortium / WG: 120+ organisations & stakeholders / 25+ WG participants

    Role: Working Group Co‑Leader - Cybersecurity for the Cognitive Computing Continuum Roadmap

    Role Description: Leading cross-sector collaboration to define security, resilience, and data-governance R&I priorities for the Cloud–Edge–IoT Continuum, producing policy-oriented guidance and prioritized research actions for EU stakeholders.

    Contributions (selection): Leadership; WG coordination; Technologies & disruptive Innovations; Directions & Pilots; Roadmap & policy guidance.

    Funding agency: Horizon Europe (HORIZON)

    Call: Coordination and Support of Cognitive Computing Continuum research and policy (CSA) - HORIZON-CL4-2023-DATA-01

    Sweden Budget: TBD

    Learn more: NexusForum.eu · NexusForum R&I Roadmap (first draft, Mar 2025)

    Contribution details
    1. WG leadership & expertise coordination: Leading multi‑disciplinary expert groups to analyse and prioritise essential security technologies, disruptive innovation areas, and fail‑safe mechanisms, ensuring alignment with EU cybersecurity, sovereignty, and resilience objectives.
    2. D1 - Technology & Innovation Layers: Investigating and defining core R&I priorities across foundational capabilities (Zero‑Trust, secure data lifecycles), emerging innovations (Post‑Quantum Cryptography, confidential computing), and transitional safeguards (pervasive encryption, compliance‑anchored controls) to enable secure-by-design Continuum architectures.
    3. D2 - Destinations / Mini‑Roadmaps: Developing cross‑cutting strategic targets that map essential, emerging, and fail‑safe technologies into actionable mini‑roadmaps, connecting technical priorities with regulatory, deployment, and policy requirements to enable secure, interoperable, and sovereign EU infrastructures.
    4. R&I Roadmap contribution (first draft): Co‑authoring, reviewing and consolidating WG outputs into the NexusForum R&I Roadmap (Mar 2025), translating technical findings into prioritized research actions and strategic recommendations for the European Commission - view first draft.
    Metrics (KPIs)
    • Consortium scale: 120+ organisations and stakeholders across EU member states.
    • Working Group members: 25+ active participants (technical experts, policy leads, industry representatives).
    • Teams supported: 6+ engineering teams adopting secure‑by‑design practices and implementing recommended controls.
    • Requirements / Artefacts: 10+ security & interoperability artefacts produced (MIM6, requirements sets, guidance notes).
    • Scenarios & Threat Models: 3+ connector integration scenarios evaluated; multiple ML/AI threat models analysed.
    • Roadmap outputs: Co‑authored the NexusForum R&I Roadmap (first draft, Mar 2025); contributed prioritized research actions and strategic recommendations for EU stakeholders.
  3. – Current

    CitCom.ai (AI TEF SCC) - Digital Europe 🇪🇺 & Vinnova 🇸🇪

    Role: Project Contributor - Task 3.3: Cybersecurity, Cyber Resilience & Procurement/Governance

    Consortium: 32 partners across 11 EU member states

    Sweden Budget: 18 M SEK

    Role Description: Design and validate cybersecurity controls and interoperability requirements for TEF Data Spaces and Edge/IoT pilots, focusing on connector hardening, MIM6-aligned requirements, procurement alignment, and AI/ML security.

    Learn more: CitComTEF · RISE project page · Vinnova

    Contributions (selection): Data Spaces connectors security; MIM6 requirements; Procurement alignment; AI/ML security & threat modeling; Connector hardening; Secure-by-design; collaborating with engineering teams.

    Expand “Details” to read selected contributions and technical priorities; expand “Metrics (KPIs)” for quantified impact.

    Contribution details
    1. Security for Data Spaces Connectors: Evaluate and harden connector security (data-in-transfer and data-at-rest), implement integrity and confidentiality controls, and advise on secure interoperability for TEF services across edge/IoT deployments.
    2. MIM6 Security Requirements (with OASC): Define and refine MIM6-aligned cybersecurity requirements using ISO/IEC 27001, Common Criteria and NIS2; support engineering teams applying these requirements to pilots. MIM6 · OASC
    3. Data Governance & Smart City Procurements: Align procurement pipelines to Data Governance actions and system/software security requirements to ensure procured solutions meet compliance, interoperability, and secure-by-design expectations for city-scale deployments.
    4. AI/ML Security & Threat Modeling: Assess infrastructure and algorithmic threats, contribute robustness requirements for ML pipelines, and define mitigation strategies for early detection of APTs and adversarial behaviours.
    Metrics (KPIs)
    • Consortium scale: 32 partners across 11 EU member states.
    • Engineering teams supported: 6+ engineering teams integrating security requirements into edge/IoT pilots.
    • Requirements / Artefacts: 10+ security & interoperability artefacts (MIM6-aligned requirements, procurement specs, guidance notes).
    • Connector scenarios evaluated: 3+ integration scenarios tested and hardened.
    • AI/ML threat analysis: Multiple threat models and robustness requirements produced to guide anomaly detection and APT response.
    • Impact: Contributions informed procurement readiness and secure-by-design uptake across TEF pilot deployments.

    Learn more & contacts: Project page

  4. – Current

    Behavioral Next Generation in Wireless Networks for Cyber Security (BEiNG-WISE) [COST Action 🇪🇺]

    Role: Working Group Leader - Cybersecurity in Emerging Wireless Communications

    Role Description: Coordinate WG activities focused on security and trust in next-generation wireless (5G/6G), organising workshops, training events, and cross-disciplinary research to support standards and R&I agendas.

    Funding Agency: COST Action (CA22104)

    Consortium / Network: European research & industry network (multi-country participation)

    Learn more: beingwise.eu · COST Action CA22104

    Contributions (selection): WG leadership; Workshops & training; Wireless security (5G/6G); Physical-layer security; Trust & privacy; Cross-disciplinary collaboration; Policy & standards input.

    Expand “Details” to read selected contributions and technical priorities; expand “Metrics (KPIs)” for quantified impact.

    Contribution details
    1. WG leadership & coordination: Lead working group activities, coordinate expert contributors, set agendas for technical studies and deliverables, and liaise with COST management and partners.
    2. Research & training events: Organise workshops, tutorials, and training schools to disseminate findings and build capacity across academia and industry.
    3. Technical priorities: Drive investigation into physical-layer innovations, behavioral security approaches, and AI-enhanced defenses for NGWN (5G/6G).
    4. Standards & policy engagement: Translate WG outputs into inputs for standards bodies and R&I roadmaps; foster cross-sector engagement with industry and regulators.
    Metrics (KPIs)
    • Network reach: Engaged participants across 20+ institutions and multiple EU countries.
    • Events organised: 3+ workshops / tutorials and 1+ training school planned or delivered.
    • Deliverables: 5+ WG deliverables (white papers, technical reports, training materials).
    • Community building: Fostered collaborations between academia, industry, and policy stakeholders across NGWN topics.
    • Impact: Inputs provided to standards discussions and R&I roadmaps influencing research priorities.
  5. –

    Datadelning i en digitaliserad köttkedja [FORMAS 🇸🇪]

    Role: Project Contributor - Researcher

    Role Description: Research on sustainable data sharing and digital transformation in industrial systems, focusing on secure data governance, privacy-preserving sharing mechanisms, and analytics to support data-driven decision-making across the meat supply chain.

    Consortium / WG: Multi‑partner Swedish consortium (industry, research, public bodies)

    Funding agency: Formas - Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development

    Budget: 11.8 M SEK

    Learn more: Project page · YouTube video

    Contributions (selection): Data governance; Privacy-preserving data sharing; Secure data pipelines; Analytics for decision support; Inter-organisational interoperability; Pilot evaluations.

    Expand “Details” to read selected contributions and technical priorities; expand “Metrics (KPIs)” for quantified impact.

    Contribution details
    1. Research & design: Developed secure data sharing models and governance patterns tailored to the meat supply chain, balancing privacy, traceability and business requirements.
    2. Pilots & evaluations: Supported pilot deployments and evaluations of data-sharing workflows, demonstrating privacy-aware analytics and secure integration across stakeholders.
    3. Standards & guidance: Produced recommendations for data governance, interoperability and procurement aligned with Swedish/EU frameworks to support wider adoption.
    4. Dissemination: Contributed to public outputs including reports, presentations and the project video to communicate results to stakeholders.
    Metrics (KPIs)
    • Project budget: 11.8 M SEK (total).
    • Consortium: Multi‑partner Swedish consortium (industry, research institutes, public bodies).
    • Pilots evaluated: 2+ pilot deployments validating secure data-sharing workflows.
    • Artefacts produced: 3+ guidance documents / requirements sets for data governance and interoperability.
    • Stakeholder engagement: Demonstrations and dissemination reaching industry partners and public stakeholders.

Education

Certifications & Training (selection)

Invited Talks (selection)

Media Attention

Research featured in major international outlets related to privacy, security, and the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Selected Publications

See also: Google Scholar

Towards Empowering Stakeholders Through Decentralized Trust and Secure Livestock Data Sharing (2025)

Authors: Abdul Ghafoor, Iraklis Symeonidis, Anna Rydberg, Cecilia Lindahl, Abdul Qadus Abbasi

Publisher: MDPI Cryptography Journal

Cryptography Journal · DOI:10.3390/cryptography9030052

Emerging Cybersecurity Paradigms in Wireless Networks: Physical Layer Innovation, Trust, and AI-Enhanced Defenses (2025)

Editors: Iraklis Symeonidis, Valeria Loscri (BEiNG-WISE WG1 White Paper)

Publisher: BEiNG-WISE (COST Action CA22104) - White Paper

Project page

Drowsiness and Fatigue Recognition Systems for Connected Vehicles, 6G and the EU AI Act (2025)

Authors: Ana Ferreira, Başak Ozan Özparlak, Hartmut Aden, Iraklis Symeonidis, Mehmet Çetin, Eirini Kanaki, Periklis Chatzimisios

Publisher: IEEE EuCNC/6G Summit

IEEE EuCNC/6G Summit DOI:10.1109/EuCNC/6GSummit63408.2025.11037012

HERMES: Scalable, Secure, and Privacy-Enhancing Vehicle Access System (2021)

Authors: Iraklis Symeonidis, Dragos Rotaru, Mustafa A. Mustafa, Bart Mennink, Bart Preneel, Panos Papadimitratos

Publisher: IEEE Internet of Things Journal

IEEE Internet of Things Journal · DOI:10.1109/JIOT.2021.3094930

Collateral damage of Facebook third-party applications: a comprehensive study (2018)

Authors: Iraklis Symeonidis, Gergely Biczók, Fatemeh Shirazi, Cristina Pérez-Solà, Jessica Schroers, Bart Preneel

Publisher: Elsevier Computers & Security

Computers & Security · DOI:10.1016/j.cose.2018.03.015

Academic and Other Services

Event organizer:

Program Committee Memberships:

External Reviews:

Teaching & Supervision

  1. – Current

    PhD Supervision

    • PhD Supervisor - S. Mohammadi, Industrial PhD Student at RISE

  2. PhD External reviewer / examiner

    • 2024: Rauli Kaksonen, "Transparent and tool-driven security assessment for sustainable IoT cybersecurity", University of Oulu, Finland
    • 2025: Liu Shuaishuai, "Interdependent Privacy: Modeling, Measurement, and Mitigation", Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
  3. –

    NSS@KTH - Teaching Assistant & MSc Thesis Supervision

    • Teaching Assistant at NSS@KTH
      • Networked Systems Security (NSS): Fundamentals of secure modern networked systems
      • Building NSS (BNSS): Implementation of secure networked systems
      • Advanced NSS (ANSS): Engineering of emerging secure networked infrastructures
    • MSc Thesis Supervision:
      • 2021–2022: A. Kotsias - “Layer 2 Smart Contracts for Secure Vehicular-Sharing Systems”
      • 2020–2021: S. Rabat - “Encrypted Documents Retrieval from the Cloud with Searchable Encryption”
      • 2021: J. Shan - “Secure Vehicular Sharing Systems Implementation”
  4. –

    COSIC@KU Leuven - MSc Thesis Supervision

    • 2019–2020: D. De Troch - “dPACE: A Decentralized Privacy-Preserving, yet Accountable Car Sharing Environment”
    • 2017–2018: A. Madhusudan - “Applying Smart Contracts to Secure Car Sharing Systems”
    • 2017–2018: D. Reardon - “Prevalence of Device Fingerprinting in Browser Extensions”
    • 2016–2017: S. Dhooghe - “Applying Multiparty Computation to Car Access Provision”
    • 2015–2016: T. Bertels - “Design of a Pairing Protocol for the AR.Drone 2.0”
    • 2015–2016: K. Domin - “Security Analysis of the Drone Communication Protocol: Fuzzing the MAVLink Protocol”
  5. –

    Educator & Instructor - Ministry of Education, Police Academy, Lifelong Learning

    • Educator & Instructor - Ministry of Education, Police Academy, Lifelong Learning
      • Web Programming: PHP, SQL, and web technologies
      • Application Development: Algorithmic logic and programming, university entrance prep
      • ICT Technologies: CS principles, mathematics, ICT-enhanced learning
      • Microsoft Office Suite: Training & certification (Police Academy & private sector)

Personal Interests

Contact