About Me

I am a Senior Research Scientist at RISE (Stockholm), specializing in building secure and cyber-resilient systems. With a Ph.D. in applied cryptography from KU Leuven/COSIC, my work focuses on integrating security- and privacy-by-design principles into complex, real-world applications.

My passion is tackling the security challenges of emerging technologies. I currently lead and contribute to key working groups (WGs) defining the future of next-generation wireless (NGWN/6G) and edge-to-cloud security. In my project work, I apply this expertise to critical sectors like EV ecosystems, manufacturing, and supply chains, designing secure architectures for data spaces and identity management.

I am a team-first leader with strong stakeholder engagement skills and an ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Auditor certification. I am an active contributor to Horizon Europe and Swedish funding proposals (co-securing ~SEK 10M), and my research on privacy engineering has been featured in international media, including Wired, NBC News, and The Atlantic.

Areas of Expertise

My skills bridge high-level strategy, technical architecture, and academic research.

  • Cybersecurity Leadership & Strategy:
    • Leading WGs for NGWN/6G (BEiNG-WISE) & Edge-to-Cloud (NexusForum).
    • Security-by-Design, Privacy-by-Design, Threat Modeling, & Zero Trust.
  • Technical & Domain Expertise:
    • Systems: EV Ecosystems, Industrial Supply Chains, Manufacturing, Secure Data Spaces.
    • Networks: Next-Generation Wireless (NGWN, 5G/6G), Edge/Cloud Security.
    • Standards & Tools: ISO/IEC 27001, PKI/Identity.
  • Research & Funding:
    • Horizon Europe & Swedish funding proposals (co-secured ~SEK 10M).
    • Privacy Engineering, Applied Cryptography, & Decentralized Systems.
  • Professional & Academic Skills:
    • Cross-domain stakeholder engagement.
    • Teaching & Ph.D./MSc supervision in networked systems security.

Current Projects (Selection)

  1. – Current

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

    Role: Secure Systems Architecture Lead & Contributor (RISE)

    Vision (secure system architecture): Design and build the security architecture for an open, interoperable Digital Twin framework-Zero Trust by default-to enable secure status monitoring, predictive analytics, and data-driven innovation across multi-OEM ecosystems.

    What I do: Define the reference security architecture (vehicle ↔ edge ↔ cloud), lead threat modeling, and specify controls so multiple Digital Twins can exchange information securely across OEM and Tier-1/2 ecosystems.

    Programme: Horizon Europe 🇪🇺 (2ZERO Partnership)

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

    Learn more: twin-loop.eu

    Alignment: Open Framework for the MyEV Digital Twin (specs, reference architecture, data models & interfaces) and Open TwinOps (lifecycle, CI/CD, synchronization with physical EVs, secure operations).

  2. – Current

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

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

    Description: Cross-sector collaboration on secure digital ecosystems and next-generation network resilience.

    Programme: Horizon Europe (HORIZON)

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

    Learn more: NexusForum.eu

  3. – Current

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

    Role: Project Contributor - Task 3.3: Cybersecurity, Resilience & Connectivity (Edge/IoT)

    What I do in T3.3: Help design and validate a cybersecurity stack for TEF services, including data & user activity monitoring, intrusion detection, role/attribute-based access control with identity integration (e.g., Keycloak), and ML-based anomaly detection for early APT/fault discovery.

    Consortium: 32 partners across 11 EU member states

    Budget (Sweden): 18 M SEK

    Learn more: CitComTEF · RISE project page · Vinnova

  4. – Current

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

    Role: Working Group Leader - Cybersecurity in Emerging Wireless Communications

    Description: Coordinating research in next-generation wireless cybersecurity (5G/6G), including workshops, training, dissemination, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

    Funding Agency: COST Action

    COST Action webpage: BEiNG-WISE

    Learn more: beingwise.eu

  5. –

    Datadelning i en digitaliserad köttkedja [FORMAS 🇸🇪]

    Role: Project Contributor - Researcher

    Role Description: Research on sustainable data sharing and digital transformation in industrial systems, with focus on cybersecurity, privacy, and data analytics to support data-driven decision-making in the digitalized meat supply chain.

    Funding Agency: Formas - Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development

    Budget: 11.8 M SEK

    Learn more: Project Page · YouTube Video

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

Venue: Cryptography 9(3):52

Publisher · 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)

Venue: 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

Venue: Proc. EuCNC/6G Summit 2025

DOI

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

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

Venue: arXiv

arXiv · DOI:10.48550/arXiv.2101.01950

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

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

Venue: Computers & Security 77:179–208

Publisher · 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 Evaluation (External)

    • PhD Evaluator (External) - Rauli Kaksonen, University of Oulu, Finland
  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

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