Lincoln Laboratory researchers help lead NDSS Symposium
Lincoln Laboratory researchers held program chair and committee member roles at the Network and Distributed System Security (NDSS) Symposium, which took place from February 25 to 28 in San Diego. Widely regarded as one of the “big four” top-tier computer security conferences, NDSS brought together nearly 700 leading academics, industry researchers, and security practitioners from around the world to discuss the most impactful and cutting-edge cybersecurity research and development.
“It’s important for us at Lincoln Laboratory to stay involved in the research community because we can learn about the latest and greatest developments and bring those into Department of Defense systems,” says Hamed Okhravi, who served as the 2025 NDSS program chair and will continue in the two-term role next year. At Lincoln Laboratory, Okhravi is a senior technical staff member in the Secure Resilient Systems and Technology Group, where he leads research on systems security.
The multiday event included a keynote presentation from Kathleen Fisher, the director of the Information Innovation Office in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, who discussed the needs for increasingly secure, distributed, and resilient systems. The event continued with 211 paper presentations in four parallel tracks and 37 poster presentations.
As program chair, Okhravi was responsible for leading the symposium and the program committee, a group of 167 professionals who reviewed more than 1,300 submitted papers and decided which of those papers to accept. Among the program committee members were Lincoln Laboratory cybersecurity researchers Nathan Burow, Samuel Jero, and Derrick McKee.
“By being involved in NDSS, I can keep up with the work being done in academia and form connections with professors and students. These connections have led to new insights on Lincoln Laboratory programs, collaborations with professors on topics of interest to the Laboratory, and hiring of excellent students to work here upon graduation,” Jero says. “Being involved in the symposium also enables us to shape the direction of future research in the community.”
Jero also co-chaired the Workshop on the Security of Space and Satellite Systems (SpaceSec), one of eight workshops held in conjunction with NDSS. Space security, including the protection of satellites from cyberattacks, is of critical importance to national security and a focus of research and development at Lincoln Laboratory. At SpaceSec, researchers and government representatives discussed theories, technologies, and systems for overcoming security challenges in space.
“Serving in leadership positions at NDSS helps us to bring in topics such as space security that are very much of interest to the government and DoD,” Okhravi adds.
Both Jero and Burow received Distinguished Reviewer Awards, recognizing them for their outstanding work writing thoughtful paper reviews and actively participating in discussions between reviewers to reach acceptance decisions. “Many reviewers put in large numbers of hours to provide thoughtful feedback to the authors on their papers. It’s an honor to have my efforts recognized in this way, and I hope my reviews helped the authors sharpen the idea in their papers,” says Burow.
Back at the Laboratory, Okhravi and fellow NDSS participants are continuing to discuss and consider novel applications of the latest research presented. They look forward to continuing the Laboratory’s involvement in NDSS in 2026.
“Sustained leadership and publishing at top conferences like NDSS help us ensure that our research shapes the academic agenda in ways that drive long-term progress on the nation’s most critical security challenges,” says Roger Khazan, leader of the Secure Resilient Systems and Technology Group.