Darshan Baral

Isaac Ahlgren

Graduate Student

iahlgren@luc.edu

Loyola University Chicago

About Me

I am a lead graduate student for the Software and Systems Laboratory (SSL) at Loyola University Chicago. Currently finishing up a Masters in Computer Science at Loyola University Chicago and looking to apply to PhD schools in the upcoming cycle.

My research interests have broadly revolved around privacy and security for software and systems. But, I am particularly interested in the security and privacy of embedded systems, Internet of Things, Cyber-Physical systems, and hardware security. My work currently has to do with developing scalable authentication systems for IoT devices.

Education

MS in Computer Science,2023 - Present

Loyola University Chicago

BS in Computer Science,2019 - 2023

Loyola University Chicago

Publications

A Signal Injection Attack Against Zero Involvement Pairing and Authentication for the Internet of Things . Isaac Ahlgren, Jack West, Kyuin Lee, George Thiruvathukal, and Neil Klingensmith. Workshop On Design Automation For CPS and IoT (DESTION 2024). 2024.

Establishing Trust in Vehicle-to-Vehicle Coordination: A Sensor Fusion Approach . J. Veselsky, J West, Isaac Ahlgren, et a. Workshop on Data-Driven and Intelligent Cyber-Physical Systems for Smart Cities Workshop (DI-CPS). 2022.

Poster: Userland Containers for Mobile Systems. Isaac Ahlgren, Victor Rakotondranoro, Yasin N. Silva, Eric Chan-Tin, George K. Thiruvathukal, and Neil Klingensmith. Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications (HotMobile). 2023.

Poster: A universally composable bit generation scheme for zero involvement authentication. Isaac Ahlgren, Jack West, George K. Thiruvathukal, and Neil Klingensmith. Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications (HotMobile). 2022.

Experiences

Graduate Research Assistant

2023 - Present · Loyola University Chicago

  • Lead graduate student in the Software and Systems Laboratory who mentored four students on a large scale project. The mentorship was awarded with the Graduate Research Mentorship Award.
  • Developed novel authentication protocol for IoT devices.
  • Developed a cluster of research IoT authentication systems using custom PCBs and Raspberry Pis connected to a variety of sensors. Software was written in Python and C where each system uses Avahi, OpenVPN, and Ansible to automatically set up communication between devices.
  • Worked within the Linux kernel to research virtualization techniques for mitigating container escape security vulnerabilities in technologies like Docker.
  • Worked with ESP32 and NORA-B1 microcontrollers to modify wireless communication protocols like WiFi or Bluetooth.
  • Helped instruct Computer Systems and Operating Systems classes.

Embedded Software Engineer Intern

May 2021 - August 2021 · Motorola Solutions

  • Researched and modeled an radio frequency anomaly detection algorithm in Python.
  • Developed anomaly detection system with a software-defined radio.
  • Thoroughly documented approaches to the algorithm as well as future possible approaches to the algorithm.