Deepak Kumar

Deepak Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). His research focuses on sociotechnical cybersecurity, examining threats such as misinformation and online abuse through data-driven and human-centered methodologies. He investigates how these threats operationalize in practice and their real-world impacts on digital safety.

Dr. Kumar teaches graduate courses including CSE227 (Computer Security) and CSE291 (Sociotechnical Cybersecurity). He actively advises PhD students Arshia Arya, Haodi Zou, Seoyoung Kweon (collaborating with Stefan Savage and Geoff Voelker), and Paul Chung. His work has been recognized with awards, including Best Paper Honorable Mention at ACM CSCW 2024 and a MacDowell Colony Fellowship in 2023.

Key research themes include large-scale measurements of online platforms, content moderation challenges, and designing defenses against emerging threats like deepfakes and hate raids. His interdisciplinary approach bridges technical systems and human behavior to improve digital safety frameworks.