Yonghwi Kwon

Yonghwi Kwon is an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, affiliated with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Maryland Cybersecurity Center (MC2), and UMIACS. His research focuses on software security, reverse engineering, and cyber forensics. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Purdue University (2018). Kwon directs the SEED Research Group, which develops techniques to secure real-world systems such as autonomous vehicles and cyber-physical systems.

Education:

• PhD in Computer Science, Purdue University, 2018

Research Interests: Kwon's work spans cybersecurity, software security, reverse engineering, and cyber forensics. His team investigates vulnerabilities in critical systems, develops fuzzing frameworks for autonomous systems, and designs defenses against sophisticated cyberattacks. Notable areas include phishing analysis, memory corruption exploits, and secure software hardening.

Recent Trends in Articles: Recent work emphasizes phishing lifecycle analysis, kernel vulnerability discovery (e.g., Scavy), and defense mechanisms like FreePart for data processing software. The group also pioneers Python binary decompilation (PyFET) and anti-forensic attack mitigation.

Awards:

• NSF CAREER Award (2022)
• NSF CISE CRII Award (2019)
• ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Paper Award (2019)

Advising & Grants: Advises PhD students in software security, CPS security, and LLM security. Leads NSF-funded projects on forensic infrastructure and cyber defense. Collaborates with institutions like Columbia, Georgia Tech, and KAIST.

Labs/Teams: SEED Research Group focuses on securing critical systems via program analysis and automated defense. Kwon co-leads the UVA CCDC team, winning national championships in 2019, 2020, and 2023.