Thomas Pasquier

Thomas Pasquier is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, where he is affiliated with both the UBC Security & Privacy Group and the Systopia Lab. His research focuses on designing and implementing computer systems that are inherently observable and transparent, with particular emphasis on security, privacy, and system accountability.

Dr. Pasquier earned his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge in 2016, following an MPhil in Advanced Computer Science from the same institution in 2012. His educational background also includes a Diplôme d'Ingénieur from Institut Supérieur d'Electronique de Paris and a Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie from Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.

His primary research interests span Security, Intrusion Detection, Digital Provenance, Operating Systems, Distributed Systems, Data Protection, and Privacy. His work specifically addresses the design of systems with built-in observability and transparency mechanisms, focusing on provenance-based security solutions.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a consistent focus on provenance-based intrusion detection systems, with significant contributions in making these systems more practical, usable, and robust. His research also extends to eBPF technology in the Linux kernel, exploring security applications and performance optimizations.

• Amazon Research Award 2023 for Building Robust Provenance-based Intrusion Detection
• Incredible Instructor Award

Dr. Pasquier has advised numerous graduate students at both UBC and the University of Bristol, where he previously held an Assistant Professor position. His students have gone on to careers at major technology companies including Amazon, Salesforce, Huawei, and Oracle Labs. He has served on program committees for prestigious conferences including ACM ASPLOS, EuroSys, USENIX Security, and ACM CCS.

His research is conducted within the Systopia Lab at UBC, which focuses on systems research broadly construed, with particular emphasis on security, privacy, and performance optimization. The lab collaborates with industry partners including Amazon through the Amazon Research Awards program.