Zakir Durumeric

Zakir Durumeric is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, leading the Stanford Empirical Security Research Group. His research focuses on Internet security, trust, and safety, emphasizing large-scale network measurement and open-source tool development. He founded Censys, a platform providing global Internet device data, and maintains tools like ZMap, ZGrab, and Retina.

Research interests include cybercrime prevention, censorship analysis, disinformation tracking, and platform governance for online harassment. Notable contributions include studies on the Mirai botnet, TLS certificate ecosystems, and vulnerabilities like Heartbleed and Logjam. Awards include the IRTF Applied Networking Research Prize (2015) and a Test of Time Award (2022).

• Teaches courses: CS155 (Computer & Network Security), CS356 (Systems & Network Security), and CS249i (Modern Internet).
• Advises over 20 students, including Catherine Han, Kimberly Ruth, and Liz Izhikevich.
• Develops open-source software such as ZMap Toolkit and ASdb, and maintains datasets like CrUX Top Million Websites.

Recent work explores toxic online behavior, misinformation ecosystems, and regional censorship mechanisms in China. His lab’s tools are widely adopted in academia and industry for security research and policy guidance.