Staff profile

Prof David Oswald

David Oswald is Professor of Cyber Security at the Department of Computer Science at Durham University, UK. Previously, he held academic positions at the University of Birmingham (UK) and Ruhr University Bochum (Germany).His main field of research is the security of embedded systems and trusted execution. One area of focus is on attack methods that exploit weaknesses in the physical implementation of mathematically secure cryptographic algorithm, including both (passive) side-channel analysis and (active) fault injection, as well as reverse engineering.

His work also includes the practical realisation of security systems in embedded applications, and, more recently, analysis of trusted execution technologies like Intel SGX AMD SEV-SNP, as well as applications of CHERI in this context as part of the Digital Security by Design initiative. 

He has numerous papers at top-tier security conferences such as (T)CHES, IEEE S&P, ACM CCS, and USENIX Security. He participates in the programme committees of major hardware security conferences, including Usenix Security, TCHES, and ACM CCS, and was general chair for CARDIS 2022 hosted at the University of Birmingham.

• Trusted execution and confidential computing
• Embedded systems security
• Security of real-world systems (e.g. automotive and IoT devices), including the interactions with safety and related areas
• Side-channel analysis, fault injection and other implementation attacks

Conference Paper

• Activation Functions Considered Harmful: Recovering Neural Network Weights through Controlled Channels
  
  Spielman, J., Oswald, D., Ryan, M., & Van Bulck, J. (in press). Activation Functions Considered Harmful: Recovering Neural Network Weights through Controlled Channels. Presented at The 28th International Symposium on Research in Attacks, Intrusions and Defenses (RAID 2025), Gold Coast, Australia.