Research Group Humans, Security and Privacy
Our research focuses on understanding human experiences of security, privacy and manipulation when interacting with technology.
Building a resilient future
Our multidisciplinary research bridges the gap between social sciences and computer science to bring a nuanced understanding of human experiences with technology. Our objective is to foster human autonomy and control in human-technology interactions.
Our research interests are:
- Human experiences of technology, especially relating to security and privacy
- Manipulative and deceptive interactions with technology (e.g., social engineering, misinformation)
- Increasing the diversity of experiences represented in human-centered security and privacy (inclusive security)
Professorship Distler Group
Juho Alin
Master thesis researcher
Co-supervision with Sanna Suoranta; Misinformation
Vitor Horodynski
Master thesis researcher
Misinformation
Ira Laihanen
Master thesis researcher
Cybersecurity education
Xiaowei Chen
External Doctoral Researcher (Co-Supervision)
Work with us
Currently hiring a postdoctoral researcher! https://www.hiit.fi/hiit-postdoctoral-fellow-positions-in-computer-science
If you are interested to write a Master thesis (Aalto students) with us, join us for a research visit, or would like to ask about PhD or postdoc opportunities, please reach out to Assistant Professor Verena Distler with the following information. Only requests including this information can be answered.
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Your study transcript incl. grades and scale;
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CV
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Short motivation incl. the research questions that interest you, and how they connect with the group's work specifically (see publications below).
Latest publications
Beyond Deterrence: A Systematic Review of the Role of Autonomous Motivation in Organizational Security Behavior Studies
Xiaowei Chen, Lorin Schöni, Verena Distler, Verena Zimmermann
2025
CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Empowering Parents to Support Children's Online Security and Privacy : Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial
Xiaowei Chen, Verena Distler, Chloe Gordon, Yaxing Yao, Ziwen Teuber
2025
CCS 2025 - Proceedings of the 2025 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security
Public Security User Interfaces Supporting Spontaneous Engagement with IT Security
Doruntina Murtezaj, Viktorija Paneva, Verena Distler, Florian Alt
2025
NSPW '24: Proceedings of the New Security Paradigms Workshop
What Makes Phishing Simulation Campaigns (Un)Acceptable? A Vignette Experiment on the Acceptance and Manipulation Intention Related to Phishing Simulation Campaigns
Jasmin Schwab, Alexander Nussbaum, Anastasia Sergeeva, Florian Alt, Verena Distler
2025
NDSS Symposium on Usable Security and Privacy (USEC)
“Helps me Take the Post With a Grain of Salt:” Soft Moderation Effects on Accuracy Perceptions and Sharing Intentions of Inauthentic Political Content on X
Filipo Sharevski, Verena Distler, Florian Alt
2025
Proceedings of the 34th USENIX Security Symposium
Vishing: Detecting social engineering in spoken communication — A first survey & urgent roadmap to address an emerging societal challenge
Andreas Triantafyllopoulos, Anika A. Spiesberger, Iosif Tsangko, Xin Jing, Verena Distler, Felix Dietz, Florian Alt, Björn W. Schuller
2025
Computer Speech and Language
Defining and Fortifying Against Cognitive Vulnerabilities in Social Engineering
Yomna Abdelrahman, Florian Alt, Tilman Dingler, Christopher Hadnagy, Abbie Maroño, Verena Distler
2024
Dagstuhl Reports
Making Motivation Theories Accessible: Introducing Motivation Cards to Map Motivators for Security and Privacy Education
Xiaowei Chen, Sophie Doublet, Verena Distler
2024
The Effects of Group Discussion and Role-playing Training on Self-efficacy, Support-seeking, and Reporting Phishing Emails : Evidence from a Mixed-design Experiment
Xiaowei Chen, Margault Sacre, Gabriele Lenzini, Samuel Greiff, Verena Distler, Anastasia Sergeeva
2024
CHI 2024 - Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
What Motivates and Discourages Employees in Phishing Interventions: An Exploration of Expectancy-Value Theory
Xiaowei Chen, Sophie Doublet, Anastasia Sergeeva, Gabriele Lenzini, Vincent Koenig, Verena Distler
2024
Proceedings of the Twentieth Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS 2024)