{"id":13313,"date":"2024-10-18T15:52:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T13:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/snt-en\/?post_type=news&p=13313"},"modified":"2025-01-23T16:42:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T15:42:53","slug":"fnr-outstanding-phd-thesis-award","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/snt-en\/news\/fnr-outstanding-phd-thesis-award\/","title":{"rendered":"FNR\u2019s Outstanding PhD Thesis Award recognises malware detection research\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Jordan Samhi<\/a>‘s ground-breaking research into the detection of malware in Android Apps has been recognised by the Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR), who awarded the postdoctoral researcher with the 2024 Outstanding PhD Thesis Award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samhi, who studied Computer Sciences at the University of Lorraine (2016-2019), joined SnT at the University of Luxembourg for his doctoral degree in Software Engineering and Software Security. His doctoral thesis, \u201cAnalyzing the Unanalyzable: an Application to Android Apps<\/a>\u201d, completed under the supervision of Prof. Jacques Klein<\/a>, focused on developing methods to detect and prevent stealthy malicious behaviour in Android apps.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Samhi, today an estimated 10,000 new malwares are spread every day. Yet they are difficult to detect because most malware hide from analysis tools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\n \u201f<\/span>\n Because of this widespread issue, I decided to focus on their hiding techniques so we can find better ways to detect and prevent them. It\u2019s harder for companies like Google to spot them,\u201d\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n

Jordan Samhi<\/p><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

\u201cBecause of this widespread issue, I decided to focus on their hiding techniques so we can find better ways to detect and prevent them. It\u2019s harder for companies like Google to spot them,\u201d Samhi explained.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The postdoctoral researcher developed a static analysis tool that can spot malicious code that only activates under certain conditions, for instance on a specific date or location. Using this tool, his team was able to discover eight malware apps on Google Play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tool has since been improved leading to a new publication and the researcher said he was open to future collaborations that could turn his work into a practical solution.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n