Rate My Professor Alastair Beresford

Alastair Beresford is Professor of Computer Security and Head of the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge, a position he has held since 2023. He earned a first-class BA in Computer Science in 1999 and a PhD in Engineering in 2004 from the University of Cambridge, with his doctoral dissertation titled 'Location privacy in ubiquitous computing.' His academic career at Cambridge includes roles as Research Associate from 2004 to 2007, University Lecturer from 2012 to 2013, Senior Lecturer from 2013 to 2017, Reader from 2017 to 2019, and Professor since 2007. Beresford is also the Robin Walker Fellow in Computer Science at Queens' College since 2017, where he serves as Director of Studies for computer science students and supervises courses including Foundations of Computer Science, Operating Systems, Software and Security Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, and Artificial Intelligence. Previously, he was a Teaching Fellow at Robinson College from 2006 to 2017. Early experience includes researcher positions at BT Labs and internships at AT&T Labs-Research.

Beresford's research examines the security and privacy of large-scale distributed computer systems, with a focus on networked mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops, including device security, cloud interaction privacy issues, anonymity networks, and human behavior measurement. He co-directs the Centre for Mobile, Wearable Systems and Augmented Intelligence and is an investigator at the Cambridge Cybercrime Centre. Notable projects include Device Analyzer, which gathered usage data from over 30,000 Android devices shared with more than 200 research labs, and the Isaac Learning Platform, supporting over 500,000 users across IsaacPhysics.org and AdaComputerScience.org. Key publications encompass 'Location privacy in pervasive computing' (2004), 'Mix zones: User privacy in location-aware services' (2004), 'Mockdroid: trading privacy for application functionality on smartphones' (2011), 'Pudding: Private User Discovery in Anonymity Networks' (2024), 'CoverDrop: Blowing the Whistle Through A News App' (2022, Andreas Pfitzmann Best Student Paper Award at PETS), and 'SensorID: Sensor Calibration Fingerprinting for Smartphones' (2019). Awards include the Google Security and Privacy Research Prize ($100,000, 2019), Pilkington Prize for teaching excellence (2014), Highly Commended Award for Research Impact and Engagement (2025), and departmental Best Academic Paper prizes (2015, 2020).