Rate My Professor Verena Distler

Distler obtained her PhD in Psychology and Human-Computer Interaction from the University of Luxembourg in 2021, under the supervision of Prof. Vincent Koenig, including a visiting research stay at Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab with Prof. Lorrie Cranor in 2019. She holds a Master's degree in Social Sciences specializing in information and communication from the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France (2015-2017), and a Bachelor's degree in International Management from FH Krems, Austria (2011-2014). Her career includes postdoctoral positions at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich (2022-2024) and the University of Luxembourg (2021-2022), as well as doctoral research at the University of Luxembourg (2017-2021). Key publications encompass 'Beyond Deterrence: A Systematic Review of the Role of Autonomous Motivation in Organizational Security Behavior Studies' (CHI 2025, co-authored with X. Chen et al., Honorable Mention Award), 'The Framework of Security-Enhancing Friction: How UX Can Help Users Behave More Securely' (NSPW 2020, co-authored with G. Lenzini et al.), 'A systematic literature review of empirical methods and risk representation in usable privacy and security research' (TOCHI 2021, co-authored with M. Fassl et al.), 'Vishing: Detecting social engineering in spoken communication' (Computer Speech & Language 2025, co-authored with A. Triantafyllopoulos et al.), and her PhD thesis 'The Experience of Security in Human-Computer Interactions' (2021). Awards include the CHI 2025 Honorable Mention, CLIHC 2023 Honorable Mention for 'The Perceived Influence of E-Shopping Cues on Customers’ Buying Decisions', Excellent PhD Thesis Award from the University of Luxembourg (2021), and 1st prize of the Prix du mémoire digital (2018). Her publications appear in premier venues such as CHI, USENIX Security, IEEE S&P, and SOUPS, advancing human-centered approaches in cybersecurity.