#### Personal Information **Name:** Josh Dafoe **Location:** Houghton, Michigan, USA **Email:** jdafoe [at] jdafoe [dot] com **LinkedIn:** [Josh Dafoe](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-dafoe-320781231/) **GitHub:** [jdafoe12](https://github.com/jdafoe12) **Personal Website:** [jdafoe.com](https://jdafoe.com) #### Education **Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science** Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI *Graduated: May 2025* #### Work Experience ##### Research Assistant **Security and Privacy Lab, Michigan Technological University** _Advisor: Dr. [Bo Chen](https://pages.mtu.edu/~bchen/)_ *May 2022 - Present* - Performed research on a few key projects in data security applications, resulting in 8 peer-reviewed publications, multiple presentations, and a file system forensics based data recovery tool. - Provided guidance to a few undergraduate students, assigning them specific research tasks related to a larger lab project. #### Publications 1. Josh Dafoe, Niusen Chen, and Bo Chen. **Hardware-assisted Secure Decentralized Cloud Storage via Self-audit and Self-repair.** 21st EAI International Conference on Security and Privacy in Communication Networks ([SecureComm '25](https://securecomm.eai-conferences.org/2025/)), Xiangtan, China, July 2025. 2. Zhuoyan Xu, Josh Dafoe, and Bo Chen. **Poster: Leveraging Large Language Models for Detecting OS-level Ransomware.** 2025 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P '25), San Francisco, CA, May 2025 (extended abstract). 3. Josh Dafoe, Job Siy, Niusen Chen, and Bo Chen. **Hardware-assisted Runtime In-vehicle ECU Firmware Self-attestation and Self-repair.** 2024 EAI International Conference on Security and Privacy in Cyber-Physical Systems and Smart Vehicles ([SmartSP '24](https://smartsp.eai-conferences.org/2024/)), New Orleans, LA, November 2024 (**Best Paper**). 4. Josh Dafoe, Niusen Chen, Bo Chen, and Zhenlin Wang. **Enabling Per-file Data Recovery from Ransomware Attacks via File System Forensics and Flash Translation Layer Data Extraction.** Cybersecurity, 2024. 5. Bo Chen, Caleb Rother, Josh Dafoe, **Poster: A Full-stack Secure Deletion Framework for Modern Computing Devices.** 2024 ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security ([CCS '24](https://www.sigsac.org/ccs/CCS2024/)) Posters, Salt Lake City, UT, October 2024 (accepted). 6. Josh Dafoe, Harsh Singh, Niusen Chen, and Bo Chen. **[Enabling Real-Time Restoration of Compromised ECU Firmware in Connected and Autonomous Vehicles](https://snp.cs.mtu.edu/publications/publications/vehicle-firmware-restoration.pdf)**. 2023 EAI International Conference on Security and Privacy in Cyber-Physical Systems and Smart Vehicles ([SmartSP '23](https://smartsp.eai-conferences.org/2023/)), Chicago, IL, October 2023. 7. Josh Dafoe, Niusen Chen, and Bo Chen. "**[Poster: A Self-auditing Protocol for Decentralized Cloud Storage via Trusted Hardware Components.](https://sp2023.ieee-security.org/downloads/SP23-posters/sp23-posters-paper24-final_version_2_page_abstract.pdf)**" 2023 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy ([S&P '23](https://sp2023.ieee-security.org/) Poster Session, San Francisco, CA, May 2023. 8. Niusen Chen, Josh Dafoe, and Bo Chen. **[Poster: Data Recovery from Ransomware Attacks via File System Forensics and Flash Translation Layer Data Extraction](https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3548606.3563538)**. 2022 ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security ([CCS '22](https://www.sigsac.org/ccs/CCS2022/)) Posters, Los Angeles, CA, November 2022. #### Research Presentations - **SmartSP 2024** ([SmartSP '24](https://smartsp.eai-conferences.org/2024/)) - I presented my paper titled "Hardware-assisted Runtime In-vehicle ECU Firmware Self-attestation and Self-repair", which recieved the **Best Paper Award ([[best-paper-1.jpeg|Photo]]).** - **2024 Alumni Reunion Poster Session** - I presented my poster titled "Hardware-assisted Secure Decentralized Cloud Storage via Self-audit and Self-repair" ([[Alumni Session 1.png|Photo 1]]) ([[Alumni Session 2.png|Photo 2]]). - **2024 Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium** ([URSS '24](https://blogs.mtu.edu/honors/2024/03/25/urss-awards-2024/)) - I again presented my poster from the 2023 Computing[AI] showcase. - **Flash Memory Summit 2023** ([FMS '23](https://futurememorystorage.com/program/proceedings)) - My research on fine grained ransomware recovery via file system forensics and flash translation layer data extraction was featured in the flash applications proceedings. - I attended the conference and presented our work. Here are [my slides](https://conferenceconcepts.app.box.com/s/uudv3gw1tb44shlhmqwuq7qu3x3w1aa9) from the 15-minute presentation. - **Computing[AI] Showcase 2023** - I presented my poster on self-auditing in the decentralized cloud based on our research published in the S&P '23 poster session. - I acheived [first place](https://blogs.mtu.edu/computing/2023/10/17/showcase-ai-student-poster-competition-winners/) in the undergraduate category for this competition. - This resulted in the publication of [my poster](https://loop.cs.mtu.edu/index.php/volume1/infinite-loop-v1_dafoe_2023_a-self-auditing-protocol-for-decentralized-cloud-storage-via-trusted-hardware-components/) in [volume 1](https://loop.cs.mtu.edu/index.php/volume1/) of the MTU [infinite loop](https://loop.cs.mtu.edu/) undergraduate journal. - **2023 Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium** - I gave a 10-minute presentation on our work in self-auditing in the decentralized cloud. Here are [[Presentation on Poster_ A Self-auditing Protocol for Decentralized Cloud Storage via Trusted Hardware Components Slides.pdf|my slides]]. - **Fall Computing[MTU] Showcase 2022** ([event information](https://www.mtu.edu/icc/events/computing-mtu-showcase/fall-2022/)) - This was my first research presentation. I presented our work on fine grained data recovery from ransomware. Here is [[Poster_ Data Recovery from Ransomware Attacks via File System Forensics and Flash Translation Layer Data Extraction.pdf|my poster]]. #### Awards - **2025 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Honorable Mention.** - **Best Paper Award in SmartSP 2024**, for the following paper ([[best-paper-1.jpeg|Photo]]): - Josh Dafoe, Job Siy, Niusen Chen, and Bo Chen. Hardware-assisted Runtime In-vehicle ECU Firmware Self-attestation and Self-repair. 2024 EAI International Conference on Security and Privacy in Cyber-Physical Systems and Smart Vehicles (SmartSP '24), New Orleans, LA, November 2024. - **First place** in the Computing[AI] showcase 2023. - **2023 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship** - During Summer of 2023, I was supported by the SURF award, which is awarded to around 16 undergraduate students from Michigan tech per year. - At the time I recieved this award, I was interviewed for a sebsequent article in the MTU computing news blog: [Meet Josh Dafoe, SURF Awardee](https://blogs.mtu.edu/computing/2023/04/07/josh-dafoe-25-computer-science-b-s-awarded-surf-fellowship/) #### Other Projects ##### [[FDRecovery - A Forensics Data Recovery Tool|FDRecovery]] - FDRecovery is the result of my first summer of research in the SnP Lab. This was the summer after my first year of undergraduate study. I was tasked with writing some application to recover files deleted by traditional filesystem level file deletion mechanisms. #### Services - **External Paper Review:** - Reviewed papers submitted to the following journals and conferences: - The 20th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES 2025) - The 15th ACM Conference on Data and Application Security and Privacy (2025) - IEEE Internet of Things Journal (2024) - The 20th ACM ASIA Conference on Computer and Communications Security (ASIACCS 2025) - The 46th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P 2025) - The 19th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES 2024) - The 54th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN 2024) - 2023 Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC 2023) - **Artifact Evaluation Committee Member**: Participated in the Artifact Evaluation Committee for the 2024 Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC '24), providing feedback on research artifacts and software to ensure replicability and usability. #### Leadership ##### Vice President **[Serve The King Ministries, Michigan Technological University](https://servethekingministries.org/)** *August 2023 - Present* - **Event Organization:** Helped organize events through logistical coordination, including reserving vehicles and rooms for the organization. - **Communication:** Communicated with the university regarding outreach events, ensuring compliance with guidelines. - **Leadership Meetings:** Actively participated in weekly leader meetings to plan future directions. - **Bible Study Leadership:** Co-led a weekly Bible study, engaging in disscussion of the relevant Bible passages.