Dr Attaullah Buriro
-
Email
ab25399@essex.ac.uk -
Location
Colchester Campus
-
Academic support hours
Thursdays 16:00 - 18:00.
Profile
Biography
Attaullah Buriro is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Cybersecurity in the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CSEE) at the University of Essex, United Kingdom. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan, and a Master’s degree in Communication Engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan. He received his Ph.D. in Information and Communication Technology from the University of Trento, Italy, in 2017. Following the completion of his doctoral studies, Dr. Buriro pursued a series of academic and research positions across different universities. He served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Trento from March 2017 to August 2019, and subsequently at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano from September 2019 to August 2020. He was then appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, where he held the position from September 2020 to August 2023, and from October 2024 to April 2025. Between October 2023 and September 2024, he also served as an Assistant Professor at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Dr. Buriro's research lies at the intersection of cybersecurity and machine learning, with a particular focus on user authentication and access control mechanisms, malware detection and analysis, intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS), and the application of machine learning and deep learning techniques in securing digital systems. His work aims to address emerging security challenges in both conventional and modern computing environments, including Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems and critical infrastructures.
Qualifications
-
PhD (Information and Communication Technology) University of Trento, (2017)
-
ME (Telecommunications) NED University of Engineering and Technology, (2011)
-
BE (Electronics) Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, (2001)
Appointments
University of Essex
-
Lecturer (R), Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CSEE), University of Essex (6/5/2025 - present)
Other academic
-
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (10/2024 - 4/2025)
-
Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics, and Statistics, Ca Foscari University of Venice (10/2023 - 9/2024)
-
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (9/2020 - 8/2023)
-
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Computer Science, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (9/2019 - 8/2020)
-
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Computer science and Information Engineering, University of Trento (3/2017 - 8/2019)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Behavioral Biometrics
This activity aims to explore behavioural biometrics—such as keystroke dynamics, touchscreen patterns, and gait—as emerging methods for user authentication. It emphasizes gesture recognition techniques used in smartphones, wearables, and XR devices, aiming to enhance security through continuous and passive identity verification on new-generation devices.
Malware Detection and Prevention
This research activity aims to focus on advanced techniques for malware detection and prevention, including static and dynamic analysis, behavioural profiling, and AI-driven threat classification. Topics may include evasion-resistant detection, Android malware, network-based threats, and real-time mitigation strategies using machine learning.
Conferences and presentations
EUAS-GAN: Enhancing User Authentication on Smartphones Through GAN-Based Swiping Data Augmentation
The 39th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA 2025), The 39th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA 2025), Barcelona, Spain, 10/4/2025
Mobile Biometrics: Innovations, Challenges, and Emerging Trends
IEEE ICPS'25 workshop, co-located with the 39th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA 2025), The 39th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA 2025), Barcellona, Spain, 10/4/2025
Malware Detection using Anomaly Detection Algorithms
The 15th International Conference on Ubiquitous and Future Networks (ICUFN'25), The 15th International Conference on Ubiquitous and Future Networks (ICUFN'25), Budapest, Hungary, 3/7/2024
DeepClap: A Gesture-Based User Authentication Scheme with Deep Neural Networks
1st International Workshop on Trends in Digital Identity (TDI 2023), co-located with SACMAT' 23, 1st International Workshop on Trends in Digital Identity (TDI 2023), co-located with SACMAT' 23, Trento, Ita, 6/6/2024
2IN1: A Bimodal Behavioral Biometric-based User Authentication Scheme for Smartphones
The Italian Conference on CyberSecurity (ITASEC'24), The 8th Italian Conference on CyberSecurity (ITASEC'24), Salerno, Italy, 9/4/2024
MBBS: A Multimodal Behavioral Biometric Scheme for Smartphone User Authentication
The South Tyrol Free Software Conference (SFSCON), The South Tyrol Free Software Conference (SFSCON), Bolzano, Italy, 10/11/2023
MBBS: A Multimodal Behavioral biometric scheme for smartphone user authentication
First Software and Platform Security Workshop, SERICS - Spoke 6, First Software and Platform Security Workshop, SERICS - Spoke 6, Venice, Italy, 23/10/2023
Behavioral Biometrics-based identity verification for new generation devices
ACM Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT'25), ACM Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT'25), Trento, Italy, 9/6/2023
A Multimodal Behavioral Biometric Scheme for Smartphone User Authentication (MBBS)
ACM Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT'25), ACM Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT'25), New York, United States, 7/6/2023
Behavioral Biometrics-based identity verification for new generation devices
The South Tyrol Free Software Conference (SFSCON), The South Tyrol Free Software Conference (SFSCON), Bolzano, Italy, 12/11/2022
On the use of Biometrics and Cryptography in vehicles
KICK OFF: CYBERSECURITY ROUNDTABLE, Automotive Excellence Suditrol, Bolzano-Bozen, Italy, KICK OFF: CYBERSECURITY ROUNDTABLE, Automotive Excellence Suditrol, Bolzano-Bozen, Italy, Bolzano, Italy, 7/10/2022
ClapAuth: A Gesture-based User- friendly Authentication Scheme to Access a Secure Infrastructure
5th International Workshop on Emerging Technologies for Authorization and Authentication (ETAA 2022), 5th International Workshop on Emerging Technologies for Authorization and Authentication (ETAA 2022), Copenhagen, Denmark, 30/9/2022
SwipeGAN: Swiping Data Augmentation using Generative Adversarial Networks for Smartphone User Authentication
3rd International ACM Workshop on wireless security and machine learning (ACM WISEML, Co-Located with WISEC 2021), 3rd International ACM Workshop on wireless security and machine learning (ACM WISEML, Co-Located with WISEC 2021), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2/7/2021
SNAPAUTH: A Gesture-based Unobtrusive Smartwatch User Authentication Scheme
1st International Workshop on Emerging Technologies for Authorization and Authentication (Co-Located with ESORICS 2018), 1st International Workshop on Emerging Technologies for Authorization and Authentication - ETAA (Co-Located with ESORICS 2018), Barcelona, Spain, 7/9/2018
Mobile Biometrics: Towards A Comprehensive Evaluation Methodology
The 51st International Carnahan Conference on Security Technology (ICCST-2017), The 51st International Carnahan Conference on Security Technology (ICCST-2017), Madrid, Spain, 24/10/2017
Age, Gender, and Operating-hand Estimation on Smart Mobile Devices
15th International Conference of the Biometrics Special Interest Group (BIOSIG), 15th International Conference of the Biometrics Special Interest Group (BIOSIG), Darmstadt, Germany, 21/9/2017
Publications
Journal articles (25)
Shehzad, S., Buriro, A., Ullah, S. and Ahmad, T., Position-Agnostic Smartphone Placement Detection for Improved Reliability in Human Activity Recognition. Intelligenza Artificiale: The international journal of the AIxIA
Rashid Minhas, M., Shafi, QM., Ahmed Khan, S., Ahmad, T., Ullah, S., Buriro, A. and Yaqub, MA., (2025). F-OSFA: A Fog Level Generalizable Solution for Zero-Day DDOS Attacks Detection. IEEE Access. 13, 75157-75170
Buriro, AB., Buriro, A., Jamshed, MA., Khan, WU. and Yaqub, MA., (2025). Securing Military IoT: Context-Aware Biometrics at the Edge. IEEE Internet of Things Magazine. 8 (2), 54-59
Baseer Buriro, A., Buriro, A., Altaf Khuwaja, A., Aziz Memon, A., Siddiqui, N., Weddell, SJ. and Jones, RD., (2025). WideConvNet: A Novel Wide Convolutional Neural Network Applied to ERP-Based Classification of Alcoholics. IEEE Access. 13, 31257-31268
Buriro, A., Akhtar, Z., Ricci, F. and Luccio, FL., (2024). Wearable Wisdom: A Bi-Modal Behavioral Biometric Scheme for Smartwatch User Authentication. IEEE Access. 12, 61221-61234
Khan, MM., Buriro, A., Ahmad, T. and Ullah, S., (2024). Backdoor Malware Detection in Industrial IoT Using Machine Learning. Computers, Materials & Continua. 81 (3), 4691-4705
Khalid, O., Ullah, S., Ahmad, T., Saeed, S., Alabbad, DA., Aslam, M., Buriro, A. and Ahmad, R., (2023). An Insight into the Machine-Learning-Based Fileless Malware Detection. Sensors. 23 (2), 612-612
Asghar, I., Khan, MA., Ahmad, T., Ullah, S., Mansoor ul Hassan, K. and Buriro, A., (2023). Fortifying Smart Home Security: A Robust and Efficient User-Authentication Scheme to Counter Node Capture Attacks. Sensors. 23 (16), 7268-7268
Ullah, S., Mahmood, Z., Ali, N., Ahmad, T. and Buriro, A., (2023). Machine Learning-Based Dynamic Attribute Selection Technique for DDoS Attack Classification in IoT Networks. Computers. 12 (6), 115-115
Khan Abbasi, MH., Ullah, S., Ahmad, T. and Buriro, A., (2023). A Real-Time Hybrid Approach to Combat In-Browser Cryptojacking Malware. Applied Sciences. 13 (4), 2039-2039
Khan, MA., Ullah, S., Ahmad, T., Jawad, K. and Buriro, A., (2023). Enhancing Security and Privacy in Healthcare Systems Using a Lightweight RFID Protocol. Sensors. 23 (12), 5518-5518
Buriro, A., Buriro, AB., Ahmad, T., Buriro, S. and Ullah, S., (2023). MalwD&C: A Quick and Accurate Machine Learning-Based Approach for Malware Detection and Categorization. Applied Sciences. 13 (4), 2508-2508
Massimo, D., Ganthaler, E., Buriro, A., Barile, F., Moraschini, M., Dignös, A., Villgrattner, T., Peer, A. and Ricci, F., (2023). Estimation of Mass and Lengths of Sintered Workpieces Using Machine Learning Models. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement. 72, 1-14
Ullah, S., Ahmad, T., Buriro, A., Zara, N. and Saha, S., (2022). TrojanDetector: A Multi-Layer Hybrid Approach for Trojan Detection in Android Applications. Applied Sciences. 12 (21), 10755-10755
Buriro, A., Gupta, S., Yautsiukhin, A. and Crispo, B., (2021). Risk-Driven Behavioral Biometric-based One-Shot-cum-Continuous User Authentication Scheme. Journal of Signal Processing Systems. 93 (9), 989-1006
Gupta, S., Buriro, A. and Crispo, B., (2020). A chimerical dataset combining physiological and behavioral biometric traits for reliable user authentication on smart devices and ecosystems. Data in Brief. 28, 104924-104924
Zaidi, SAJ., Buriro, A., Riaz, M. and Mahoob, A., (2019). Implementation and Comparison of Text-Based Image Retrieval Schemes. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications. 10 (1), 611-618
Gupta, S., Buriro, A. and Crispo, B., (2019). DriverAuth: A risk-based multi-modal biometric-based driver authentication scheme for ride-sharing platforms. Computers & Security. 83, 122-139
Buriro, A., Crispo, B. and Conti, M., (2019). AnswerAuth: A bimodal behavioral biometric-based user authentication scheme for smartphones. Journal of Information Security and Applications. 44, 89-103
Gupta, S., Buriro, A. and Crispo, B., (2019). DriverAuth: Behavioral biometric-based driver authentication mechanism for on-demand ride and ridesharing infrastructure. ICT Express. 5 (1), 16-20
Riaz, MN., Buriro, A. and Mahboob, A., (2019). A Defected Ground based Fractal Antenna for C and S Band Applications. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications. 10 (1), 314-321
Gupta, S., Buriro, A. and Crispo, B., (2018). Demystifying Authentication Concepts in Smartphones: Ways and Types to Secure Access. Mobile Information Systems. 2018, 1-16
Riaz, MN., Mahboob, A. and Buriro, A., (2018). Social Success Factors Affecting Implementation of Agile Software Development Methodologies in Software Industry of Pakistan: An Empirical Study. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications. 9 (7), 94-98
Sijjad Ali, K., Muhammad Aamir, P., Attaullah, B., Adeel, A., Suhail Ahmed, K. and Shoukat, H., (2018). FGEHF: Authenticated Web Based Application for Human Resource Management System. Indian Journal of Science and Technology. 11 (43), 1-12
Sijjad, AK., Muhammad, AP., Attaullah, B., Adeel, A., Suhail, AK. and Ngin, K., (2018). OPAS: A Trusted Web -Based Online Property Advertising System. Indian Journal of Science and Technology. 11 (40), 1-5
Book chapters (3)
Buriro, A. and Luccio, F., (2025). Mobile Biometrics: Innovations, Challenges, and Emerging Trends. In: Lecture Notes on Data Engineering and Communications Technologies. Springer Nature Switzerland. 170- 180. 9783031877834
Buriro, A., Luccio, F. and Focardi, R., (2025). EUAS-GAN: Enhancing User Authentication on Smartphones Through GAN-Based Swiping Data Augmentation. In: Lecture Notes on Data Engineering and Communications Technologies. Springer Nature Switzerland. 329- 341. 9783031877681
Akhtar, Z. and Buriro, A., (2021). Multitrait Selfie: Low-Cost Multimodal Smartphone User Authentication. In: Biometric Identification Technologies Based on Modern Data Mining Methods. Springer International Publishing. 159- 175. 9783030483777
Conferences (26)
Buriro, A., Luccio, F., Costa, G. and Focardi, R., (2025). Z-MDZS: Zero-day Malware Detection using Zero-Shot Machine Learning Schemes
Buriro, A., (2025). The Transformation of Mobile Biometrics: Ten Years of Growth, Potential, and Challenges
Buriro, A., Rafi, A., Yaqub, MA. and Luccio, F., (2024). Malware Detection using Anomaly Detection Algorithms
Buriro, A. and Luccio, F., (2024). 2IN1: A Bimodal Behavioral Biometric-based User Authentication Scheme for Smartphones
Buriro, A. and Ceol, S., (2023). Demo: A Multimodal Behavioral Biometric Scheme for Smartphone User Authentication (MBBS)
Buriro, A. and Ricci, F., (2023). ClapAuth: A Gesture-Based User-Friendly Authentication Scheme to Access a Secure Infrastructure
Ivanova, IA., Buriro, A. and Ricci, F., (2022). Map and Content-Based Climbing Recommender System
Buriro, A., Ricci, F. and Crispo, B., (2021). SWIPEGAN
Htun, PP., Boschetti, M., Buriro, A., Confalonieri, R., Sun, B., Htwe, AN. and Tillo, T., (2021). A Lightweight Approach For Wood Hyperspectral Images Classification
Gupta, S., Buriro, A. and Crispo, B., (2020). A Risk-Driven Model to Minimize the Effects of Human Factors on Smart Devices
Mughal, B., Mushtaq, F. and Buriro, A., (2020). Classification of Breast Lesions in Combination with Metamorphic Segmentation and Saliency Feature Block
Riaz, MN., Buriro, A. and Mahboob, A., (2019). The Effect of Software Development Project Team Structure on the Process of Knowledge Sharing: An Empirical Study
Gupta, S., Buriro, A. and Crispo, B., (2019). SmartHandle
Buriro, A., Van Acker, R., Crispo, B. and Mahboob, A., (2018). AirSign: A Gesture-Based Smartwatch User Authentication
Buriro, A., Crispo, B., Eskandri, M., Gupta, S., Mahboob, A. and Van Acker, R., (2018). SnapAuth: A Gesture-Based Unobtrusive Smartwatch User Authentication Scheme
Buriro, A., Crispo, B., Gupta, S. and Del Frari, F., (2018). DIALERAUTH
Buriro, A., Van Acker, R., Crispo, B. and Mahboob, A., (2018). AirSign: A Gesture-based Smartwatch User Authentication
Buriro, A., Gupta, S. and Crispo, B., (2017). Evaluation of Motion-Based Touch-Typing Biometrics for Online Banking
Buriro, A., Akhtar, Z., Crispo, B. and Gupta, S., (2017). Mobile biometrics: Towards a comprehensive evaluation methodology
Buriro, A., Crispo, B. and Zhauniarovich, Y., (2017). Please hold on: Unobtrusive user authentication using smartphone's built-in sensors
Akhtar, Z., Buriro, A., Crispo, B. and Falk, TH., (2017). Multimodal smartphone user authentication using touchstroke, phone-movement and face patterns
Buriro, A., Crispo, B., Delfrari, F. and Wrona, K., (2016). Hold and Sign: A Novel Behavioral Biometrics for Smartphone User Authentication
Buriro, A., Akhtar, Z., Crispo, B. and Del Frari, F., (2016). Age, Gender and Operating-Hand Estimation on Smart Mobile Devices
Buriro, A., Crispo, B., Del Frari, F., Klardie, J. and Wrona, K., (2016). ITSME: Multi-modal and Unobtrusive Behavioural User Authentication for Smartphones
Buriro, A., Crispo, B., Del Frari, F. and Wrona, K., (2015). Touchstroke: Smartphone User Authentication Based on Touch-Typing Biometrics
Butt, RA. and Buriro, A., (2011). Secure LAN management with SNMPv2 over IPsec
Contact
Academic support hours:
Thursdays 16:00 - 18:00.
