Omer Akgul

I'm a researcher at RSAC Labs, with interests in AI, HCI, and security & privacy. My research focuses on uncovering blind spots in emerging technologies—often resulting in user harm—and exploring ways to mitigate such issues. My work is often published in leading venues.

Previously, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab with an appointment at the Software and Societal Systems Department, advised by Lujo Bauer, Lorrie Cranor, and Yuvraj Agarwal.

I earned my PhD in computer science from the University of Maryland, College Park, advised by Michelle Mazurek. I completed my undergraduate studies at Bilkent University, where I focused on computer vision and machine learning.

Publications

As Advertised? Understanding the Impact of Influencer VPN Ads

Omer Akgul, Richard Roberts, Emma Shroyer, Dave Levin, Michelle L. Mazurek

[USENIX Security 25] 34th USENIX Security Symposium. To appear.

Privacy Solution or Menace? Investigating Perceptions of Radio Frequency Sensing

Maximiliane Windl, Omer Akgul, Nathan Malkin, Lorrie Faith Cranor

[USENIX Security 25] 34th USENIX Security Symposium. To appear.

Characterizing the Usability and Usefulness of U.S. Ad Transparency Systems

Kevin Bryson, Arthur Borem, Phoebe Moh, Omer Akgul, Laura Edelson, Tobias Lauinger, Michelle L. Mazurek, Damon McCoy, Blase Ur

[IEEE S&P 25] 46th IEEE Sumposium on Security and Privacy.

LLM Whisperer: An Inconspicuous Attack to Bias LLM Responses

Weiran Lin, Anna Gerchanovsky, Omer Akgul, Lujo Bauer, Matt Fredrikson, Zifan Wang

[ACM CHI 25] 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

A Decade of Privacy-Relevant Android App Reviews: Large Scale Trends

Omer Akgul, Sai Teja Peddinti, Nina Taft, Michelle L. Mazurek, Hamza Harkous, Animesh Srivastava, Benoit Seguin

[USENIX Security 24] 33rd USENIX Security Symposium. To appear.

Bug Hunters’ Perspectives on the Challenges and Benefits of the Bug Bounty Ecosystem

Omer Akgul, Taha Eghtesad, Amit Elazari, Omprakash Gnawali, Jens Grossklags, Michelle L. Mazurek, Daniel Votipka, Aron Laszka

[USENIX Security 23] 32nd USENIX Security Symposium. Distinguished paper award.

Is Cryptographic Deniability Sufficient? Non-Expert Perceptions of Deniability in Secure Messaging

Nathan Reitinger, Nathan Malkin, Omer Akgul, Michelle L. Mazurek, Ian Miers

[IEEE S&P 23] 44th IEEE Sumposium on Security and Privacy.

SoK: A Framework for Unifying At-Risk User Research

Noel Warford, Tara Matthews, Kaitlyn Yang, Omer Akgul, Sunny Consolvo, Patrick Gage Kelley, Nathan Malkin, Michelle L. Mazurek, Manya Sleeper, Kurt Thomas

[IEEE S&P 22] 43rd IEEE Sumposium on Security and Privacy.

Investigating Influencer VPN Ads on YouTube

Omer Akgul, Richie Roberts, Moses Namara, Dave Levin, Michelle L. Mazurek

[IEEE S&P 22] 43rd IEEE Sumposium on Security and Privacy.

From Secure to Military-Grade: Exploring the Effect of App Descriptions on User Perceptions of Secure Messaging

Omer Akgul, Ruba Abu-Salma, Wei Bai, Elissa M Redmiles, Michelle L. Mazurek, Blase Ur

[WPES 21] 20th Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society

Evaluating In-Workflow Messages for Improving Mental Models of End-to-End Encryption

Omer Akgul, Wei Bai, Shruti Das, Michelle L Mazurek

[USENIX Security 21] 30th USENIX Security Symposium

Comparing Security and Privacy Attitudes Among US Users of Different Smartphone and Smart-Speaker Platforms

Desiree Abrokwa, Shruti Das, Omer Akgul, Michelle L. Mazurek

[SOUPS 21] 17th Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security

A Qualitative Investigation of Insecure Code Propagation from Online Forums

Wei Bai, Omer Akgul, Michelle L. Mazurek

[SecDev 19] IEEE Secure Development Conference

Applying deep learning in augmented reality tracking

Omer Akgul, H Ibrahim Penekli, Yakup Genc

[SITIS 16] 12th International Conference on Signal-Image Technology & Internet-Based Systems

Workshops etc.

Evaluation of Ad Transparency Systems

Kevin Bryson, Arthur Borem, Phoebe Moh, Omer Akgul, Laura Edelson, Chris Geeng, Tobias Lauinger, Michelle L. Mazurek, Damon McCoy, Blase Ur

[ConPro 24] 8th Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection

This Proposal Was Brought to You by Content Creators’ Mental Models of Security & Privacy Products

Richie Roberts, Wentao Guo, Omer Akgul, Michelle L. Mazurek, Dave Levin

[ConPro 23] 7th Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection

Investigating VPN Ads on YouTube

Omer Akgul, Richie Roberts, Moses Namara, Dave Levin, Michelle L Mazurek

[ConPro 21] 5th Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection

The Hackers’ Viewpoint: Exploring Challenges and Benefits of Bug-Bounty Programs

Omer Akgul, Taha Eghtesad, Amit Elazari, Omprakash Gnawali, Jens Grossklags, Daniel Votipka, Aron Laszka

[WSIW 20] 6th Workshop on Security Information Workers

Service

Organizing: WSIW 23-24

Reviewing: USENIX Security 25-26, IEEE S&P 24, (Po)PETS 23-24-25

Contact

omer.akgul@rsaconference.com