Collins Munyendo

a Kenyan male with black hair and a black and grey shirt
CV

CS PhD Student at GW
Pronouns: He/Him

Email: cmunyendo[at]gwu.edu

Research Interests: Computer Security, Usable Security and Privacy, Human-Computer Interaction

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About Me

I am a fourth year PhD student in the Usable Security and Privacy Lab at the George Washington University where I am incredibly lucky to be advised by Adam Aviv. My research focuses on human factors in security and privacy. I investigate how users, especially understudied groups, interact with, use, and/or misuse security and privacy tools, then design more usable and secure solutions. I received my Masters from Carnegie Mellon University and Bachelors from Strathmore University.


Recent News

  • September 2023: Attended the PrivaCI Symposium for the first time in Toronto, Canada thanks to a generous travel grant from the NSF.
  • July 2023: Attended my first ever PETS in the beautiful Lausanne in Switzerland. Met so many amazing people and learned a lot.
  • June 2023: Super excited to be interning at MPI-SP with Yixin and Elissa this summer. Look forward to exploring Europe :)
  • May 2023: Our paper on Cybercafes in Kenya won a Distinguished Paper Award at the 2023 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy.


  • Selected Publications

    "In Eighty Percent of the Cases, I Select the Password for Them": Security and Privacy Challenges, Advice, and Opportunities at Cybercafes in Kenya
    Collins W. Munyendo, Yasemin Acar, and Adam J. Aviv
    IEEE S&P 2023
    Distinguished Paper Award

    "The Same PIN, Just Longer": On the (In)Security of Upgrading PINs from 4 to 6 digits
    Collins W. Munyendo, Philipp Markert, Alexandra Nisenoff, Miles Grant, Elena Korkes, Blase Ur, and Adam J. Aviv
    USENIX Security 2022

    "Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures": User Concerns with Mobile Loan Apps in Kenya
    Collins W. Munyendo, Yasemin Acar, and Adam J. Aviv
    IEEE S&P 2022