Dr. Kangkook Jee has been an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at Dallas since 2019. Dr. Jee earned his doctorate in Computer Science from Columbia University under the supervision of Prof. Angelos D. Keromytis. Before joining UT Dallas, he spent five years at NEC Laboratories America as a security researcher, tackling diverse real-world security problems. Throughout his academic journey, he has published over 50 academic papers and has been awarded patents addressing research challenges in computer systems, cybersecurity, and machine learning domains. Find more information about Dr. Jee from his full CV (Google Scholar, DBLP).
Dr. Jee’s current research interests primarily span across three thrusts: (1) system provenance, (2) reversing and decompilation of High-level Dynamic Languages (HDLs), and (3) safety and security of small satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
System provenance research. Dr. Jee is a prominent researcher in system provenance, specializing in fine-grained system events from large networks to protect high-value digital assets. His work has resulted in numerous publications in leading cybersecurity and systems journals and earned him 16 U.S. patents. Using an extensive dataset collected over several years of benign and malicious deployment, his research investigates the big data aspects of system provenance, emphasizing data processing, analysis, privacy, and accountability.
Reversing and decompilation of HDLs. Dr. Jee’s research on HDL decompilers has significantly impacted the real world. He developed and launched an online decompiler for Python bytecode, known as PyLingual, which fills a critical gap by providing a functional decompiler for software and malware exclusively packaged in Python bytecode (PYC). Due to its success in practical applications, PyLingual has been featured at various industry and academic events, including PyCon 24 and BlackHat USA 24.
Security and safety of small satellites: Dr. Jee’s research is a pioneering effort to study safety and security issues in spacecraft in LEO. Leveraging his unique experience and expertise in both cybersecurity and space domains, Dr. Jee has played a vital role in various research activities. For instance, he served as a technical panelist at the NSF SaTC workshop and received a grant. In June 2024, Dr. Jee’s team hosted the first satellite workshop at UT Dallas.