The research group SECUSO (Security • Usability • Society) belongs to the Institute of Applied Informatics and Formal Description Methods (AIFB) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The group was founded in 2011 by Prof. Dr. Melanie Volkamer at the TU Darmstadt. SECUSO moved to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology at the beginning of 2018. SECUSO is a member of Kastel, K-CIST and KD²Lab.
Melanie Volkamer was elected Dean of Academic Affairs for the bachelor’s and master’s programs in Business Informatics by the Faculty Council of the KIT Department of Business and Economics. Her term of office started from October 15, 2026. The responsibilities of a dean of academic affairs include, among other things, communicating with the student council / the student forum, and promoting the degree programs, particularly the English-language master’s program.
The Dean's OfficeOn November 2, 2026, Anne Hennig successfully defended her doctoral dissertation titled “Longitudinal Evaluation of Security Vulnerability Notifications: Rethinking Large-Scale Approaches.” The thesis focused on how to increase the effectiveness of vulnerability notifications. It provides recommendations for notification campaigns based on a comprehensive systematization of vulnerability notification experiments and four experiments conducted by the author. We extend our warmest congratulations to Anne!
Pictures on LinkedInIn the 2026 GI Executive Board election, members can cast their votes online—just as in previous years. Issue 410 of the GI Radar, dated October 2, 2026, provides detailed information about the election and highlights, among other things, SECUSO’s involvement in the online election. For example, Tobias Hilt developed a step-by-step guide that walks voters through the necessary steps for casting and verifying their votes. The issue also references current research on the GI online voting system. The study was presented this year at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2026).
More informationThe Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) invites citizens on November 10, 2026, to discuss with KIT researchers how data can serve the common good without people losing control over their personal information. The citizen panel “Wir forschen digital” will be represented at the event with a study on digital sovereignty. Come by and share your opinion! The dialogue event will take place from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at spark, Kaiserstr. 24, Karlsruhe. Registration is required.
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