Giovanni Apruzzese

Giovanni Apruzzese

Assistant Professor
Cybersecurity, Machine Learning, Networking

whoami

Hello and welcome to my personal website! I am an Assistant Professor at Reykjavik University, where I currently teach subjects within the Computer Science domain, such as Software Engineering and Deep Learning, emphasizing also their implications for Cybersecurity.

As a researcher, my primary interests lie at the intersection of cybersecurity and data analytics, with a specific focus on networking, phishing, machine learning, and adversarial machine learning. I have been studying these technical subjects since I began my PhD in 2016, but I like exploring new areas. For instance, I am now interested in socio-technical research fields, such as that of human-computer interaction, as well as that of metascience (typically, by assuming either a security or a machine-learning perspective).

Whenever I am not teaching or “researching” (whatever it means), I enjoy pursuing diverse hobbies. Oddly enough, one of such hobbies is reviewing: I’ve reviewed more than 500 papers since 2020 (you can find more stats here) and I’ve never missed a single deadline. I consider peer-reviewing to be the backbone of research, and will do all I can to improve the work of other researchers (including championing papers and disagreeing with other reviewers—if necessary). Currently, one of my main research interests entails the usage of LLMs in academic (and peer-review) contexts.

Aside from being a passionate reviewer, I am also: a nerd, a geek, a very active person, and someone who loves communication and social interactions.

  • Nerd: I regularly play Dungeons and Dragons (both as a Dungeon Master and as a Player); I enjoy playing videogames (I was once a competitive gamer, with some success stories to tell about!); and also love immersing myself in complex pieces of fiction (in any format).
  • Geek: I am passionate towards IT and I have dozens of connected devices in my house—managing all of them is becoming tougher, though (what is a pihole?). However, I will hardly use devices of which I do not have root rights (admin power!).
  • Active: I have a car but I only use it to bring it to the mechanic for yearly check-ups (during my ~6 years in Liechtenstein, I used my car only 10 times to commute, despite living ~14km away from the University). I always move by bike or with my own feet (irrespective of sun/snow/rain, cold/hot, night/day). I also cycle indoor—even while working (on average, I “ride a bike” for 50km on a daily basis).
  • Social: Without actively engaging with other (human) beings, my life would be extremely boring, and I would not be where I am. I am glad of having collaborated with many wonderful people in the past, and I am constantly trying to expand my network.

Do you have anything you’d like to talk about? Feel free to contact me!

Disclaimer (on this website)

This website is mine, and it describes me, myself and I. Hence, alongside “professional” information, it also includes some “personal” details—such as pictures, or blog-posts describing my own viewpoints on some subjects that I consider particularly interesting.

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