Alexander Ponticello
Doctoral Researcher at CISPA, Ph.D. Candidate at Saarland University
Pronouns: He/Him
Contact: alexander.ponticello@cispa.de
Research Interests: Usable Security, Accessibility, Authentication
About me
I'm a final year PhD student at CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security and Saarland University. My advisor is the amazing Katharina Krombholz. My research is focused around all things human-centered authentication and privacy. Most recently, I got interested in the accessibility side of security technology. So currently, I'm dedicating most of my working time to investigate how we can adapt technologies to the needs of blind and low-vision users. I strongly belive that making things more accessible for a specific population will ultimately benefit all users. In the future, I also want to expand my research to user-centered communication of security and privacy topics.
When I'm not working on my projects or teaching usable security classes, I enjoy all kinds of sports and outdoor activities. I lost my heart in the mountains of my home region of South Tyrol/Italy and ever since then I'm wandering it's wilderniss winter, spring, summer, and fall.
I will soon be on the job market for research positions in academia and industry!
Publications
How Blind and Low-Vision Users Manage Their Passwords Alexander Ponticello, Filipo Sharevski, Simon Anell, and Katharina Krombholz@CCS2025 [Paper] [HTML]
(Blind) Users Really Do Heed Aural Telephone Scam Warnings Filipo Sharevski, Jennifer Vander Loop, Bill Evans, and Alexander Ponticello@S&P2025 [Paper] [IEEE]
Analyzing the iOS Local Network Permission from a Technical and User Perspective David Schmidt, Alexander Ponticello, Magdalena Steinböck, Katharina Krombholz, and Martina Lindorfer@S&P2025 [Paper] [IEEE]
Let Me Quickly Share It - Time Pressure when Sharing on Social Media Rebecca Panskus, Tangila Islam Tanni, Alexander Ponticello, Echo Meissner, Yan Solihin, Katharina Krombholz, and Karola Marky@MUM2024 [Paper] [ACM]
In Focus, Out of Privacy: The Wearer's Perspective on the Privacy Dilemma of Camera Glasses Honorable Mention Divyanshu Bhardwaj*, Alexander Ponticello*, Shreya Tomar, Adrian Dabrowski, and Katharina Krombholz *Equal Contribution@CHI2024 [Paper] [Talk] [ACM]
POSTER: In Focus, Out of Privacy: The Wearer's Perspective on the Privacy Dilemma of Camera Glasses Distinguished Poster Divyanshu Bhardwaj*, Alexander Ponticello*, Shreya Tomar, Adrian Dabrowski, and Katharina Krombholz *Equal Contribution@SOUPS2024 [Poster] [USENIX]
Investigating Security Folklore: A Case Study on the Tor over VPN Phenomenon Honorable Mention & Methods Recognition Matthias Fassl, Alexander Ponticello, Adrian Dabrowski, and Katharina Krombholz@CSCW2023 [Paper] [ACM] [Medium Blog Post]
Different Researchers, Different Results? Analyzing the Influence of Researcher Experience and Data Type During Qualitative Analysis of an Interview and Survey Study on Security Advice Anna-Marie Ortloff, Matthias Fassl, Alexander Ponticello, Florin Martius, Anne Mertens, Katharina Krombholz, Matthew Smith@CHI2023 [Paper] [ACM]
Investigating Verification Behavior and Perceptions of Visual Digital Certificates Dañiel Gerhardt*, Alexander Ponticello*, Adrian Dabrowski, and Katharina Krombholz *Equal Contribution@USENIX2023 [Paper] [Talk] [USENIX] [CISPA News Article]
Exploring Authentication for Security-Sensitive Tasks on Smart Home Voice Assistants Alexander Ponticello, Matthias Fassl, and Katharina Krombholz@SOUPS2021 [Paper] [Talk] [SOUPS] [CISPA News Article]