Enck receives NSF CAREER Award

Dr. William Enck, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at North Carolina State University, has received a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The award, known as the NSF CAREER Award, is one of the highest honors given by NSF to young faculty in science and engineering.

The award will provide funding over five years to support Enck’s project, “Secure Operating System Views for Modern Computing Platforms.” The research is supported by NSF’s Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace Program in the Division of Computer and Network Systems.

The project aims to improve the security of modern consumer operating systems, such as Android, iOS, and Windows 8, by developing a holistic view of data.

A rising security challenge in these new platforms is sharing data between applications, which may result in the exposure or loss of data control. Enck is developing a new operating system “abstraction” to transparently track and control access to all data on the computing device. This abstraction – which acts as a layer between the operating system and the user – will help solve a significant problem by enabling applications to retain control over their data. This data control system may also serve as a foundational blueprint for a variety of computer security solutions.

Enck received his BS, MS, and PhD in computer science and engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 2004, 2006, and 2011, respectively. He joined the NC State faculty in 2011.