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Zion Leonahenahe

Basque

Hackademic

boy

About


I am an incoming Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia, where my research focuses on cybersecurity, with the goal of improving how we understand, secure, and repair software. My work spans reverse engineering, improved tooling, and foundational systems that enable these techniques to be applied automatically.

I previously led Shellphish’s autonomous patching group in the DARPA AI Cyber Challenge, where we were awarded $3 million as finalists for building systems that autonomously identify and repair vulnerabilities in real-world software.

A central focus of my research is decompilation. I created the Decompilation Wiki, the largest repository of knowledge in the area, and founded the Software Understanding and Reverse Engineering (SURE) workshop, a venue dedicated to advancing this field. I am also a core developer of the angr decompiler, helping translate research into practice.

Outside of academia, I am an active member of one of the world’s oldest ethical hacking groups, Shellphish, where I previously served as co-captain. We compete in CTFs, organize events, and build tools for the community. Drawing on this experience, I have developed educational resources including pwn.college and ‘Ike, which have reached tens of thousands of students worldwide at no cost.

[NOTICE] I am actively recruiting PhD students interested in reverse engineering, program analysis, and AI for Security. This post nicely summarizes the mission of this research. If this aligns with your interests, please get in touch_

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