Zion Leonahenahe
Basque
Hackademic
About
I am an 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. I run the Noelo Lab in the School of Computing.
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.
News
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