Georgios Syros

About

I am a Computer Science PhD student at Northeastern University, Boston. I'm interested in computer security, with a focus on machine learning as a key element within a broader pipeline of components in software systems.

I am a member of the NDS2 Lab and I am fortunate to be under the joint supervision of Alina Oprea and Cristina Nita-Rotaru.

Before my PhD studies, I was an undergraduate student at the Athens University of Economics and Business, where I was a member of the MMlab. I was mentored and worked under the supervision of George C. Polyzos.

Previously, I have also been a research intern working with Yigitcan Kaya at the University of Maryland, College Park under the supervision of Tudor Dumitraș.

News

• Feb 2025
  I will be speaking at the New England Systems Day 2025 at Northeastern University, Boston.
• July 2024
  Our paper; "Backdoor Attacks in Peer-to-Peer Federated Learning" was published in the ACM Transactions on Privacy and Security (TOPS) journal.
• March 2024
  I will be attending the New England Security Day 2024 at UConn, CT. Come say hi!
Jul 2023
I successfully completed my undergraduate studies at the Athens University of Economics and Business.
Mar 2023
This Fall I will be joining the NDS2 Lab at Northeastern University, Boston as a PhD student!
Sep 2022
Our paper; "Decentralized NFT-based Evolvable Games" was published at the 4th Conference on Blockchain Research and Applications for Innovative Networks and Services (BRAINS).
Aug 2022
I attended the 31st USENIX Security Symposium in Boston, MA.
Aug 2022
I joined Tudor Dumitraș' group for my Summer@MC2 internship on Cybersecurity at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Jun 2022
Received Honors for high academic performance and distinctions, awarded by the Department of Informatics, School of Information Sciences and Technology, AUEB.
May 2022
Awarded the HUAWEI Hellas Enterprise Fellowship for excellent performance and distinctions.
May 2022
Gave a speech at HUAWEI Hellas Enterprise 2022 scholarship ceremony regarding my experience in the Seeds for the Future program. [Press Release]

Education

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Northeastern University, present

• B.Sc. in Computer Science, Athens University of Economics and Business, 2023

Research

My research focuses on security in distributed and decentralized systems, with an emphasis on machine learning as a component within broader system pipelines. I explore how machine learning can be securely integrated into complex software ecosystems, ensuring robustness, privacy, and resilience. My work spans secure machine learning for database management systems, federated learning security, and secure agentic systems, aiming to build security frameworks that protect sensitive data while maintaining system efficiency. I am particularly interested in designing privacy-preserving architectures, secure communication protocols, and access control mechanisms that enable machine learning to function safely within larger, interconnected systems.

Publications

• G. Syros, A. Suri, F. Koushanfar, C. Nita-Rotaru, A. Oprea "DROP: Poison Dilution via Knowledge Distillation for Federated Learning", preprint, Feb 2025 [PDF]

• G. Syros, G. Yar, S. Boboila, C. Nita-Rotaru, A. Oprea "Backdoor Attacks in Peer-to-Peer Federated Learning", ACM Transactions on Privacy and Security (TOPS), August 2024 [PDF]

• C. Karapapas, G. Syros, I. Pittaras, G. C. Polyzos, "Decentralized NFT-based Evolvable Games", Proc. 4th Conference on Blockchain Research and Applications for Innovative Networks and Services (BRAINS), Paris, France, September 2022 [PDF]

Talks

• G. Syros, "DROP: Poison Dilution via Knowledge Distillation for Federated Learning"
  @ NESysDay'25, Feb 2025

Projects

• G. Syros, A. Toumazatos, F. Bistas Jun 2023
  CookMate; developing an enhanced microwave interface with accessibility features [PDF] [GitHub]
• G. Syros, F. Bistas, A. Toumazatos, Jun 2023
  Strabo.io; a real time NLP-backed Greeklish-to-Greek translation keyboard for Android [GitHub]
• G. Syros, A. Toumazatos, F. Bistas Feb 2023
  TCP throughput over LANs and the Internet [PDF] [GitHub¹] [GitHub²]
• F. Bistas, G. Syros, A. Toumazatos Jan 2023
  Vζoom; developing a fast, lightweight video calling web app [GitHub]
• G. Syros, A. Toumazatos, N. Christodoulou, E. Gkritsis Jun 2022
  Simplegram; A simple Pub/Sub distributed messenger app [GitHub¹] [GitHub²]
• G. Syros, A. Toumazatos, E. Gkritsis Jun 2022
  Machine Learning Algorithms over IMDB's Review database [GitHub]
• G. Syros Apr 2020
  ArachovaWeather - Weather in Arachova []
• G. Syros Nov 2017
  C-Calc - Pocket biochemistry calculator []
• G. Syros, E. Syros Nov 2017
  MathsTests - Math quizes []

Contact

office: 5th floor, 177 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115

email: syros.g at northeastern.edu