TALOS Lab will host a hybrid invited lecture by Dr. Stavros Eleftherakis (NYU – Abu Dhabi) on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, at 14:30 Athens time. The lecture will address the growing relevance of cybersecurity in everyday digital life and will examine how citizen science can contribute to stronger and more participatory forms of digital resilience.

Title: Cybersecurity and Citizen Science: Building Digital Resilience Together
Date: Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Time: 14:30 (Athens time)
Venue: TALOS Conference Room, Building Γ, KEME/UCRC, Rethymno & Online
Zoom Meeting: https://uoc-gr.zoom.us/j/89817438592?pwd=MafQ6B1zUCKmrkarnzdcfZMfQP01ba.1
Meeting ID: 898 1743 8592
Passcode: 356606

The talk will introduce key categories of cyber threats through accessible examples and will discuss practical ways in which individuals, organizations, technology providers, and network operators can improve digital safety. It will also consider how collaborative and privacy-preserving approaches can support citizens in identifying and reporting suspicious digital behaviour.

Abstract: Cybersecurity increasingly affects everyday life, influencing how people communicate, access digital services, and interact with online platforms and mobile networks. Although cybersecurity is often viewed as a highly technical field, many cyber threats are closely connected to human behavior, privacy, trust, and digital participation. This talk introduces common categories of cyber threats, such as phishing attacks, privacy risks in mobile networks, location tracking, and service disruption attacks, through accessible real-world examples. In addition, we will discuss practical actions that individuals, organizations, technology providers, and network operators can take to improve digital safety and resilience. Furthermore, another central theme is the role of citizen science in cybersecurity. Based on this outlook, we will explore how collaborative and privacy-preserving approaches can enable citizens to contribute to the identification and reporting of suspicious digital behavior, thereby helping researchers and organizations understand emerging threats and strengthen digital resilience.

Biography: Stavros Eleftherakis is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Cyber Security & Privacy Lab of New York University Abu Dhabi. He completed his MSc and PhD Degrees in Telematics Engineering from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) in 2021 and 2025 respectively. He also holds a MSc in Applied and Computational Mathematics (2020) and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics (2017), both from the University of Crete. From 2020 to 2025, he worked as a Research Assistant at IMDEA Networks Institute in Madrid. He has also held research internships at Telefónica Research (Barcelona, 2023) and Ericsson Research (Sweden, 2024). His research focuses on cybersecurity, positioning systems, and AI, with publications in top-tier venues and contributions to industrial patents