Asaf Cidon

Asaf Cidon

Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Asaf has broad research interests in software systems and security.

His group's research was adopted in commercial systems used by many companies, including Meta, Apple and Snowflake, was recognized by best paper awards at OSDI, UseSec, CIDR, and ATC, and by the NSF CAREER and ARO YIP awards. Prior to joining Columbia, Asaf spent several years in industry, where his last role was SVP and co-GM of Email Protection at Barracuda Networks. He joined Barracuda via the acquisition of Sookasa, a startup where he was the CEO and co-founder.

Research Areas

  • Security and Privacy
  • Data Management
  • Software Systems
  • Computer Architecture and Engineering
  • Networks and Distributed Systems
  • Cloud Computing
  • Data Privacy
  • Operating Systems
  • Scalable Data Systems
  • Cybersecurity
  • Sustainable Computing (Green Computing)
  • Hardware Accelerators
  • Networking

Additional information

  • Professional Experience
    • Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, 2023-
    • Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, 2019-2023
    • Senior Vice President of Email Protection, Barracuda Networks, 2016-2019
    • CEO and co-founder, Sookasa (Acquired by Barracuda Networks), 2012-2016
  • Honors & Awards
    • ACM CIDR Best Paper Award, 2024
    • Usenix OSDI Jay Lepreau Best Paper Award, 2022
    • NSF CAREER Award, 2022
    • Army Research Office Young Investigator Award, 2021
    • Usenix Security Distinguished Paper, 2019
    • ACM EuroSys Best Poster Award, 2018
    • SC Rising Star Award, 2017
    • Usenix ATC Best Student Paper, 2013
    • Sohnis Promising Scientist Award, 2011
    • Finalist, Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship, 2011
    • Leonard J. Shustek Stanford Graduate Fellowship, 2010
    • Technion President's Honors List, 2009-2010
  • Education
    • PhD, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
    • MS, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
    • BS, Computer and Software Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology