Giacomo Iadarola, Ph.D.

Back-end Developer & AI-Cybersecurity Research Fellow

Livorno - Tuscany (Italy)
Personal: gia.iadarola@gmail.com
Work: giacomo@turn.io

I am a Back-end developer and a Research Fellow with a Ph.D. in Computer Science, specializing in Cybersecurity and Deep Learning. Proficient in Python, Java, Elixir, I contribute to companies and international research projects. My expertise lies in Malware Analysis, Formal Methods, and Explainable AI within the realm of Deep Learning.
Currently, I work as an Elixir Back-end Developer at Turn.io, dedicated to advancing company goals through efficient and scalable code.

Passionate about coding, I am committed to projects that benefit the community, whether it involves safeguarding data through research or creating software to enhance people's lives.


Experience

Elixir Back-end Developer

Turn.io (remote)

I write code to improve the efficiency of the company's operations. I work with various frameworks and technologies, including Phoenix Liveview, PostgreSQL, and Tailwind.

June 2023 - Ongoing

Full-stack Developer & Research Fellow

IIT - CNR (Pisa)

I do research on my PhD topic and work as a developer (Python, Java) in some European projects on which the research groups is involved in (C3ISP, Cybersecurity Observatory, CyberSURE, Sparta, E-CORRIDOR)

January 2019 - January 2024

PhD Student

Computer Science Department (University of Pisa)

My research are focused on Malware Analysis (Image-based or Graph-based representation) and Explainable AI. I adopt Formal Methods and Machine Learning/Deep Learning approaches to analyse and detect malware, mainly in Android Environment.

November 2019 - February 2023

Back-end & Deep Learning model developer

ONAM S.R.L. (Livorno)

Developer of an Artificial Intelligence module to process and classify images from patient to discover poor body posture which lead to spinal dysfunction and rounded shoulders.

February 2022 - January 2023

Computer Science Teacher

Itinera S.R.L. (Pisa)

Teacher in two Computer Science courses funded by the Tuscany Region Institution, targetting workers with Computer Science background. I taught the "Network Security" module within the Cybersecurity course and the "Maintenance and Updating" module in the Java language course.

May 2021 - October 2021

Projects

Representation and Detection of Malware Families using Explainable Approaches

Latex | Ph.D. Thesis

Malware are represented as graphs and images, and deep learning and model-checking techniques are tested to distinguish between malware families. The goal is to develop a malware detector that makes output predictions easily interpretable by humans.

October 2019 - February 2023

Tool for Analyzing Malware represented as Images (TAMI)

Python, Bash, Tensorflow, Docker | GitHub repo

It gathers the code, tools, approaches, AI models and experiments presented in most of my publications.

January 2020 - Present

E-CORRIDOR (European Project)

Python, Java, Docker, Tomcat | Project Website

I work as WP4 leader on behalf of the CNR, and also contribute both in the technical part as a full-stack developer and the theorical part as deliverable writer.

January 2022 - Present

CyberSure (European Project)

Python, Java, Javascript, Tomcat, RabbitMQ | Project Website

I contribute on the project as developer leader of the IIT-CNR web services.

September 2019 - December 2021

Cybersecurity Observatory

Python, Java, Javascript, Tomcat, Drupal | Website

I contribute on the project as a back-end developer, mainly developing web-services, and handling the collaborations by presenting the website in public events to raise awareness on cybersecurity.

April 2019 - February 2023

Graph-Based Classification for Detecting Instances of Bug Patterns (GrapPa)

Java, Bash, Latex | Master's Thesis and GitHub repo

I developed a novel approach, and a tool, to automatically detect bugs in source code without any prior-knowledge on the code itself. I wrote my Master's thesis on this research, while I was working at the Technische Universitat Darmstadt.

April 2018 - October 2018

Publications

Overall Stats   


Journals: 5+ ; Papers: 25+ ; Book Chapters: 1;
Citations: 200+ ; H-index: 8 ; Scientific peer-reviews: 30+;
Teaching: 50+ hours ; Co-advisor: 10+ thesis;

Updated information and the complete list of my publications are available on Google Scholar, Orcid and IIT-CNR.

Journals   

  • Iadarola Giacomo, et al. "Towards an Interpretable Deep Learning Model for Mobile Malware Detection and Family Identification." Computers & Security (2021): 102198. LINK
  • Iadarola Giacomo, et al. "Call Graph and Model Checking for Fine-Grained Android Malicious Behaviour Detection." Applied Sciences 10.22 (2020): 7975. LINK
  • Casolare Rosangela, et al. "Dynamic Mobile Malware Detection through System Call-based Image representation" Journal of Wireless Mobile Networks, Ubiquitous Computing, and Dependable Applications (2021): 10.22667 LINK

Papers   

  • Iadarola, Giacomo, et al. "A Semi-Automated Explainability-Driven Approach for Malware Analysis through Deep Learning." 2021 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN). IEEE, 2021. LINK
  • Gerardi, Federico, et al. "Perturbation of Image-based Malware Detection with Smali level morphing techniques" 2021 IEEE Intl Conf on Parallel & Distributed Processing with Applications, Big Data & Cloud Computing, Sustainable Computing & Communications, Social Computing & Networking (ISPA/BDCloud/SocialCom/SustainCom). IEEE, 2021. LINK
  • Errica, Federico, et al. "Robust Malware Classification via Deep Graph Networks on Call Graph Topologies." ESANN. 2021. LINK
  • Iadarola Giacomo, et al. "Formal Methods for Android Banking Malware Analysis and Detection." 2019 Sixth International Conference on Internet of Things: Systems, Management and Security (IOTSMS). IEEE, 2019. LINK
  • Crincoli, Giuseppe, et al. "Vulnerable Smart Contract Detection by Means of Model Checking." Proceedings of the Fourth ACM International Symposium on Blockchain and Secure Critical Infrastructure. 2022. LINK
  • Iadarola Giacomo, et al. "Image-based Malware Family Detection: An Assessment between Feature Extraction and Classification Techniques." IoTBDS. 2020. LINK
  • Iadarola Giacomo, et al. "Evaluating Deep Learning Classification Reliability in Android Malware Family Detection." 2020 IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW). IEEE, 2020. LINK
  • Di Giammarco, Marcello, et al. "Explainable Retinopathy Diagnosis and Localisation by means of Class Activation Mapping." 2022 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN). IEEE, 2022. LINK
  • Ciaramella, Giovanni, et al. "Introducing Quantum Computing in Mobile Malware Detection." Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security. 2022. LINK
  • Casolare, Rosangela, et al. "Mobile Family Detection through Audio Signals Classification." 19th International Conference on Security and Cryptography (SECRYPT). July 2021. LINK

Miscellaneous   

  • Master's Thesis - Iadarola, Giacomo. Graph-based classification for detecting instances of bug patterns. MS thesis. University of Twente, 2018. LINK
  • Article for ICT Security Magazine (Italian) - Metodi Formali per la rilevazione di collusioni in ambiente Android. ICT Security Magazine. December 2020. LINK
  • Webinar for Ludoteca Registro.it (Italian) - La Crittografia. Ludoteca del Registro.it. November 2021. LINK
  • Video for Ludoteca Registro.it (Italian) - Cyber Care: La sicurezza in ambiente mobile. Ludoteca del Registro.it. March 2021. LINK
  • Video for Ludoteca Registro.it (Italian) - CyberCare: Giacomo Iadarola - Machine Learning. Ludoteca del Registro.it. September 2021. LINK

Education

Ph.D. degree

University of Pisa
Computer Science - Cybersecurity

Grade: Ottimo con Lode (Italian - Excellent with honors, cum laude)

October 2019 - February 2023

Visiting-PhD student

Collaboration with the CyLab Security & Privacy Institute at the Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA - USA)
March 2022 - May 2022

20th FOSAD Summer School

International School on Foundations of Security Analysis and Design (FOSAD), located in Bertinoro
September 2021

ACDL Summer School

Advanced Course on Data Science & Machine Learning (ACDL), located in Certosa di Pontignano
July 2020

NECS Winter School

University of Trento
European Network for Cybersecurity (NECS), located in Fai della Paganella
January 2020

19th FOSAD Summer School

International School on Foundations of Security Analysis and Design (FOSAD), located in Bertinoro
August 2019

Certificate in Security and Privacy

European Institute of Innovation and Technology
Double Master Degree Certificate accredited by the EIT DIgital Master School Programme
September 2016 - October 2018

Master of Science Degree - 2 year

Technische Universitat Darmstadt
Computer Science - Cybersecurity Track

Grade: 1.54 (German)

October 2017 - October 2018

Master of Science Degree - 1 year

University of Twente
Computer Science - Cybersecurity Track
September 2016 - July 2017

Big Data analytics Summer School

European Institute of Innovation and Technology
Located in Stockholm
August 2017

Bachelor degree

University of Pisa
Computer Science

Grade: 108 (Italian)

September 2012 - July 2016

Erasmus+ project

University of Stirling
Computer Science
September 2014 - May 2015

Interests

I enjoy most of my free time outdoors. I love activities like riding my road bike, running, hiking, and playing futsal and basketball.

I have a passion for traveling, exploring new places, and experiencing different cultures and meeting new people. At this stage of my life, I prefer to spend several weeks or months in the same place and frequently change locations rather than living in the same city and engaging in many short, quick travels. I am particularly drawn to the lifestyle of smaller to medium-sized countries and cities, preferably in warm climates near the sea. I'm a big fan of remote work that allows me to combine work and exploration seamlessly.

When I'm at home, I like to spend my free time reading classical novels and historical fiction. I also work on computer science side-projects, which may involve learning a new programming language or developing something on my Raspberry Pi. Additionally, I am a novice bass player who enjoys playing and listening to rock, prog, and funky music.

I proudly support my hometown's (Livorno) soccer and basketball sports teams.