QUANTUM SECURITY
01
Protecting the next
era of computation.
Quantum program obfuscation, protected outputs and quantum-safe communication for connected systems.
Read the quantum obfuscation paper ↗
RESEARCHER · EDUCATOR · BUILDER
SINGAPORE / SIT
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, SINGAPORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Vivek
Balachandran.
Exploring security at the intersection of
software, AI & quantum computing.
I study how systems can be attacked, understood and protected — and bring that knowledge into the classroom.
16+years
In cybersecurity
23+years
In computer science
S$4M+
Research funding as PI / co-PI
Ph.D.NTU
Software security
01 / RESEARCH
Questions worth
looking deeper into.
From protecting program logic to securing emerging computing platforms, my work connects foundational security research with practical applications.
Protecting the next
SOFTWARE & MOBILE SECURITY
02
Understanding software.
Exposing its weaknesses.
Software obfuscation, reverse engineering, application security and Android malware analysis.
Explore selected work ↗
AI & APPLIED SECURITY
03
Bringing intelligence
to security problems.
Phishing detection, AI security, drone security and AI-assisted review of examination screen recordings.
See research projects ↗02 / ONGOING RESEARCH
Three active research
directions.
01
DRONE SECURITY
Finding and fixing weaknesses in real-world UAV systems.
Firmware extraction, reverse engineering, mobile companion-app analysis, protocol testing and AI-driven fuzzing for commercial off-the-shelf drones.
02
QUANTUM SECURITY
Protecting quantum programs, data and outputs.
Our work spans ObfusQate, CloaQ, QSpy, compiler-resistant circuit protection and quantum-safe migration using post-quantum cryptography and QKD.
Visit the SIT Quantum Security Group ↗03
CODE REVERSE ENGINEERING
Using LLMs to reason about binaries and recover program intent.
We investigate AI-assisted binary analysis, function understanding and de-obfuscation to make reverse engineering faster, more explainable and more reliable.
01 · DISASSEMBLEbinary → functions02 · INTERPRETcode → intent03 · VALIDATEhypothesis → evidence
03 / PUBLICATIONS BY AREA
A body of work,
organised by question.
Selected publications from my Google Scholar record, grouped around the main themes of our research.
01
QUANTUM SECURITY
Protecting quantum software and migration
- 2026Data Obfuscation for Secure Use of Classical Values in Quantum Computation↗
- 2026QSpy: A Quantum RAT for Circuit Spying and IP Theft↗
- 2026Protecting Quantum Circuits Through Compiler-Resistant Obfuscation↗
- 2025Quantum Opacity, Classical Clarity: A Hybrid Approach to Quantum Circuit Obfuscation↗
- 2025ObfusQate: Unveiling the First Quantum Program Obfuscation Framework↗
- 2025A Hybrid Encryption Framework Combining Classical, Post-Quantum, and QKD Methods↗
02
PHISHING & DNS SECURITY
Detection, resilience and privacy
- 2025From ML to LLM: Evaluating the Robustness of Phishing Webpage Detection Models against Adversarial Attacks↗
- 2025Phishing Webpage Detection: Unveiling the Threat Landscape and Investigating Detection Techniques↗
- 2025Phish-Blitz: Advancing Phishing Detection with Comprehensive Webpage Resource Collection and Visual Integrity Preservation↗
- 2025ODoQ: Oblivious DNS-over-QUIC↗
- 2024Towards a Hybrid Security Framework for Phishing Awareness Education and Defense↗
- 2024Mitigating Bias in Machine Learning Models for Phishing Webpage Detection↗
03
SOFTWARE, MOBILE & DRONE SECURITY
Obfuscation, malware and adversarial systems
- 2025HatMob: An All-Encompassing Mobile Pentesting Suite↗
- 2024A-COPILOT: Android Covert Operation for Private Information Lifting and OTP Theft↗
- 2020GRAMAC: A Graph Based Android Malware Classification Mechanism↗
- 2018AEON: Android Encryption Based Obfuscation↗
- 2016Control Flow Obfuscation for Android Applications↗
- 2013Potent and Stealthy Control Flow Obfuscation by Stack Based Self-Modifying Code↗
04 / TALKS & MEDIA
Research in the
public conversation.
Conference briefings and media features on quantum software protection, emerging technologies and drone security.
01
BLACK HAT BRIEFINGS
Quantum security on the global stage
BLACK HAT ASIA 2025
ObfusQate: Where Quantum Magic Meets Code Security
The first automated quantum program-obfuscation framework and its eight code- and circuit-level techniques.
Watch on YouTube ↗BLACK HAT ASIA 2026
CLOAQ: Ensuring the Cloud Quantum Computer Runs Your Program… But Learns Nothing
Protecting quantum-program outputs while retaining lightweight classical recovery in untrusted execution environments.
Watch on YouTube ↗02
MEDIA FEATURES
Cybersecurity and emerging technology
CNA INSIDER · DRONE SECURITY
Are You Being Hacked? Meet the Cybersecurity Heroes Fighting the Deep, Dark Web
A CNA feature highlighting our research into drone attacks, security testing and protection.
Watch from the interview ↗MEDIA INTERVIEW · BLACK HAT ASIA 2025
AI & Quantum Revolution
A conversation on quantum computing, cybersecurity and the emerging technology landscape at Black Hat Asia.
Watch on YouTube ↗05 / ABOUT ME
A researcher’s curiosity.
An educator’s purpose.
I’m an Associate Professor at the Singapore Institute of Technology, working across cybersecurity and emerging computing technologies. I am also the Deputy CEO of Verbosecurity Pte. Ltd.
I completed my Ph.D. in Software Security at Nanyang Technological University and previously worked as a Research Scientist at A*STAR. My research spans software protection, mobile security, AI-enabled threat detection and quantum computing.
As Programme Leader for SIT’s Information Security degree from 2021 to 2024, I helped shape the education of the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.
2015
Ph.D., Software Security
Nanyang Technological University
2010
M.Tech. · Gold Medal
National Institute of Technology Calicut
RECOGNITION
Annual Cybersecurity Award finalist
Professional category · 2022 & 2023
06 / RESEARCH GROUP
The people behind
the research.
Our current group works across phishing and DNS security, AI-assisted reverse engineering and post-quantum migration.
Aditya Kulkarni
Phishing Detection
DNS Security
Akarsh Ashok
Reverse Engineering
Large Language Models
Vincent Tan
Post-Quantum
Migration
Amal Raj
Quantum Security
Program Protection
07 / TEACHING
Security is learned
by doing.
Practical labs, capture-the-flag challenges and hands-on experimentation connect concepts to the systems students will encounter in the real world.
Mobile Security
Mobile application analysis, Android security and practical CTF assessment.
Ethical Hacking
Hands-on security testing and CTF labs in controlled environments.
Quantum & Emerging Security
Quantum computing, Qiskit experimentation and emerging security topics.
LET’S CONNECT
Good research starts
with a conversation.
For research collaborations, speaking invitations and academic enquiries.
vivek.b@singaporetech.edu.sg ↗