Collin MacDonald
Hi — I'm a Computer Science PhD Candidate at William & Mary. I spend my time figuring out how to make the systems we rely on — phones, clouds, and everything between — actually worth trusting.
Recent news
- AttestLens appears at ACM WiSec 2026
Our large-scale measurement of Play Integrity adoption in Android apps, AttestLens, was published at the ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless and Mobile Networks.
- Started at Google Cloud (PIE-RoT)
Interning with Google Cloud’s Root-of-Trust team in Sunnyvale this summer.
- Awarded VSGC Graduate Research Fellowship for 2026–27
The Virginia Space Grant Consortium renewed my Graduate Research Fellowship for Action-Aware Attestation on Android.
- AccNimbus published at HASP 2025
AccNimbus: Scalable Proofs of Data Possession for Cloud Storage appeared at the Workshop on Hardware and Architectural Support for Security and Privacy.
- Akeso published at PETS 2025
Akeso: Bringing Post-Compromise Security to Cloud Storage appeared at the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium.
Education
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College of William & Mary
PhD in Computer Science
- Research: system security, mobile and edge computing, and cloud computing.
- Virginia Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellow, 2025–26 (Towards a Safer Android for All) and 2026–27 (Action-Aware Attestation on Android).
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College of William & Mary
M.S. in Computer Science
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George Mason University
B.S. in Computer Science, Honors College
Experience
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William & Mary
Graduate Research Assistant — Extending Trust in Computing Lab
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Google
Software Engineering Intern — Google Cloud (PIE-RoT)
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Google
Software Engineering Intern — Google Cloud (OpenTitan)
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Google
Software Engineering Intern — Fitbit (Sleep Labs)
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Industrial Light & Magic
Core Pipeline Graduate Intern
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Google
Software Engineering Intern — YouTube (Live Interaction)
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William & Mary
Lead Graduate Teaching Assistant & Lab Instructor
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Google
Software Engineering Intern — YouTube (Live Interaction)
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Noblis, Inc.
Software Developer
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George Mason University
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant