ROBBY COCHRAN

WORK

Currently developing runtime security detection and enforcment platform for containers at StackRox in Mountain View, CA.

RESEARCH

In my thesis work, I developed a client behavior verification technique using symbolic execution. I built a novel server-side system that verifies whether messages from a client could have been generated by a sanctioned software version, without any knowledge of client-side inputs. The technique works by finding a client execution path that "explains" a given message trace. By utilizing execution history to guide our search, I also built a system that is more efficient. And to support verification of cryptographic clients such as OpenSSL, I modified the KLEE symbolic execution engine to support parallel execution.

PUBLICATIONS

• A System to Verify Network Behavior of Known Cryptographic Clients.
  A. Chi, R. A. Cochran, M. Nesfield, M. K. Reiter and C. Sturton.
  Proceedings of the 14th USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implmentation (NSDI), March 2017.
• Symbolic Verification of Client Behavior in Distributed Systems.
  R. A. Cochran
  PhD Thesis. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2016.
• Program Boosting: Program Synthesis via Crowd-Sourcing
  R. Cochran, L. D'Antoni, B. Livshits and M. Veanes
  Proceedings of the 42nd ACM SIGPLAN-SIGACT Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (POPL), 2015.
• Toward Online Verification of Client Behavior in Distributed Applications
  R. Cochran and M. K. Reiter.
  Proceedings of the 20th ISOC Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS), 2013.
• Server-Side Verification of Client Behavior in Online Games
  D. Bethea, R. Cochran and M. K. Reiter.
  ACM Transactions on Information and System Security (TISSEC), 14(4), 2011.
• Server-Side Verification of Client Behavior in Online Games
  D. Bethea, R. Cochran and M. K. Reiter.
  Proceedings of the 17th ISOC Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS), 2010.
• Second-order Illumination in Real-Time
  R. Cochran. and J. Steele.
  Proceedings of the ACM Southeast Regional Conference, 2007.

INTERESTS AND OTHER PROJECTS

• IMPROV
  

  

  I have been performing improv comedy since 2013 and have been fortunate to take the stage with Stranger Danger and Mr. Diplomat at DSI Comedy Theater in Chapel Hill, NC as well as with Mettlesome in Durham, NC. I have also performed at the Del Close Marathon in New York City (2014, 2015). I love the fleeting nature of improvised comedy and strive to incorporate the philosophies of unconditional acceptance and positivity into all aspects of my life.

• DIY SYNTHESIZERS
  

  

  I am interested in "forgotten" forms of musical and aural expression which utilize physical interfaces that bridge the gap between modern electronic music and the analog circuits that first opened ears to new worlds of sound half a century ago. Inspired by vintage hobbyist magazines and found enclosures, I build devices that allow the expression of analog sounds that are both warm and foreign.

• ELECTRONIC ART
  

  

  (In collaboration with Lile Stephens) Using humor to evoke larger issues surrounding society’s use of devices and networks, we are inventing new must have products. By borrowing from the traditional language of advertising and startup culture, we are proposing ‘useless’ products that are can be assembled and adapted from existing devices and software.

  Our first collaboration, E-Bolo was shown at the Spectre Arts Gallery in August, 2016.