Jason Jaskolka

★ Positions Available

I am actively looking for graduate students join the CyberSEA Research Lab at both the Master’s and Ph.D. levels to fill a number of funded research positions for a variety of projects related to my research interests. For more information, see the Available Positions at CyberSEA Research Lab.

Short Bio

I am an Associate Professor at Carleton University within the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering. I am the Director of the Cyber Security Evaluation and Assurance (CyberSEA) Research Lab. I am a licensed Professional Engineer registered with Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO). I am also a senior member of the IEEE and a member of the ACM. From October 2018 to October 2020, I was as an Ad Hoc Member of Health Canada’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Digital Health Technologies. I was awarded the 2021 New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award for my dedication and passion for sharing knowledge, and supporting students in achieving success, both inside and outside the classroom. 

My research interests are primarily in the area of cyber security evaluation and assurance for software-dependent systems. Broadly speaking, I conduct research that spans the areas of formal methods and data-driven approaches for software and security engineering. I am interested in exploring new ideas, techniques, and tools that can support:

• Security Evaluation: How can we identify, analyze, and mitigate the effects of cyber-attacks and failures on system safety, security, and reliability? How can we measure the security of a system? How can we manage security evaluation as security requirements evolve over time?
• Security Assurance: How can we assure users and regulators that the systems that we build, and their data, are secure?
• System-Level Threat Modeling: How can we systematically identify, evaluate, and mitigate threats to the systems as a whole?
• Security-By-Design: How can we design and engineer systems to operate in a zero-trust environment from their inception?

As the world continues to increasingly depend on the connectedness of software-dependent systems that are continually growing in size and complexity, there is an eminent and emerging need to be able to assure the safety, security, and reliability of these systems, and the information that they use, store, and communicate. Ultimately, the goal of my research program is to develop rigorous and practical solutions to address this need. This research presents many challenges and opportunities from both scientific and engineering perspectives, and involves a mix of theoretical and applied research. See my research interests for more information.

I obtained my Ph.D. in Software Engineering in 2015, M.A.Sc. in Software Engineering in 2010, and B.Eng. in Software Engineering and Game Design in 2009, each from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, Canada. My doctoral dissertation involved the modelling and analysis of covert communication channels in distributed multi-agent systems.

Before joining Carleton University, I was a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University within the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) where I worked on a project titled “Cybersecurity Assurance For Critical Infrastructure” which aimed to design and develop critical infrastructure cybersecurity assessment methodologies and associated modelling and simulation environments. I also have postdoctoral experience at the McMaster University Centre for Software Certification where I was part of the embedded software research thrust area for the FCA-McMaster Automotive Partnership Canada – Leadership in Automotive Powertrain (APC-LEAP) project, and in the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science at St. Francis Xavier University where I worked on a project related to ontology engineering and design.