Verena Zimmermann has been an Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) for Security, Privacy and Society at ETH Zurich since 2022. Her research focuses on the human aspects of safety, IT security, and privacy. She holds a background in psychology and completed her dissertation in the interdisciplinary field of Usable Security at TU Darmstadt. As part of ATHENE, the German National Center for Applied Cybersecurity, she worked on several security-related research projects, ranging from usable authentication to privacy-friendly smart-home concepts. At ETH Zurich, her research group investigates how to empower users to become active contributors to security rather than being viewed as “the weakest link.” Current topics include supporting phishing detection, measuring human cybersecurity behaviors, and designing human–AI collaboration in high-stakes cybersecurity environments.
