Ilenia Mercuri
Papers
1
Total Citations
13
H-Index
1
About
Ilenia Mercuri is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of cybersecurity, social engineering, and human-robot interaction. Her work critically examines how social robots—increasingly embedded in daily life—can be exploited as vectors for psychological manipulation and information security breaches. In her landmark 2020 paper, "Social Robot Interactions for Social Engineering: Opportunities and Open Issues" (13 citations), Mercuri systematically mapped the vulnerabilities where robotic trust and human compliance converge, identifying novel attack surfaces that traditional cybersecurity frameworks overlook. This foundational contribution has shaped emerging discourse on robot-mediated social engineering, influencing both defensive design principles and ethical guidelines for autonomous systems. Mercuri’s research is notable for bridging technical security analysis with behavioral psychology, offering a holistic view of how robotic presence alters human decision-making under social pressure. Her work has been recognized for its timely relevance as robots enter homes, schools, and public spaces, making her a key voice in the responsible deployment of social robotics. For students and researchers, Mercuri’s scholarship provides a critical lens on the hidden risks of our increasingly automated social world.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
- 1