M. Angela Sasse is widely regarded as a pioneer in her field – she has now been honored with a Festschrift by the University College London. This traditional academic tribute was conferred in London on 31 March 2026. Colleagues, students, and industry partners gathered to celebrate her scientific career. The event also coincided with a significant stage in her career, as Angela Sasse approaches retirement from UCL after more than three decades in Computer Science.
Angela Sasse has a long-standing history with UCL: she began her academic career there in 1990 as a lecturer. Today, she is Professor of Human-Centered Security at Ruhr-Universität Bochum as well as Professor of Human-Centered Technology at UCL. In recent years, her research has focused particularly on empirical studies of how large organizations manage cybersecurity risks, especially with regard to the human factor.
In the UCL press release states:
Historically, the cybersecurity industry viewed users as the “weakest link”. Sasse rejected this view. Her defining work, the 1990 paper “Users are Not the Enemy” co-authored with her UCL PHD student Anne Adams, catalysed the usable security movement.
The paper proved that overly burdensome security measures, such as complex password rules, forced employees to adopt insecure practices to complete their daily tasks. Adams and Sasse showed that flawed design, not malicious intent or carelessness, caused these operational risks.
The Festschrift is also available on Amazon.