About Me

I’m Phillip Stephens, a software engineer with the Empirical Security Research Group at Stanford University under Zakir Durumeric. I'm interested in the intersection of networks, security, and privacy.

I develop and maintain open-source internet scanning tools including a high-speed L4 port scanner, ZMap, and a performant DNS scanner, ZDNS.

As the only full-time developer on these projects, it's been a great experience improving these tools for both users and contributors, as well as interacting with the community of academic, industry, and non-profit research groups utilizing them. Finally, it's been an incredibly fulfilling experience mentoring several undergraduate and graduate students in their research looking at UDP service discovery, DNS vulnerability scanning, and DNSSEC adoption.

Outside of work, I love getting outside for a nice hike, trying new recipes, checking out a cozy local coffee shop, or grabbing drinks with friends. Please reach out with the linked socials, always up for a coffee and chat!

Publications

Ten Years of ZMap [pdf]
- ACM Internet Measurement Conference, Novermber 2024, Madrid, Spain
- Zakir Durumeric, David Adrian, Phillip Stephens, Eric Wustrow, and J. Alex Halderman

Talks

Ten Years of ZMap
- ACM Internet Measurement Conference, November 2024, Madrid, Spain [Slides]