Research

Our faculty members, students, and collaborators are working on research in multiple areas of cybersecurity and systems.

AI, LLM, Incident Detection

• X. Zhang, Y. Song, F. Zuo, X. Qu, and X. Li. "A general vision-language framework for cellular toxicity concentration grading from phase-contrast microscopy", 38th IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI), Boca Raton, USA, 2026

• N. Kadkhodazadeh, O. Leitzell, S. Chand, Y. Song, F. Zuo, C. Wu, and X. Zhang. "IBNet: Inverted bottleneck network for lightweight automatic speech recognition", 24th IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering Research, Management and Applications (SERA), Towson, USA, 2026

• Y. Wang, X. Zhang, Y. Tai, H. Chi, F. Zuo, and S. Jiang. "Z-MFilter: Dual-layer poisoning detection with differentially private gradient uploads for federated learning", IEEE Global Communications Conference (GlobeCom), Macau, China, 2026

• F. Zuo, J. Rhee, Y. Choe, and C. Kim. "Knowledge transfer from LLMs to provenance analysis: Semantic-augmented APT detection", 56th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN) Industry Track, Charlotte, USA, 2026

• S. Thapaliya, G. Qian, and F. Zuo. "Evaluating LLMs for SQL instruction: A comparative study of five commercial models", Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, vol 41, No. 7, 2026

• F. Zuo, G. Qian, F. Li, Y. Song, and X. Zhang. "Generative AI and software development job security: Challenges and insights for computing education", Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, vol 41, No. 6, 2026

• F. Zuo, S. Xu, X. Ma, X. Qu, and X. Li. "The impact of AI advancement on software development labor market: Empirical evidence from the United States", 22nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations, Chania, Greece, 2026

• F. Zuo, J. Rhee, Y. Choe, and H. Chi. "Context-aware embeddings of system events via LLMs towards fine-grained threat detection", 22nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations, Chania, Greece, 2026

• "Few-Shot Learning-Based Cyber Incident Detection with Augmented Context Intelligence", Fei Zuo, Junghwan Rhee, Yung Ryn Choe, Chenglong Fu and Xianshan Qu, in Proceedings of IEEE COMPSAC 2025 Conference, Toronto, Canada, July 2025

• "ChatGPT as an Assembly Language Interpreter for Computing Education", Fei Zuo, Cody Tompkins, Gang Qian, Junghwan Rhee, Xianshan Qu and Bokai Yang, to appear in the 38th CCSC Rocky Mountain Conference 2024, October 2024
• "An Evaluation on the Impact of Large Language Models on Computer Science Curricula", Junghwan Rhee, Aakankshya Shrestha, Gang Qian, Fei Zuo, Jicheng Fu, Myungah Park, Xianshan Qu, Goutam Mylavarapu, Hong Sung, in Proceedingsof the CCSC Northwestern Regional Conference 2024, Salem, Oregon, U.S.A., October 2024

Cybersecurity Education

• F. Zuo, H. Chi, S. Jiang, L. Wu, Y. Song, and X. Zhang. "A systematic review on the impact of generative AI in programming education for novice learners", 27th Annual ACM Conference on Cybersecurity and Information Technology Education (SIGCITE), Wilmington, USA, 2026

• "Student-perspective Observations from the Comparison of Rust and C++ Languages", Josia Scott, Fei Zuo, Junghwan Rhee, to appear in Proceedings of the CCSC Northwestern Regional Conference 2024, Salem, Oregon, U.S.A., October 2024

• "Designing a Security System Administration Course for Cybersecurity with a Companion Project", Fei Zuo, Junghwan Rhee, Myungah Park, Gang Qian, in Proceedings of the 37th CCSC Southeastern Conference 2023, Conway, South Carolina, U.S.A., November 2023

• "A Comprehensive Dataset Towards Hands-on Experience Enhancement in a Research-Involved Cybersecurity Program", Fei Zuo, Junghwan Rhee, Yonghyun Kim, Jeehyun Oh, and Gang Qian, in Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education (SIGITE '23), October, 2023

• “Automating code assessment based on PowerShell for programming courses”, Fei Zuo, Junghwan Rhee, Myung-Ah Park, and Gang Qian in Proceedings of the 21st IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Management and Applications (SERA 2023), Orlando, Florida, May 2023

• "Developing Incident Response-focused Cybersecurity Undergraduate Curricula", Junghwan “John” Rhee, Myungah Park, Fei Zuo, Shuai Zhang, Gang Qian, Goutam Mylavarapu, Hong Sung, Thomas Turner, in Proceedings of the 34th CCSC South Central Conference 2023, Nacogdoches, Texas, U.S.A., March 2023

IoT, Energy Security

• X. Ma, Z. Yin, F. Zuo, H. Chi, and Y. Zhang. "Digital twin administration for communication service provision in Internet of vehicles", 15th IEEE/CIC International Conference on Communications in China (ICCC), Wuhan, China, 2026

• H. Chi, Y. Xu, F. Zuo, R. Zhang, H. Geng, X. Ma, and Y. Wang. "AccSense: IoT device access monitoring across disjoint management channels", IEEE Global Communications Conference (GlobeCom), Macau, China, 2026

• T. Li, H. Chi, F. Zuo, Z. Liu, J. Li, and S. Jiang. "Z-RegStore: A physical-constraint-aware and regulatory-compliant privacy-preserving energy settlement scheme for microgrids", 22nd EAI International Conference on Security and Privacy in Communication Networks (SecureComm), Lancaster, UK, 2026

• J. Li, B. Li, H. Chi, F. Zuo, T. Li, and S. Jiang. "P2NC-DET: A privacy-preserving and network-constrained decentralized energy trading scheme based on blockchain", 22nd EAI International Conference on Security and Privacy in Communication Networks (SecureComm), Lancaster, UK, 2026

• H. Chi, F. Zuo, Z. Sun, H. Geng, Y. Wang, S. Jiang. "PriBSCS: Privacy-preserving distributed coordination for battery swapping and charging systems", Journal of King Saud University Computer and Information Sciences, 2026

• C. Wu, X. Li, L. Luo and Q. Zeng, "Touch to Pair: Secure and Usable IoT Pairing Without Information Loss," in IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 2054-2071, March-April 2026, doi: 10.1109/TDSC.2025.3624057

Incident Analysis and Response

• F. Li, F. Zuo, and G. Gupta. "Logic-driven cybersecurity: A novel framework for system log anomaly detection using answer set programming", 22nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations, Chania, Greece, 2026

• "An Empirical Study on the Multi-Stage Nature of APT Attacks in Cloud Computing", Fei Zuo, Junghwan Rhee, Shuaibing Lu, Yuqi Song, Xin Zhang, in Proceedings of 22nd IEEE International Conference on Mobile Ad-Hoc and Smart Systems (MASS), EIVN Workshop, Chicago, USA, October 2025

• "ProvSec: Cybersecurity System Provenance Analysis Benchmark Dataset", Madhukar Shrestha, Yonghyun Kim, Jeehyun Oh, Junghwan Rhee, Yung Ryn Choe, Fei Zuo, Myung-Ah Park and Gang Qian in Proceeding of 21st IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Management and Applications (SERA 2023), Orlando, FL, U.S.A., May 2023

• "ProvSec: Cybersecurity System Provenance Analysis Benchmark Dataset", Madhukar Shrestha, Yonghyun Kim, Jeehyun Oh, Junghwan Rhee, Yung Ryn Choe, Fei Zuo, Myung-Ah Park and Gang Qian in Proceeding of International Journal of Networked and Distributed Computing (IJNDC 2023), 11/15/2023 Dataset Download link

• "BinSimDB: Benchmark Dataset Construction for Fine-Grained Binary Code Similarity Analysis", Fei Zuo, Cody Tompkins, Qiang Zeng, Lannan Luo, Yung Ryn Choe, Junghwan Rhee, to appear in Proceedings of the 20th EAI International Conference on Security and Privacy in Communication Networks (SecureComm 2024), October 28, 2024 Dataset Download link

Software Security

• "GrizzlyBay: Retroactive SBOM With Automated Identification for Legacy Binaries", Junghwan Rhee, Fei Zuo, Yung Ryn Choe, Cody Tompkins, Jeehyun Oh, to appear in the IEEE Military Communications Conference 2024 (MILCOM 2024)
• "Context Matters: Investigating Its Impact on ChatGPT’s Bug Fixing Performance", Xianshan Qu, Fei Zuo, Xiaopeng Li and Junghwan Rhee, to appear in Proceedings of the 22nd IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Management and Applications (SERA 2024)
• "Vulnerability discovery based on source code patch commit mining: A systematic literature review", Fei Zuo and Junghwan Rhee, International Journal of Information Security (IJIS), 2024, to appear.
• “Commit Message Can Help: Security Patch Detection in Open Source Software via Transformer”, Fei Zuo, Xin Zhang, Yuqi Song, Junghwan Rhee, Jicheng Fu in Proceedings of the 21st IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Management and Applications (SERA 2023), Orlando, Florida, May 2023

Cloud Computing Security

• "Balance-aware Cost-efficient Routing in the Payment Channel Network", Suhan Jiang, Jie Wu, Fei Zuo and Alessandro Mei in Proceeding of 21st IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Management and Applications (SERA 2023), Orlando, FL, U.S.A., May 2023

Energy Infrastructure Security

• "Goaltender: Cloud-Based Defense and Response Tools for the DER Ecosystem", Yung Ryn Choe, Dalton A. Brucker-Hahn, George Fragkos, Keshav Sreekumar, Bailey Nelson, Alexander Safonov, Aisha B Rahman, Sean Tsikteris, Md Sadman Siraj, Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou, Jorge Pineda, Jay Johnson, Brian Tansy, Kyu Hyung Lee, Junghwan Rhee, Resilience Week, October 2024

Game Systems and Education

• "A Survey and Insights on Modern Game Development Processes for Software Engineering Education", Aakankshya Shrestha, Fei Zuo, Gang Qian and Junghwan Rhee, to appear in the 33rd SEDE Conference: Software & Data Engineering (SEDE-2024), San Diego, California, October 2024.