Zhiyan Chen

Cybersecurity researcher, AI specialist, and software engineer with a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Ottawa and extensive academic and industry experience. Expertise in AI-driven cybersecurity, adversarial Machine Learning, Federated Learning, blockchain security, and network/email security. As a Research Assistant at the Smart Connected Vehicles Innovation Centre and NEXTCON Research Lab, I worked on mobile crowdsensing (NSERC-funded) and 5G security (ENCQOR-funded in collaboration with Ciena). Currently, as a Senior Software QA Engineer at Fortinet, I specialize in network security, AI-driven email threat detection, and penetration testing. My research has been published in IEEE, ACM, and other top-tier venues, earning the Best Paper Award at IEEE Globecom 2021. I have also served as a Teaching Assistant at the University of Ottawa, contributing to courses in cybersecurity, network security, and AI-driven security solutions.

• Best Paper Award @ 2021 IEEE GLOBECOM
• N2Women Fellowship @ 2021 IEEE ICC
• Guanghua Scholarship in 2011
• Shanghai University First-Class Scholarship in 2006 and 2008
• Shanghai University Second-Class Scholarship in 2007
• Robocup Rescue Simulation League China, Third prize in 2007

Patent:

• Chen, Zhiyan, Murat Simsek, Burak Kantarci, Petar Djukic, Mehran Bagheri, Jinxin Liu, and Yu Shen. "Machine learning detection of network attacks using traffic and log information." U.S. Patent 12,132,748, issued October 29, 2024.
• Zhiyan Chen, Murat Simsek, Burak Kantarci, Petar Djukic, et al., "All Predict Wisest Decides: A Novel Ensemble Method to Detect Intrusive Traffic in IoT Networks", provisional patent
• Song, Tao, Zhen Wei, Fabio Malaspina, Hongrui Li, and Zhiyan Chen. "PLD editor and method for editing PLD code." U.S. Patent 9,805,153, issued October 31, 2017

Article - Journal：

• Zhiyan Chen, Murat simsek, Burak Kantarci, Mehran Bagheri, Petar Djukic. "Machine Learning-Enabled Hybrid Intrusion Detection System with Host Data Transformation and an Advanced Two-Stage Classifier", Elsevier Computer Networks(2024): 110576.
• Zhiyan Chen, Omer Melih Gul, Burak Kantarci. "Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance-based Robustness for Mobile Crowdsensing", ACM Distributed Ledger Technologies: Research and Practice 2.2 (2023): 1-24
• Zhiyan Chen, Jinxin Liu, Yu Shen, Murat Simsek, Burak Kantarci, Hussein T. Mouftah, Peter Djukic. "Machine Learning-Enabled IoT Security: Open Issues and Challenges Under Advanced Persistent Threats”, ACM Computing Surveys, 55.5 (2022): 1-37
• Zhiyan Chen, Claudio Fiandrino, and Burak Kantarci. "On Blockchain Integration into Mobile Crowdsensing via Smart Embedded Devices: A Comprehensive Survey”, Journal of Systems Architecture 115 (2021): 102011
• Hua Wang, Xiaojin Zhu, Shouwei Gao, Zhiyan Chen. "Singular Observer Approach For Chaotic Synchronization and Private Communication", Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, Vol.16, No.3, pp: 1517-1523,2011.03

Article - Conference Paper:

• Zhiyan Chen, Murat Simsek, Poonam Poonam Lohan, Burak Kantarci, and Petar Djukic. “All Predict Cost Efficiency and Latency Reduction”, GLOBECOM 2024 IEEE Global Communications Conference. IEEE, 2024
• Zhiyan Chen, and Burak Kantarci. "Generative Adversarial Network-Driven Detection of Adversarial Tasks in Mobile Crowdsensing”, ICC 2022 IEEE International Conference on Communications.
• Zhiyan Chen, Murat Simsek, Burak Kantarci and Peter Djukic. "All Predict Wisest Decides: A Novel Ensemble Method to Detect Intrusive Traffic in IoT Networks”, GLOBECOM 2021 IEEE Global Communications Conference IEEE, 2021. (BEST PAPER AWARD)
• Zhiyan Chen, Murat Simsek, and Burak Kantarci. “Federated Learning-Based Risk-Aware Decision to Mitigate Fake Task Impacts on Crowdsensing Platforms”, ICC 2021 IEEE International Conference on Communications. IEEE, 2021.
• Zhiyan Chen, and Burak Kantarci. "Adversarial Machine Learning-Driven Fake Task Anticipation in Mobile Crowdsensing Systems”, SOSE 2021 IEEE International Conference on Service-Oriented System Engineering. IEEE, 2021.
• Zhiyan Chen, Yueqian Zhang, Murat Simsek, and Burak Kantarci. "Deep Belief Network-based Fake Task Mitigation for Mobile Crowdsensing Under Data Scarcity”, ICC 2020 IEEE International Conference on Communications. IEEE, 2020.
• Zhiyan Chen, Murat Simsek, and Burak Kantarci. "Region-aware Bagging and Deep Learning-based Fake Task Detection in Mobile Crowdsensing Platforms”, GLOBECOM 2020 IEEE Global Communications Conference. IEEE, 2020.
• Zhiyan Chen, Zhiyuan Gao, Xiaojun Wu，Xiaojin Zhu. “Experimental Research and Verification for Coullet Chaos System", IEEE 2010 International Conference on Natural Computation, Vol.6，PP: 3040-3044
• Zhu Xiaojin, Zhao Miao, Gao Zhiyuan, Chen Zhiyan. “Analysis of Active Vibration Control for Piezoelectric Intelligent Structures by ANSYS and MATLAB", 2010 International Conference on Computer Application and System Modeling, Volume.4, PP: 184-188, 2010.10.22

• Dr. Burak Kantarci, University of Ottawa, Burak.kantarci@uottawa.ca
• Dr. Petros Spachos, University of Guelph, petros@uoguelph.ca
• Dr. Berk Canberk, Edinburgh Napier University, b.canberk@napier.ac.uk