Dongyan Xu
CERIAS Fellow
Title
Director of CERIAS and Samuel Conte Professor of Computer Science
Department
Office
LWSN 1173, CONV 3800
Office Phone
765 494-6182
Education
B.S. in Computer Science from Zhongshan University (China) and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)
Research Areas
Protection, Management, and Quality of Service of Next Generation Distributed Systems, Multimedia Computing and Networking, Mobile Computing and Networking, Distributed OS and Middleware, QoS Provisioning Issues
Key Areas
Assurable Software and Architecture
Enclave and Nework Security
Notable Experience
Leading a research group called Lab FRIENDS (Lab For Research In Emerging Network and Distributed Services); Served on a number of international conference program committees, inclusing ACM Multimedia, MMCN, and MobiHoc; IEEE ICDCS and INFOCOM.
Notable Awards
2024 Arden L. Bement Jr. Award
Six Seed for Success Awards from Purdue University
CAREER Award from NSF
Eight Best Paper/Student Paper Awards from RAID'08, SOCC'11, ASE'13, USENIX Security'14, CCS'15, NDSS'16, USENIX Security'17, and WOOT'20.
Purdue University Faculty Scholar from 2012 to 2017.
College of Science Undergraduate Advising (2008), Graduate Advising (2014), Leadership (2013, 2016), Research (2015), and Team (2015, 2017) Awards.
C.L. and Jane W-S. Liu Award (UIUC, 2000)
Six Seed for Success Awards from Purdue University
CAREER Award from NSF
Eight Best Paper/Student Paper Awards from RAID'08, SOCC'11, ASE'13, USENIX Security'14, CCS'15, NDSS'16, USENIX Security'17, and WOOT'20.
Purdue University Faculty Scholar from 2012 to 2017.
College of Science Undergraduate Advising (2008), Graduate Advising (2014), Leadership (2013, 2016), Research (2015), and Team (2015, 2017) Awards.
C.L. and Jane W-S. Liu Award (UIUC, 2000)
Notable Affiliations
ACM, IEEE, IEEE Communications Society, e-Enterprise Center at Discovery Park
Publications
B. Saltaformaggio, Z. Gu, X. Zhang, D. Xu, "DSCRETE: Automatic Rendering of Forensic Information from Memory Images via Application Logic Reuse", Proceedings of the 23rd USENIX Security Symposium, August 2014, (Best Student Paper Award)
J. Rhee, R. Riley, Z. Lin, X. Jiang, D. Xu, "Data-Centric OS Kernel Malware Characterization", IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, 9(1), 2014
S. Gamage, C. Xu, R. Kompella, D. Xu, "vPipe: Piped I/O Offloading for Efficient Data Movement in Virtualized Clouds", Proceedings of the 5th ACM Symposium on Cloud Computing (SOCC 2014), November 2014
J. Rhee, R. Riley, Z. Lin, X. Jiang, D. Xu, "Data-Centric OS Kernel Malware Characterization", IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, 9(1), 2014
S. Gamage, C. Xu, R. Kompella, D. Xu, "vPipe: Piped I/O Offloading for Efficient Data Movement in Virtualized Clouds", Proceedings of the 5th ACM Symposium on Cloud Computing (SOCC 2014), November 2014
Biography
Dongyan Xu, the Samuel D. Conte Professor of Computer Science within the College of Science and director of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS).
Xu is a leading authority in cybersecurity, particularly in cyber-physical system (CPS) security. His pioneering research has advanced security frameworks for critical infrastructures and systems, including unmanned aerial systems (UAS), industrial control systems and Internet of Things (IoT) networks. His work has been widely recognized for its impact on national security and real-world applications.
Xu has led research projects totaling more than $28 million from government agencies and industry partners in the past decade. His cross-layer security methodology, which integrates system modeling, vulnerability discovery, attack simulation and system hardening, has led to critical security advancements in CPS environments. His research in UAS security, for example, has identified and mitigated vulnerabilities in widely used autopilot software, benefiting commercial and defense sectors.
His work on IoT security has influenced global standards, revealing critical vulnerabilities in Bluetooth and Controller Area Network bus protocols used in vehicles and industrial automation.
Xu and his colleagues have helped develop security remedies adopted by major technology firms, including Apple, Google and Intel. His cybersecurity methodologies also have played a key role in securing next-generation manufacturing and supply chains through the Department of Energy-sponsored Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII), which he served as vice president for secure automation and supply chains.
Xu has authored over 100 peer-reviewed papers, winning best paper awards at premier cybersecurity conferences. Beyond research, he’s contributed to national cybersecurity policies through the National Science Foundation’s AI Institute for Cyber Threat Intelligence and Operations (ACTION) and cybersecurity R&D strategies for organizations like MITRE Corp., Sandia National Laboratories and Cisco Systems.
Xu is a leading authority in cybersecurity, particularly in cyber-physical system (CPS) security. His pioneering research has advanced security frameworks for critical infrastructures and systems, including unmanned aerial systems (UAS), industrial control systems and Internet of Things (IoT) networks. His work has been widely recognized for its impact on national security and real-world applications.
Xu has led research projects totaling more than $28 million from government agencies and industry partners in the past decade. His cross-layer security methodology, which integrates system modeling, vulnerability discovery, attack simulation and system hardening, has led to critical security advancements in CPS environments. His research in UAS security, for example, has identified and mitigated vulnerabilities in widely used autopilot software, benefiting commercial and defense sectors.
His work on IoT security has influenced global standards, revealing critical vulnerabilities in Bluetooth and Controller Area Network bus protocols used in vehicles and industrial automation.
Xu and his colleagues have helped develop security remedies adopted by major technology firms, including Apple, Google and Intel. His cybersecurity methodologies also have played a key role in securing next-generation manufacturing and supply chains through the Department of Energy-sponsored Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII), which he served as vice president for secure automation and supply chains.
Xu has authored over 100 peer-reviewed papers, winning best paper awards at premier cybersecurity conferences. Beyond research, he’s contributed to national cybersecurity policies through the National Science Foundation’s AI Institute for Cyber Threat Intelligence and Operations (ACTION) and cybersecurity R&D strategies for organizations like MITRE Corp., Sandia National Laboratories and Cisco Systems.