Computer Science Seminar - University of Houston
Skip to main content

Computer Science Seminar

Fault-Based Testing of Combining Algorithms in Access Control Language Policies

When: Monday, November 9, 2015
Where: PGH 232
Time: 11:00 AM

Speaker: Dr. Yunpeng (Jack) Zhang, Department of Information & Logistics Technology, University of Houston

Host: Prof. Stephen Huang

In the last few years, there were many cyber-attacks against government and financial databanks raising public awareness about the seriousness of cybersecurity. Access control is an important field of cybersecurity. Despite a lot of the advancements made in access control policy development, faults are still pervasive and diagnosis of policy failures remains an active research area. As a powerful Access Control Language, XACML 3.0 offers a number of combining algorithms for flexible policy composition. Due to the variety and complexity of combining algorithms, however, it is not uncommon to misuse them, which can lead to denial of legitimate access or grant of unauthorized access. To solve this problem, Dr. Zhang’s work focus on an effective and efficient approach to detecting and correcting misuses of combining algorithms in XACML 3.0 policies. This approach not only guarantees the detection of misuses but also provides efficient algorithms.

Bio:

Currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information & Logistics Technology, Dr. Zhang has worked for several universities, including the Boise State University (U.S.), University of Melbourne (Australia) and Imperial College London (U.K.). Dr. Zhang's research interests include cybersecurity and software engineering. He has invented more than 30 high- performance/security new algorithms/methods, and developed 8 software systems. He has published 49 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conference, 5 books and 3 books chapters. He also holds 4 patents. He is keen to incorporate his research into existing or new courses/projects while cooperating with industrial partners on pioneering research. Dr. Zhang is equally dedicated to academic service and has participated in more than 20 international conferences - serving 2 times as IPC, 4 times as session chair and once as a keynote Speaker. A dedicated teacher, he won a prestigious teaching award and has guided more than 50 students onto successful careers.