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Ziming Zhao
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I am an associate professor in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. I direct the CyberspACe securiTy and forensIcs lab (CactiLab). My research interests are in Systems and Software Security, Network and Web Security, and Human-centric Security. I am a recipient of the Test-of-Time Paper Award at SACMAT 2024 and Best/Distinguished Paper Awards at USENIX Security 2019, ACM AsiaCCS 2022, ACM CODASPY 2014, and ITU Kaleidoscope 2016. I earned my PhD in Computer Science from Arizona State University, and before that, I completed my bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
My research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C), the Department of Defense (DoD), two Amazon Research Awards, and gifts from Octavo Systems. I am a recipient of an NSF CAREER award and an NSF CRII award. I was a visiting faculty at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) in 2020/2021.
I am the faculty advisor and the founder of the CTF teams Cacti (all kinds of CTFs) and TigerBytes (hardware CTFs).
I have multiple RA openings starting Fall 2026. See my ads.
Awards and Recognitions
- University at Buffalo Teaching Innovation Award, 2024
- ACM SACMAT Test-of-time Paper Award, 2024
- NSF CAREER Award, 2023
- 2nd Place in UB Russell L. Agrusa CSE Innovation Competition, 2023
- ACM AsiaCCS Best Paper Award, 2022
- UB CSE Early Career Faculty Teaching Award, 2022
- UB CSE Career Initiation Award, 2021
- NSF CRII Award, 2021
- USENIX Security Distingushed Paper Award, 2019
- ITU Kaleidoscope Best Paper Award, 2016
- 3rd place Extreme Networks SDN Innovation Challenge, 2015
- ACM CODASPY Best Paper Award, 2014
Teaching
- Fall 2025, NEU CS 3650 Computer Systems
- Spring 2025, NEU CY 5770 Software Vulnerabilities and Security
- Fall 2024, NEU CY 5770 Software Vulnerabilities and Security Student Evaluation: 4.9/5
- Spring 2024, UB CSE 712 Seminar: Microcontroller Systems Security
- Fall 2023, UB CSE 410/518 Software Security Student Evaluation: 5/5 (410), 4.8/5 (518)
- Spring 2023, UB CSE 410/565 Computer Security Student Evaluation: 4.8/5 (410), 4.3/5 (565)
- Fall 2022, UB CSE 410/510 Software Security. Student Evaluation: 4.8/5
- Spring 2022, UB CSE 410/510 Software Security. Student Evaluation: 4.4/5
- Fall 2021, UB CSE 410/510 Software Security. Student Evaluation: 4.8/5
- Spring 2021, UB CSE 703 Seminar: Advanced Software Security - Techniques and Tools
- Fall 2020, UB CSE 610 Special Topics: System Security - Attack and Defense for Binaries. Student Evaluation: 4.8/5
- Spring 2020, RIT CSEC 741 Internet of Things Security.
- Fall 2019, RIT CSEC 659 Seminar in Computing Security: Trusted Computing and Trusted Execution. Student Evaluation: 4.5/5
- Spring 2019, RIT CSEC 741 Sensor and SCADA Security. Student Evaluation: 4.45/5
- Fall 2018, RIT CSEC 750 Covert Communications.
- Spring 2018, ASU CSE 469 Computer and Network Forensics.
- Spring 2017, ASU CSE 469 Computer and Network Forensics. Student Evaluation: 4.49/5
- Fall 2016, ASU CSE 468 Computer Network Security. Student Evaluation: 4.49/5
Selected Publications
For the full list of publications, please refer to CactiLab Website.
Ph.D. Graduates
- Md Armanuzzaman Dissertation: Augmenting and Utilizing Trusted Execution Environments For Embedded System Security. University at Buffalo. 2024. (Assistant Professor at University of Texas at El Paso)
- Xi Tan Dissertation: Control-flow Security For Microcontroller-based Systems. University at Buffalo. 2024. (Assistant Professor at University of Colorado Colorado Springs)
- Wonkyu Han Dissertation: Policy-driven Network Defense for Software Defined Networks. Arizona State University. 2016. (Co-advised with Prof. Gail-Joon Ahn)
Last updated 11/2025