Department of Computer Science and Engineering
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Email: daoyuan [at] cse.ust.hk
; dywu [at] ie.cuhk.edu.hk
Gmail: daoyuan0x
ORCID |
DBLP |
Google Scholar
I am currently a Research Assistant Professor at HKUST CSE, with duties for research, teaching, and grant applications. Prior to joining HKUST, I was a Senior Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University for one year and a Senior Researcher at Huawei HKRC for six months. Before that, I spent three years as a fully independent Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Engineering (IE) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). I also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at CUHK IE for one year, from 2022 to 2023. Before joining CUHK, I earned Ph.D. in 2019 from Singapore Management University in the School of Computing and Information Systems. My PhD study was generously supported by the Secure Mobile Center PhD Scholarship (as the sole awardee; plus the GRE requirement was waived). Before pursuing my PhD, I received M.Phil. from Department of Computing at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2015 and B.E. from Department of Information Security at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications in 2011.
I am always looking for students with persistence and curiosity in AI/LLM;Quantum/Crypto;Blockchain/PL to join AIS2Lab.
Positions available:
I currently have one PhD student quota and several grants to support PhD/MPhil/RAs/PostDoc. Pls contact me if you are self-motivated, hard-working, and aiming for an academic career exploring meaningful problems.
I especially welcome talented UG students for MPhil and can train and recommend you for PhD studies at top universities.
For strong PhD applicants, I encourage you to try HKPFS. I also welcome international students for Belt & Road Scholarship.
Large Language Model and AI Security: LLMs for Cybersecurity; Security of LLMs; AI Safety.
AI/LLM4Sec:
CTFAgent [CCS'25],
G2Fuzz [USENIX'25],
PropertyGPT [NDSS'25, 🏆],
iAudit [ICSE'25],
DecLLM [ISSTA'25],
GPTScan [ICSE'24],
ML4AWI [CSUR'24],
SideNet [TII'21],
LLM4Vuln [arXiv'24],
ACFix [arXiv'24],
and
PTM4AWI [arXiv'24].
AI/LLM-Sec:
FinetuneDataExtraction [CCS'25],
SelfDefend [USENIX'25],
HEDiff [ICSE'25],
LLMImitation [ICSE'24],
GuidedBench [arXiv'25],
STShield [arXiv'25],
BadMoE [arXiv'25],
and
MASLeak [arXiv'25].
AI/LLMQuality:
DataScope [OOPSLA'25],
Portia [EMNLP'24Main],
PDoctor [arXiv'24],
MLM4VDL [arXiv'24],
and
VRPTEST [arXiv'23].
AI/LLM4Edu:
ContractTester [one UGC-funded TLIP grant]
and
iExam [two UGC-funded courseware grants].
Blockchain and Web3 Security: Chain & DeFi Security, Consensus Security, Transaction Compliance.
Blockchain:
BlockScope [NDSS'23],
MineBlockVuln [FSE'22],
and
AGChain [DLT'24; funded by CUHK Direct Grant].
Consensus:
An ongoing work supported by a Blockchain Academic Research Award 🏆.
Contracts:
ZepScope [USENIX'24]
and
SoMo [ISSTA'23].
LLM-related are listed above.
Transactions:
DeFiScope [arXiv'25].
Mobile and Software Security: Static/Dynamic/Vulnerability/Malware/Privacy Analysis; EdgeAI Security.
Mobile:
MtdScout [EuroS&P'24],
BackDroid [DSN'21; very creative tech, taking years of R&D],
Insecure Open Ports [NDSS'19],
DSDK Inconsistency [EMSE'21, WASA'17],
Insecure PendingIntents [Blackhat Europe'21],
IABI Usability Insecurity [RAID'21],
VoIP Fuzzing [DIMVA'20],
MineAndroVuln [AsiaCCS'19],
SCLib [CODASPY'18],
UpDroid [WiSec'18],
Remote Webview [MoST'15],
Local Webview File:// [ISC'14],
App Repackaging [TDSC'21],
Native Stack [ICISC'15],
and
ECVDetector [arXiv'14].
Software:
GGen [PLDI'25]
and
LiCA [RAID'22].
LLM-related are listed above.
I am also interested in measuring mobile network performance and web privacy leaks.
MopEye [ATC'17], MopEye Dataset [IWQoS'19], Speedtest Inaccuracy [INFOCOM'15, TMC'17], and AcuteMon [CoNEXT'16].
P41 |
Measuring and Augmenting Large Language Models for Solving Capture-the-Flag Challenges CCS '25 |
P40 |
Differentiation-Based Extraction of Proprietary Data from Fine-tuned LLMs CCS '25 |
P39 |
Leakage-Resilient Easily Deployable and Efficiently Searchable Encryption (EDESE) SACMAT '25 |
P38 |
Divergence-aware Testing of Graphics Shader Compiler Back-ends PLDI '25 |
P37 |
DecLLM: LLM-Augmented Recompilable Decompilation for Enabling Programmatic Use of Decompiled Code ISSTA '25 |
P36 |
API-guided Dataset Synthesis to Finetune Large Code Models OOPSLA '25 |
P35 |
SelfDefend: LLMs Can Defend Themselves against Jailbreaking in a Practical Manner USENIX Security '25 |
P34 |
Low-Cost and Comprehensive Non-textual Input Fuzzing with LLM-Synthesized Input Generators USENIX Security '25 |
P33 |
PropertyGPT: LLM-driven Formal Verification of Smart Contracts through Retrieval-Augmented Property Generation NDSS '25 🏆 |
P32 |
Testing and Understanding Deviation Behaviors in FHE-hardened Machine Learning Models ICSE '25 |
P31 |
Combining Fine-tuning and LLM-based Agents for Intuitive Smart Contract Auditing with Justifications ICSE '25 |
P30 |
AGChain: A Blockchain-based Gateway for Trustworthy App Delegation from Mobile App Markets DLT '24 |
P29 |
Split and Merge: Aligning Position Biases in LLM-based Evaluators EMNLP '24 Main |
P28 |
Machine Learning for Actionable Warning Identification: A Comprehensive Survey CSUR '24 |
P27 |
Using My Functions Should Follow My Checks: Understanding and Detecting Insecure OpenZeppelin Code in Smart Contracts USENIX Security '24 |
P26 |
MtdScout: Complementing the Identification of Insecure Methods in Android Apps via Source-to-Bytecode Signature Generation and Tree-based Layered Search EuroS&P '24 |
P25 |
GPTScan: Detecting Logic Vulnerabilities in Smart Contracts by Combining GPT with Program Analysis ICSE '24 |
P24 |
On Extracting Specialized Code Abilities from Large Language Models: A Feasibility Study ICSE '24 |
P23 |
Beyond “Protected” and “Private”: An Empirical Security Analysis of Custom Function Modifiers in Smart Contracts ISSTA '23 |
P22 |
BlockScope: Detecting and Investigating Propagated Vulnerabilities in Forked Blockchain Projects NDSS '23 |
P21 |
An Empirical Study of Blockchain System Vulnerabilities: Modules, Types, and Patterns FSE '22 |
P20 |
LiCA: A Fine-grained and Path-sensitive Linux Capability Analysis Framework RAID '22 |
P19 |
On the Usability (In)Security of In-App Browsing Interfaces in Mobile Apps RAID '21 |
P18 |
When Program Analysis Meets Bytecode Search: Targeted and Efficient Inter-procedural Analysis of Modern Android Apps in BackDroid DSN '21 |
P17 |
Active Warden Attack: On the (In)Effectiveness of Android App Repackage-Proofing TDSC '21 |
P16 |
Deep-Learning-Based App Sensitive Behavior Surveillance for Android Powered Cyber-Physical Systems TII '21 |
P15 |
Scalable Online Vetting of Android Apps for Measuring Declared SDK Versions and Their Consistency with API Calls EMSE '21 |
P14 |
Understanding Android VoIP Security: A System-level Vulnerability Assessment DIMVA '20 |
P13 |
Towards Understanding Android System Vulnerabilities: Techniques and Insights AsiaCCS '19 |
P12 |
An Empirical Study of Mobile Network Behavior and Application Performance in the Wild IWQoS '19 |
P11 |
Understanding Open Ports in Android Applications: Discovery, Diagnosis, and Security Assessment NDSS '19 |
P10 |
Towards Dynamically Monitoring Android Applications on Non-rooted Devices in the Wild WiSec '18 |
P9 |
SCLib: A Practical and Lightweight Defense against Component Hijacking in Android Applications CODASPY '18 |
P8 |
MopEye: Opportunistic Monitoring of Per-app Mobile Network Performance USENIX ATC '17 |
P7 |
Toward Accurate Network Delay Measurement on Android Phones TMC '17 |
P6 |
Measuring the Declared SDK Versions and Their Consistency with API Calls in Android Apps WASA '17 |
P5 |
Demystifying and Puncturing the Inflated Delay in Smartphone-based WiFi Network Measurement CoNEXT '16 |
P4 |
Stack Layout Randomization with Minimal Rewriting of Android Binaries ICISC '15 |
P3 |
On the Accuracy of Smartphone-based Mobile Network Measurement INFOCOM '15 |
P2 |
Indirect File Leaks in Mobile Applications MoST '15 |
P1 |
Analyzing Android Browser Apps for file:// Vulnerabilities ISC '14 |
R15 |
IP Leakage Attacks Targeting LLM-Based Multi-Agent Systems arXiv '25 |
R14 |
BadMoE: Backdooring Mixture-of-Experts LLMs via Optimizing Routing Triggers and Infecting Dormant Experts arXiv '25 |
R13 |
STShield: Single-Token Sentinel for Real-Time Jailbreak Detection in Large Language Models arXiv '25 |
R12 |
GuidedBench: Equipping Jailbreak Evaluation with Guidelines arXiv '25 |
R11 |
DeFiScope: Detecting Various DeFi Price Manipulations with LLM Reasoning arXiv '25 |
R10 |
Testing and Understanding Erroneous Planning in LLM Agents through Synthesized User Inputs arXiv '24 |
R9 |
How Multi-Modal LLMs Reshape Visual Deep Learning Testing? A Comprehensive Study Through the Lens of Image Mutation arXiv '24 |
R8 |
ACFix: Guiding LLMs with Mined Common RBAC Practices for Context-Aware Repair of Access Control Vulnerabilities in Smart Contracts arXiv '24 |
R7 |
Pre-trained Model-based Actionable Warning Identification: A Feasibility Study arXiv '24 |
R6 |
LLMs Can Defend Themselves Against Jailbreaking in a Practical Manner: A Vision Paper arXiv '24 |
R5 |
LLM4Vuln: A Unified Evaluation Framework for Decoupling and Enhancing LLMs' Vulnerability Reasoning arXiv '24 |
R4 |
VRPTEST: Evaluating Visual Referring Prompting in Large Multimodal Models arXiv '23 |
R3 |
iExam: A Novel Online Exam Monitoring and Analysis System Based on Face Detection and Recognition arXiv '22 |
R2 |
MopEye: Monitoring Per-app Network Performance with Zero Measurement Traffic CoNEXT '15 Poster |
R1 |
A Sink-driven Approach to Detecting Exposed Component Vulnerabilities in Android Apps arXiv '14 |
T8 |
Discovering and Investigating Propagated Vulnerabilities from Ethereum to Its Layer-2 Blockchains HITBSecConf '24 |
T7 |
构建基于大模型的智能漏洞审计引擎 AI Con HK 2024 |
T6 |
Proof-of-Work vs. Proof-of-Stake: Insights into Fairness and Governance Sustainability from the Blockchain World Business Sustainability Conference '23 |
T5 |
Re-route Your Intent for Privilege Escalation: A Universal Way to Exploit Android PendingIntents in High-profile and System Apps Blackhat Europe '21 |
T4 |
Leveraging Automatic Face Recognition for Online Exam Monitoring and Analysis CUHK Expo '21 |
T3 |
Boosting Android Security through App-, Network-, and System-level Vulnerability Analysis NJUPT Keynote '19 |
T2 |
Cross-Platform Analysis of Indirect File Leaks in Android and iOS Applications HitCon Pacific '17 |
T1 |
On the Feasibility of Automatically Generating Android Component Hijacking Exploits HitCon '14 |
2025 Spring - COMP4541 Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Smart Contracts: homepage (within UST) and mirror website.
2022 Fall - IEMS5710 Cryptography, Information Security and Privacy: homepage (within CUHK) and mirror website (public).
2021 Fall - IERG4130 Introduction to Cyber Security: homepage (within CUHK) and mirror website (public).
Received the Best Teaching Award of the MScIE Programme 2020-2021.
2021 Spring - IEMS5722 Mobile Network Programming and Distributed Server Architecture: homepage and mirror website.
2020 Fall - IEMS5710 Cryptography, Information Security and Privacy: homepage (within CUHK) and mirror website (public).
2019 Fall - IEMS5710 Cryptography, Information Security and Privacy: homepage (within CUHK) and mirror website (public).
PhD Students:
Officially advised: Dr. Xiao Yi (2019 - 2023 at CUHK; First job: researcher at Huawei Hong Kong Research Centre).
Unofficially co-advised: Dr. Han Liu (Apr 2023 - Jun 2024 at NTU; First job: postdoc at UST, co-hosted with Prof. Shuai Wang).
Unofficially co-advising: Zicheng Zhang (at SMU since Apr 2020, with gap years; I served as his External Committee Member), Yuqiang Sun (at NTU since Mar 2023), and a group of PhD students at the HKUST Cybersecurity Lab led by Prof. Shuai Wang.
Research Assistants:
Juantao Zhong (at UST/SZ Research Institute since Sep 2024), Wenxin Luo (expect to join in Sep 2025), Sheng Zhang (expect to join in Nov 2025), Yufan Chen (at CityU SZ Research Institute since Feb 2025, co-advised by Prof. Ning Liu), Huinian Yang (remote collaboration since April 2025), Yixuan Yang (remote collaboration since June 2025), and Haoyuan Li (remote collaboration starting from Aug 2025). I am looking for one more full-time RA who (tries to) understand(s) LLM internals.
Senior Security Expert: Yue Xue (Apr 2023 - Apr 2024 at MetaTrust Labs; Next: OKX).
Yuzhou Fang (2021 - 2022 at CUHK; Next: PhD student at USC), Mengjie Chen (2020 - 2021 at CUHK; Next: Mask Network).
Undergraduate Students:
Zimo Ji (at HKUST from May 2024 to May 2025, co-advised with Prof. Shuai Wang).
Yufan Chen (2021 - 2022 at Xidian; Next: SMU), Xu Yang (2021 - 2022 at CUHK; Next: ASTRI).
One FYT (2025-26) student at HKUST, Rulin Chen, who works on Formalizing Consensus Protocols.
Three FYP (2020-22) students at CUHK and Two Co-op FYP (2024-25) students at HKUST.
MSc Students (at CUHK):
2019 - 2020: Mengjie Chen (DLT'24; Next: CUHK), Lixiang Li (RAID'21; Next: miHoYo), Ming Fang (helped EuroS&P'24; Next: Alibaba), Weiyan Xiong (helped FSE'22; Next: SAP China).
2020 - 2021: Yan Wu (EuroS&P'24; Next: Morgan Stanley China), Siqin Li (explored FPS security).
2021 - 2022: Lu Zhang (helped MagicCrypto; Next: OKX Hong Kong).
Singapore:
Chair Prof. Yang Liu (hosted my Senior Research Fellow position at NTU); Prof. Debin Gao (my PhD advisor); Chair Prof. Robert Deng (my PhD co-advisor); Chair Prof. David Lo; Prof. Lingxiao Jiang; Assoc Prof. Yi Li; Assoc Prof. Shang-Wei Lin; Asst Prof. Xiaofei Xie.
Hong Kong SAR:
Assoc Prof. Shuai Wang (hosted my RAP position at UST, with support from university’s matching fund); Assoc Prof. Ning Liu; Prof. Kehuan Zhang; Prof. Xiapu Luo (my MPhil co-advisor at PolyU).
USA:
Prof. Rocky K. C. Chang (my MPhil advisor at PolyU, who has retired and is now based in the US); Ripple Prof. Yingjiu Li; Assoc Prof. Ricky K. P. Mok; Prof. Jun Li.
Europe:
Mainland China:
Assoc Prof. Haoyu Ma; Assoc Prof. Weichao Li; Prof. Chunfu Jia; Prof. Haijun Wang; Prof. Cuiyun Gao; Prof. Wei Zhang; Prof. Guojun Peng; Prof. Huanguo Zhang; Prof. Jianting Ning; Prof. Xin Xia; Prof. Zhenyu Chen; Prof. Zhihong Zhao; Assoc Prof. Chunrong Fang; Assoc Prof. Xiuting Ge; Assoc Prof. Yan Lin; Assoc Prof. Shangqing Liu.
Conference Program Committee:
USENIX Security 2026, NDSS 2026, CCS 2025 (Blockchain track), USENIX Security 2025, NDSS 2025, ISSTA 2025, ICSE 2025, CCS 2024 (Software track), ACSAC 2024, RAID 2024, AsiaCCS 2024, ICICS 2024, RAID 2023, ICICS 2023, ICICS 2021, and NOMS 2018.
Conference Shepherd:
NDSS 2025 (for this paper), CCS 2024 (for this paper), RAID 2023 (for this paper), and ICICS 2021 (for this paper).
Workshop Program Committee:
SVM 2025 (co-located with ICSE 2025) and AISTA 2024 (co-located with ISSRE 2024).
Journal Reviewer:
ACM Transactions on Privacy and Security, ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, Computers & Security, Journal of Systems and Software, Journal of Information Security and Applications, IEEE Systems Journal, Cybersecurity, etc.
My calendar of security conferences: academia and industry. Recently used: CCF Conference Deadlines.
I was maintaining a list of interesting computer security papers and a list of mobile app related software engineering papers.
Security Journals: TIFS (special issues), TDSC (special issues), Computers & Security (special issues), TISSEC, and JCS.
Top Journals (our next targets): Nature Communications, PNAS, Science, and Nature.
Storytelling 101: Writing Tips for Academics (by Nick Feamster).
Top Publication Venues in Computer Science (by Andrew Myers).
ArnetMiner CS Rank: conference rank and organization rank.
CCF Conference and Journal Rankings: AI, Security, Networking, System, and Software Engineering.
Google Scholar Metrics in AI, Computer Security, Computing Systems, Computer Networks, and Software Systems.