Biography
Youqian is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and he is also associated with Applied Security, Trust And Privacy Lab for Enterprise (ASTAPLE) and Photonics Research Institute (PRI). He earned his DPhil from the University of Oxford under the supervision of Professor Kasper Rasmussen. Before that, he completed his Master's degree at Imperial College London, working under the guidance of Professor Danilo Mandic, and his Bachelor's degree at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, mentored by Professor Chao Lu.
Youqian's research is driven by a vision to advance technology to make the world better for everyone. His work focuses on ensuring the security and reliability of cyber-physical systems, with expertise in areas such as sensors, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence (AI).
As a dedicated and experienced teacher and mentor, Youqian has successfully guided undergraduate and postgraduate students in publishing their research at top-tier venues.
In service to the academic community, Youqian actively contributes as a technical program committee member and reviewer for top-tier security conferences (e.g., USENIX Security, NDSS, IEEE S&P) and journals (e.g., IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing).
Research Interests
- Cyber-Physical System Security
- Hardware Security
- Safety and Security of AI, and Embodied Intelligence
Recent Publications
- [JLT, Journal] Optical Fiber Identification via 2‑D Rayleigh Backscattering Fingerprints
- Zheng Fang, Youqian Zhang, Huan Wu, and Chao Lu
- Journal of Lightwave Technology
- early access
- [NDSS '26] Hiding an Ear in Plain Sight: On the Practicality and Implications of Acoustic Eavesdropping with Telecom Fiber Optic Cables
- Youqian Zhang, Zheng Fang, Huan Wu, Sze Yiu Chau, Chao Lu, and Xiapu Luo
- The Network and Distributed System Security (NDSS) Symposium 2026
- paper, YouTube, kaspersky daily, unwire.hk
- [USENIX Sec '26] SoK: Security of Cyber-physical Systems Under Intentional Electromagnetic Interference Attacks
- Qinhong Jiang, Yan Long, Youqian Zhang, Chen Yan, Xiaoyu Ji, Xiapu Luo, Kevin Fu, Jiannong Cao, and Wenyuan Xu
- The 35th USENIX Security Symposium 2026
- paper
- [CCS '26] On the Privacy Blind Spots of Academic Publishers
- Sze Yiu Chau, Jianyu Lu, Kin Man Leung, Chi Fung Kwan, Che Wei Tu, Tsz Ching Tsang, Xinzhong Zhang, Yee Chiu Chen, Zirui Kong, Youqian Zhang
- The 33rd ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) 2026
- [accepted; to appear]
- [ESORICS '26] A Simulation Framework for Electromagnetic Signal Injection Attacks on Image Sensors
- Youqian Zhang, MK Michael Cheung, Chunxi Yang, Xinwei Zhai, Zitong Shen, Xinyu Ji, Eugene Yujun Fu, Sze Yiu Chau, and Xiapu Luo
- 31st European Symposium on Research in Computer Security (ESORICS) 2026
- [accepted; to appear], preprint
- [RAID '26] Lightweight Detection of Electromagnetic Signal Injection Attacks on Image Sensors
- Youqian Zhang, Chunxi Yang, Eugene Yujun Fu, Sze Yiu Chau, Haibo Hu, and Xiapu Luo
- The 29th International Symposium on Research in Attacks, Intrusions and Defenses (RAID) 2026
- [accepted; to appear], preprint
Opportunities
For Fall 2027, I am seeking highly self-motivated PhD students with a strong interest in security of cyber-physical systems (e.g., sensors, actuators, and controllers), embodied intelligence (e.g., autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots), and fiber-optic network. If you are passionate about these research areas and eager to contribute to meaningful advances, please feel free to contact me to discuss possible collaboration. For PhD applicants, we can explore several prestigious and highly competitive scholarship opportunities, including the RGC Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS), the PolyU Presidential PhD Fellowship Scheme, the Joint PhD Supervision Scheme with Leading Universities, and the International PhD Fellowship Scheme.