ACM CCS 2025

October 13-17, 2025

Taipei, Taiwan

Young Scholars Development Program (YSDP)

ACM CCS is proud to host the Young Scholar Development (YSD) Program as part of the main agenda of CCS 2025. This initiative is designed to bring together promising young researchers and provide opportunities for networking, mentorship, and professional development. The program will be held on Tuesday, October 14th, during the CCS 2025 conference. Please reach out to betul.durak@microsoft.com and fli@ku.edu for any questions.

Program

Location: 4F VIP Room

October 14, 2025

12:30–13:00 Ice-Breaking Conversations with Lunch
13:00–13:30 Lunch Break
13:30–13:35 Opening Remarks
13:35–14:05 Keynote 1: On the Readiness of Enterprise-scale Log Analysis Against Advanced Persistent Threats (and Some Career Tips)
14:05–15:00 Panel Discussions
15:00–15:30 Afternoon Tea Break
15:30–16:00 Keynote 2: Perseus’ Mirrored Shield: Confronting Machine Learning Abuse Through Insights from Cyber Threat Intelligence
16:00–17:00 Technical Discussion Session Breakout

Young Scholars Development Committee

Program Co-Chairs

Betül Durak - Microsoft Research
Fengjun Li - University of Kansas

Panelists

Cas Cremers, CISPA
Zhiqiang Lin, The Ohio State University
Kun Sun, George Mason University
Yuan Hong, University of Connecticut
Nadia Heninger, UC San Diego

Discussion Session Chairs

[Applied Cryptography & Formal Methods] Kaitai Liang, University of Turku
[Network, Web & Supply-Chain Security] Kun Sun, George Mason University
[AI/LLM Security & LLM for Security] Yuan Hong, University of Connecticut
[Privacy & PET] Wouter Lueks, CISPA
[Systems, Software & Hardware Security] Zhiqiang Lin, The Ohio State University
[Systems, Software & Hardware Security] Xiaojing Liao, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
[Usable Security and Web Security] Giancarlo Pellegrino, CISPA

Speakers

Danfeng (Daphne) Yao

Short Bio: Dr. Danfeng (Daphne) Yao is a Professor of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. She is a Turner Faculty Fellow and CACI Faculty Fellow. Her research focuses on building cyber defenses and applying machine learning for digital health, with a shared focus on accuracy and deployment. Her tool CryptoGuard helps large software companies and Apache projects harden their cryptographic code. Her anomaly detection patents are highly influential, cited by patents from major cybersecurity firms and technology companies, including FireEye, Symantec, Qualcomm, Cisco, IBM, SAP, Boeing, and Palo Alto Networks. Dr. Yao is an IEEE Fellow for her contributions to enterprise data security and high-precision vulnerability screening, and an ACM Distinguished Scientist. She received the prestigious ACM CODASPY Lasting Research Award, NSF CAREER Award, and ARO Young Investigator Award. Dr. Yao is the ACM SIGSAC Chair and has been a member of the ACM SIGSAC executive committee since 2017.

Title: On the Readiness of Enterprise-scale Log Analysis Against Advanced Persistent Threats (and Some Career Tips)

Abstract: Security defenses addressing real-world needs and gaps are extremely valuable. However, such research is often deemed as not novel by academia. This talk aims to encourage our community to re-examine this long-held belief. I will first use the evolution of anomaly-based intrusion detection approaches over the last 35 years to illustrate the multi-faceted challenges associated with building deployable advanced defenses. I will discuss the real-time deployability of popular graph-based forensic approaches for advanced persistent threats (APT) and whether or not lightweight graph-free solutions could be achieved. I will also briefly explain our recent results in this direction.

Xiaojing Liao

Short Bio: Xiaojing Liao is an Associate Professor in the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests span trustworthy machine learning systems, cyber threat intelligence, privacy compliance and enforcement. She has published papers on leading system security venues such as S&P, USENIX Security, CCS, and NDSS. She co-authored the children’s STEM book “Lorie in Cybersecurity Wonderland: The Fun of Camping & Mobile Security”. She is the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, the Amazon Research Award, the Meta Privacy-Enhancing Technology Research Award, and the Distinguished Paper and Distinguished Artifact Award at NDSS.

Title: Perseus’ Mirrored Shield: Confronting Machine Learning Abuse Through Insights from Cyber Threat Intelligence

Abstract: Real-world malicious cyber activity poses a growing threat to public safety, national security, and economic stability. A growing dimension of this threat is the emergence of AI-driven cybercrime, particularly through the misuse of large language models (LLMs) for phishing, malware generation, fraud, and disinformation. As LLMs become increasingly integrated into digital ecosystems, understanding and mitigating their abuse is now a critical frontier in cybersecurity.

In this talk, I will share how my research group has been tackling the evolving landscape of cybercrime, with a growing emphasis on the security implications of machine learning technologies. I will discuss our most recent efforts in understanding and countering how LLMs are misused for malicious purposes, setting the stage for deeper discussion on threat modeling, real-world misuse cases, and our proactive defense strategies.

Travel Grants

The YSDP provides a limited number of travel grants up to $1,500 to encourage students, post-docs, and junior researchers to participate in the conference and the YSDP. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their application along with at least one reference letter to be considered for funding. The applicants should provide the reference name(s) in the CV and we will contact the person(s) for reference letters directly.

For any questions, please reach out to ccs25-ysdp-chairs@acm.org.

Submission Site: https://ccs-nextgen25.hotcrp.com/ (closed)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Is there any difference between the YSDP Travel Grant and the CCS Student Conference Grant?

Yes, there is a difference. The YSDP Travel Grant is not limited to students—it can also support post-docs or junior professors. If a student applies for both the Student Conference Grant and the YSDP Travel Grant and receive both, we will discuss the case. It is likely that the committee will not approve to receive both funds for one applicant. Please note that we generally do not cover all expenses (such as registration, airfare, and hotel) for CCS. We provide partial funding to help offset the costs.

2. How many references do you need in the application? How can I ensure you receive the reference letter?

You should include at least one reference name in your CV. We will contact the person you list directly. Note that we do not accept letters submitted by applicants themselves. We may reach out to the reference using a publicly affiliated email address if available, rather than the one you provide. While we will attempt to contact them multiple times, we cannot guarantee a response. If you want to make sure the letter is received, please follow up with your reference, as our system does not show whether the letter has been submitted.

3. What are you looking for specifically for the program? What are the evaluation criteria?

A strong CV with good publications or impactful results is important. We aim to accept as many domain experts as possible. The reference letter helps us understand your strength at your work. Evaluation criteria are not strictly defined due to the variety of applicant backgrounds. We prioritize junior researchers who are likely to benefit from the program. In some cases, we may interact with applicants before making funding decisions. Each case is considered individually.