Moderator: Song Wu, Associate Professor, Southwest University

Song Wu is currently an associate professor in the College of Computer and Information Science, Southwest University, China. He received Ph.D. from Leiden University, Netherlands, in 2016. His research lies in the field of artificial intelligence and the sub-fields of deep learning, multimedia, and computer vision. His works focus on developing new deep learning algorithms for automatic image understanding and exploiting the synergy between the user and the computer in novel interactive and intelligent search paradigms on multimedia data. His works have been published in several top journals and conferences, including IEEE TMM, KBS, ACM MM, and ECCV.

1. Zheng Yang, Professor, Southwest University

Title: Group Time-based One-time Passwords and its Application to Efficient Privacy-Preserving Proof of Location

Abstract: Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) provides a strong second factor for user authentication. In TOTP, a prover authenticates to a verifier by using the current time and a secret key to generate an authentication token (or password) which is valid for a short time period. Our goal is to extend TOTP to the group setting, and to provide both authentication and privacy. To this end, we introduce a new authentication scheme, called Group TOTP (GTOTP), that allows the prover to prove that it is a member of an authenticated group without revealing its identity. We propose a novel construction that transforms any asymmetric TOTP scheme into a GTOTP scheme. Our approach combines Merkle tree and Bloom filter to reduce the verifier's states to constant sizes. As a promising application of GTOTP, we show that GTOTP can be used to construct an efficient privacy-preserving Proof of Location (PoL) scheme. We utilize a commitment protocol, a privacy-preserving location proximity scheme, and our GTOTP scheme to build the PoL scheme, in which GTOTP is used not only for user authentication but also as a tool to glue up other building blocks. In the PoL scheme, with the help of some witnesses, a user can prove its location to a verifier, while ensuring the identity and location privacy of both the prover and witnesses. Our PoL scheme outperforms the alternatives based on group digital signatures. We evaluate our schemes on Raspberry Pi hardware, and demonstrate that they achieve practical performance. In particular, the password generation and verification time are in the order of microseconds and milliseconds, respectively, while the computation time of proof generation is less than 1 second.

Biography: Zheng Yang, received his PhD degree from Ruhr University Bochum. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki and at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. He has been a professor at Southwest University since March 2021. The main research areas are: cryptography, privacy protection technology, cyber-physical system security and blockchain, etc. He has published paper in may top venues, such as FSE 2022, ESORICS 2021, IEEE INFOCOM 2018, IEEE Euro S&P 2019, ACSAC 2021 and 2019, PKC 2014, CT-RSA 2018, and AsiaCCS 2020, and top journals including IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks, IEEE Internet-of-Things. Prof. Yang was granted 2 National Natural Science Foundation of China (including general projects), and have served as a TPC member or chair of international conferences including ICICS, ACM CPSS, and Cyberworlds.

 

2 Zhen Dong, Associate Professor, Fudan University

 

Title: Flaky Tests in Android Apps

Abstract: “A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth” – Aesop A flaky test is such a liar: Sometime it passes, sometimes it fails when running on the same version code. When it fails, it is unclear whether the failure is caused by an error introduced by a developer or due to the “flakiness” of the test. The non-deterministic outcome can frustrate anyone who writes automated tests or even pays attention to their results. In this talk, I will introduce common root causes of flaky tests and share our recent work on flaky tests detection in Android apps.

Biography: Zhen Dong is a pre-tenure Associate Professor at Fudan University, China. Previously, he was a PostDoc at the National University of Singapore. Zhen completed his PhD in computer science from Heidelberg University in 2017. His research is focused on the development of techniques and tools for improving software reliability and security, particularly in the area of mobile computing. He is currently serving on the Board of Distinguished Reviewers of ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology. His research won the ACM Distinguished Paper Award at ICSE'20 and the Best Paper Award at AsiaCCS'21.

 

3. Feng Lin, Vice Dean/Professor, Zhejiang Lab

 

 

 

Title: Zhejiang Lab – A Lab of Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Computing

Abstract: Zhejiang Lab is an internationalized research organization established jointly by the Zhejiang Provincial Government, Zhejiang University and Alibaba Group in 2017. Focusing on five areas of artificial intelligence, intelligent perception, intelligent computing, intelligent networks, and intelligent systems, Zhejiang Lab carries out researches on both cutting-edge and fundamental topics. It provides a plenty of opportunities and fund supports for research collaborations with the BRICS scientists, and warmly welcomes post-doctoral researchers from these countries to join its research institutes and centres. This talk will introduce some of its research programmes and share with the audience its scholarships, short and long-term exchange programmes, as well as recruitment plans.

Biography: Dr Feng Lin is the Executive Dean of Artificial Intelligence Research Institute at Zhejiang Lab. He is specialized in artificial intelligence and its applications to biomedical informatics, medical imaging, and a wide spectrum of science and engineering, in which he has published about 300 research papers. Before joining the Lab, he was the Senate Chair of Academic Council at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where he promoted academic research and education of excellence.

4. Bingyao Huang, Professor, Southwest University

Title: Techniques of Visualization and Security in Spatial Augmented Reality

Abstract: Spatial augmented reality (SAR) aims to superimpose interactive visual contents onto the real world using projector-camera systems (ProCams). Compared with traditional AR techniques, it has the potential to share virtual contents across multiple users without requiring additional wearable devices. Although abundant efforts have been dedicated to SAR applications, how to create precise and satisfactory immersive effects remains challenging. Moreover, SAR privacy and security have gained increasing attention as the advancement of deep learning-based visual recognition approaches. To address these issues, we propose several techniques of visualization and security in SAR, and in particular, we focus on key challenges, such as precise geometric calibrations, projector compensation, relighting, shape reconstruction, physical mail privacy and projector-based adversarial attacks. Firstly, we develop a single-shot-per-pose structured light-based ProCams calibration method for imperfect planar calibration board. Then, we propose end-to-end projector compensation methods CompenNet, CompenNet++ and CompenNeSt++ to cancel photometric and geometric distortions. Afterwards, we present a unified approach named DeProCams for simultaneous relighting, compensation and shape reconstruction. Finally, focusing on the privacy and security of SAR applications, we introduce Neural-STE and SPAA for privacy attack on physical mail and projector-based adversarial attacks, respectively.

Biography: Bingyao Huang is currently a Professor of the College of Computer and Information Science of Southwest University, China. He received B.S. from Tongji University, China, in 2013, and M.S. from Rowan University, USA, in 2015, and Ph.D. from Stony Brook University, USA, in 2021. His research interests include computer vision, augmented/virtual reality, computational photography, and medical image analysis. His work has been published in several top journals and conferences including IEEE TPAMI, IEEE TVCG, CVPR, ICCV, IEEE VR and AAAI. He received the Best Journal Paper Award at IEEE VR (2021).

5. Subham Pal and Arka Prabha Das, B.Tech Final Year UG, Indian Institute of Information Technology

Title: AI for Developing Countries

Abstract: We aim to reflect and emphasize on Digitization and AI for developing countries with a focus on the BRICS nations. We will highlight how AI and emerging technologies can be regulated and utilised by the developing world to leverage their socio-economic and political needs.

Biography:

Subham Pal

B Tech - Computer Science Engineering (Final year), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Kalyani -- "An Institute of National Importance" - Ministry of Education, Government of IndiaParticipant of BRICS International School 2021. Business Technology Analyst (Incoming) at Deloitte Consulting LLP. Co-Founder - Dharmetrics -- Started up a pioneering platform for journalism with an aim to be an equal voice for every individual. Integrating a decentralized social media knowledge exchange think tank in future in order to adhere to our principles of equality. Zero Dollar Security -- Non - Executive Member --- Driven research for problems in cyber security for socio-economic causes and have driven strategic planning for market behavior change in the freemium education model.

 

Arka Prabha Das

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B Tech - Electronics and Communication Engineering (Final year), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Bhopal, India. Participant of BRICS International School 2021. Researcher in Blockchain and Cybersecurity - Currently undergoing collaborative research on blockchain based election security with researchers from GLA University, India and Prince Mohammed bin Fahd University, Saudi Arabia. Publications : Robin Singh Bhadoria, Akshat Goyal, Arka Prabha Das, Abul Bashar,Mohammad Zikria; Secure and Traceable QR Code Using Blockchain Enabled Certificates: April 2022. 11th IEEE Conference, CSNT 2022. Bhopal, India. Automation engineer at Allied Media Inc. -- Conceptualized a solution from scratch for Automating mailing services of C.H. Robinson, an American Fortune 500 provider of logistics services. Seniors gave me the opportunity to interact with the product owners in the process of development. Implemented ideas for their flagship platform BAARCloud, from where organizations can buy use cases to automate end to end workflows by deploying our models. Digital Specialist Engineer (Incoming) at Infosys. Co-Founder - Dharmetrics -- Started up a pioneering platform for journalism with an aim to be an equal voice for every individual. Integrating a decentralized social media knowledge exchange think tank in future in order to adhere to our principles of equality.

6. Hongbo Jiang, Distinguished Professor/ Vice Dean, Hunan University

 

 

Title: On Passive Sensing from Commodity Mobile Devices

Abstract: Device-free sensing, which does not require any device attached to the target is playing a critical role in many applications such as intrusion detection, elderly monitoring, etc. This talk will introduce D-Watch, a device-free system built on top of low-cost commodity off-the-shelf (COTS) RFID hardware. Unlike previous works which consider multipaths detrimental, D-Watch leverages the “bad” multipaths to provide a decimeter level localization accuracy without offline training. Besides, my talk will also introduce TagScan, a system that can identify the material type and image the horizontal cut of a target simultaneously with cheap commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) RFID devices. The key intuition is that different materials and target sizes cause different amounts of phase and RSS (Received Signal Strength) changes when radio frequency (RF) signal penetrates through the target.

Biography: Hongbo Jiang is currently a Distinguished Professor and Vice Dean of the College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CSEE), Hunan University. He is also the deputy director for the trusted systems and networking key laboratory of Hunan Province, the director of Hunan international technical cooperation base of high performance computing and applications. Prior to Hunan University, he was a tenured professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science working with Prof. Shudong Jin, Case Western Reserve University. He ever interned at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, as well as AT&T Labs Research. He was a Hong Kong Scholar Research Fellow at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, working with Prof. John C. S. Lui. Hongbo has been serving in the editorial board of IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks, IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, IEEE Communications Magazine, ACM/Springer Wireless Networks, Wiley Security and Communication Networks, International Journal of Ad Hoc and Sensor Wireless Networks. He has also been guest editors for IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, Springer Mobile Networks and Applications. He is an elected Fellow of IET (The Institution of Engineering and Technology), Fellow of BCS (The British Computer Society), Fellow of EAI (European Alliance for Innovation), Senior Member of ACM, Senior Member of IEEE, Distinguished Member of CCF, and Full Member of IFIP TC6 WG6.2. Now his research focuses on computer networking, especially, wireless networks, and mobile computing.