Researchers from the Human-Centric Cybersecurity Partnership regularly publish in peer-reviewed journals and present at prestigious academic conferences. To help bring this important work to the attention of our partners and the cybersecurity community, this page contains brief summaries of a selection of these works.

Publications

Accessible from the open web: a qualitative analysis of the available open-source information involving cyber security and critical infrastructure

Zhang, Y., Frank, R., Warkentin, N., & Zakimi, N. (2022). Accessible from the open web: a qualitative analysis of the available open-source information involving cyber security and critical infrastructure. Journal of Cybersecurity, 8(1), tyac003.

Anonymity technologies in investigative journalism: a tool for inspiring trust in sources

Biscop, M., & Décary-Hétu, D. (2022). Anonymity technologies in investigative journalism: a tool for inspiring trust in sources. Journalism Practice, 1-22.

Child Sexual Exploitation Material Users, One Size Fits All For? Exploring Tailored Clinical Dimensions based on Cognitive and Behavioural Criminogenic Factors

Paquette, S., Chopin, J., & Fortin, F. (2022). Child sexual exploitation material offenders, one‐size‐fits‐all for? Exploring tailored clinical dimensions based on cognitive and behavioural criminogenic factors. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 32(2), 100-113.

China’s Weaponization of Disinformation to Undermine Democracy in Canada

Dr. Benjamin Fung’s research found that Canada’s critical infrastructure and supply chains face growing cybersecurity risks, particularly as hostile actors increasingly use AI to scale cyberattacks and exploit system vulnerabilities. His work also highlights the significant impact of foreign disinformation campaigns on Canadian society and elections, underscoring the need for stronger policies, public awareness, and technical tools to build resilience.

Privacy-Preserving Link Prediction

Demirag, D., Namazi, M., Ayday, E., & Clark, J. (2022, September). Privacy-Preserving Link Prediction. In International Workshop on Data Privacy Management (pp. 35-50). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Scambaiting as a preventive tool in the fight against cyberfrauds: the case of romance scams

Zbinden, R., Beaudet-Labrecque, O., Grandjean, F., Gobeil, C., Brunoni, L., Décary-Hétu, D., & Cretu-Adatte, C. (2023). Scambaiting as a preventive tool in the fight against cyberfrauds: the case of romance scams. The journal on cybercrime & digital investigations.

SoK: Securing Email: A Stakeholder-Based Analysis

Clark, J., van Oorschot, P. C., Ruoti, S., Seamons, K., & Zappala, D. (2021). SoK: Securing email—a stakeholder-based analysis. In Financial Cryptography and Data Security: 25th International Conference, FC 2021, Virtual Event, March 1–5, 2021, Revised Selected Papers, Part I 25 (pp. 360-390). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

The success rate of online illicit drug transactions during a global pandemic

Bergeron, A., Décary-Hétu, D., Giommoni, L., & Villeneuve-Dubuc, M. P. (2022). The success rate of online illicit drug transactions during a global pandemic. International Journal of Drug Policy, 99, 103452.

Why do internet devices remain vulnerable? a survey with system administrators

Bondar, T., Assal, H., & Abdou, A. (2023). Why do internet devices remain vulnerable? a survey with system administrators. In Workshop on Measurements, Attacks, and Defenses for the Web (MADWeb 2023). NDSS.

“It's not that I want to see the student's bedroom...”: Instructor Perceptions of e-Proctoring Software

Chaudhry, K., Theus, A. L., Assal, H., & Chiasson, S. (2023, October). “It's not that I want to see the student's bedroom...”: Instructor Perceptions of e-Proctoring Software. In Proceedings of the 2023 European Symposium on Usable Security (pp. 15-26).

“I’m Not a Millionaire”: How Users’ Online Behaviours and Offline Behaviours Impact Their Privacy

Lutaaya, M., Baig, K., Maqsood, S., & Chiasson, S. (2021, May). “I’m Not a Millionaire”: How Users’ Online Behaviours and Offline Behaviours Impact Their Privacy. In Extended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-7).