Zihao Zhan

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Texas Tech University. I was a Postdoctoral Associate in the ECE department at the University of Florida from 2021 to 2024. I received my Ph.D. degree from Vanderbilt University in 2021, under the supervision of Prof. Zhenkai Zhang and Prof. Xenofon Koutsoukos. I earned my M.S. degree from Vanderbilt University and B.S. degree from University of Science and Technology of China

My research focuses on system security, with a particular emphasis on hardware security, microarchitectural security, and side-channel attacks. I have published multiple works in top-tier security venues, including IEEE S&P, USENIX Security, and ACM CCS. I am the recipient of the Distinguished Paper Award at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in 2022. My research was also nominated for Best Paper at HOST 2020, and I was the runner-up for the C.F. Chen Best Paper Award in 2021.

My research has gained widespread recognition across the cybersecurity and technology communities, with media coverage from renowned outlets such as WIRED, Vice, New Scientist, PCMag, TechRadar, Apple Podcasts, Dark Reading, Bleeping Computer, and Security Week. It has also been highlighted on platforms and forums such as Hacker News and Microsoft Network (MSN). Furthermore, my work was showcased at the prestigious industry event BlackHat 2022.

I have served on the technical committees of GLSVLSI and DAC, on the organizing committee of SmartSP, and as an invited reviewer for the IEEE TIFS journal.