Biography
I am a PhD student in the School of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University, supervised by Prof. Jianliang Wu.
Before joining SFU, I received my M.Sc. degree from Shandong University, supervised by Prof. Wenrui Diao. I also interned at QI-ANXIN Research Institute, where I worked closely with Dr. Qinsheng Hou, Dr. Yacong Gu, and Dr. Lingyun Ying.
My research focuses on uncovering real-world security vulnerabilities in web and mobile ecosystems.
Selected Publications
View All -># Co-first author* Corresponding author
Hey, Your Secrets Leaked! Detecting and Characterizing Secret Leakage in the Wild
Jiawei Zhou#, Zidong Zhang#, Lingyun Ying*, Huajun Chai, Jiuxin Cao*, Haixin Duan
Introduces KEYSENTINEL for detecting structured and unstructured secrets, plus a large-scale study of leakage across GitHub, PyPI, and WeChat.
MiniBLE: Exploring Insecure BLE API Usages in Mini-Programs
Zidong Zhang, Jianqi Du, Wenrui Diao*, Jianliang Wu*
Studies insecure BLE pairing in IoT-oriented mini-programs and introduces MiniBLE, a static taint analysis tool evaluated on 41,276 real-world samples.
MiniCAT: Understanding and Detecting Cross-Page Request Forgery Vulnerabilities in Mini-Programs
Zidong Zhang, Qinsheng Hou, Lingyun Ying*, Wenrui Diao*, Yacong Gu, Rui Li, Shanqing Guo, Haixin Duan
Identifies MiniCPRF in mini-programs and presents MiniCAT, which found 13,349 potentially vulnerable samples among 41,726 analyzable mini-programs.
Living in the Past: Analyzing BLE IoT Devices Based on Mobile Companion Apps in Old Versions
Jianqi Du, Zidong Zhang, Fenghao Xu*, Wenrui Diao*
Shows that old BLE companion apps can still expose device vulnerabilities, since many IoT devices cannot receive meaningful firmware fixes.
Identifying the BLE Misconfigurations of IoT Devices through Companion Mobile Apps
Jianqi Du, Fenghao Xu*, Chennan Zhang, Zidong Zhang, Xiaoyin Liu, Pengcheng Ren, Wenrui Diao*, Shanqing Guo, Kehuan Zhang
Detects BLE misconfigurations through companion app analysis and applies BSC-Checker to 4,589 apps across multiple markets.
News
I will serve as a TPC member for SOFTENG 2026.
I will serve as a TPC member for PESARO 2026.
I got the Noteworthy Reviewer Recognition for USENIX Security 2025 Artifact Evaluation! 🎉
One paper accepted by IEEE S&P 2025. 2nd (co-) First-Author Paper in Big4! 🎉 Congrats Jiawei!
I will serve as AEC Member for USENIX Security 2025.
One paper accepted by SaTS 2024 (co-located with ACM CCS 2024). See you in Salt Lake x2!
One paper accepted by ACM CCS 2024. 1st First-Author Paper in Big4! 🎉 See you in Salt Lake!
One paper accepted by MSN 2023.
One paper accepted by IEEE SECON 2022.
Misc
In my free time, I enjoy MMORPGs and addon development. I have been playing World of Warcraft since 2010.
My favorite and most proficient spec is 
Outlaw Rogue.