Daphne Yao

Daphne Yao is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech, part of the College of Engineering. She holds the Elizabeth and James E. Turner Jr. '56 Faculty Fellowship and CACI Faculty Fellowship. Her research focuses on cybersecurity, program analysis, machine learning algorithms, and applied cryptography. Yao has contributed to advancing secure coding practices, vulnerability detection in software, and privacy-preserving technologies.

Education includes a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Brown University (2007), an M.S. in Computer Science from Indiana University (2002), and earlier degrees in Chemistry from Princeton University (M.A., 2000) and Peking University (B.S., 1998).

Her work bridges theoretical computer science with practical applications, emphasizing real-world cybersecurity challenges. Recent research trends include combating ransomware via API profiling, improving privacy in voice assistants, and developing resilient network routing systems. Yao collaborates across disciplines, integrating machine learning into healthcare cybersecurity and epigenomic analysis. Her publications reflect a commitment to measurable, deployable security solutions and ethical AI practices.

Key contributions include the CryptoGuard tool for detecting cryptographic vulnerabilities and frameworks like Madeline for low-cost cyber threat monitoring. She has also explored challenges in deploying intrusion detection systems and mitigating data-oriented attacks in cyber-physical systems.