Yih-Chun Hu

Yih-Chun Hu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has been a faculty member since August 2005. He is also an affiliate faculty member of the Computer Science department and faculty of the Advanced Digital Sciences Center. Dr. Hu is a member of the Coordinated Science Laboratory and the Information Trust Institute at UIUC.

Dr. Hu received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003, where his advisor was David B. Johnson. His dissertation was titled "Enabling Secure High-Performance Wireless Ad Hoc Networking." Prior to joining UIUC, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California, Berkeley under Doug Tygar. He earned his B.S. Magna Cum Laude in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Washington in 1997.

Dr. Hu's research focuses on network security and wireless systems, with particular emphasis on secure routing protocols, vehicular networks, and defense against denial-of-service attacks. His work spans multiple domains including secure Internet routing, privacy in wireless networks, and security mechanisms for ad hoc networks. He has developed innovative approaches to insider attacks in wireless networks, DDoS defense mechanisms, and security for vehicular communication systems. His research often combines theoretical analysis with practical system implementation and evaluation.

Dr. Hu's recent publications demonstrate a continued focus on security challenges in emerging network environments, including IoT security, blockchain applications for security, and privacy-preserving techniques for vehicular networks. His work shows a consistent theme of developing practical security solutions that balance strong security guarantees with performance considerations.

Dr. Hu has served in numerous editorial and conference organization roles, including as Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Networking (2012-2016) and ACM Transactions on Mobile Computing (2013-2018). He has held significant roles in major networking conferences such as Technical Program Chair for ACM MobiHoc 2012 and various committee positions for ACM MobiCom.

Within the Coordinated Science Laboratory at UIUC, Dr. Hu leads research efforts in network security and wireless systems, mentoring students and collaborating with other faculty on interdisciplinary security projects. His lab focuses on developing security mechanisms that are both theoretically sound and practically deployable in real-world systems.