Yuxuan (Cicilia) Zhang is a PhD student in Criminology at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada and a research assistant at the International CyberCrime Research Centre (ICCRC). Cicilia received her B.A. in Criminology (2019) and a M.A. degree in Criminology (2022) from SFU. Her research interests include cybersecurity, cyber threats against critical infrastructure, open-source intelligence (OSINT), social engineering, cyber-warfare, and the Darknet.

Relevant Publications:

Warkentin, N., Zhang, Y., Frank, R. (2025). The business of ransomware and its effects on business. Journal of Cyber Security Technology, 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/23742917.2025.2454620

Carr, C., Deng, B., Huayhua, S., Ibrahim, K., Jawad, A., Jung, F., Leveille, D., Mohd, S., Napoli, D., Piche-Bustros, A., Robins, E., Rostamalizadeh, S., Saqib, M., Selim, M., Vanderkooi, D., Zhang, C., Assal, H., Bergeron, A., & Pustogarov, I. (2023). Decrypting Ransomware: Analysing and Addressing the Threat in the Canadian Context. Human-Centric Cybersecurity Partnership (HC2P).

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. https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyac003

Warkentin, N., Frank, R., Zhang, Y., & Zakimi, N. (2022). Potential cyber-threats against Canada’s critical infrastructure: an investigation of online discussion forums. Criminal Justice Studies, 35(3), 322-345. https://doi.org/10.1080/1478601X.2022.2081568