Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics Research Laboratory

Name: Farkhund Iqbal
Profile: Associate Professor
Email: Farkhund.Iqbal(at)zu dot ac dot ae
Phone: +971 2 599 3295
Address: FF2-0-052, CTI, Zayed University, Khalifa City South Campus, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E, P.O. Box 144534
URL: https://bit.ly/38uEknP

Farkhund Iqbal holds the position of Associate Professor and Co-Director of Advanced Cyber Forensics Research Laboratory in the College of Technological Innovation, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates. He is leading Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics (CAD) research group and smart cities research center, Zayed University. He holds a Master (2005) and a Ph.D. degree (2011) from Concordia University, Canada. He is using Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Analytics for problem-solving in health care, cybersecurity, and cybercrime investigation in smart and safe city domain.

He has published more than 100 papers in high ranked journals and conferences. He is an Affiliate Professor in the School of Information Studies, McGill University, Canada, and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Business and IT, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada.

He has served as a chair and TPC member of several IEEE/ACM conferences and is the reviewer for several high-rank journals. He is a member of several professional organization including ACM and IEEE Digital society.


Research interests:    
- Cybersecurity - Digital forensics - Machine learning & Data science
- Privacy - Identify tracing & Authorship Analysis - Smart city and smart home security & forensics
- Blockchain - Artificial Intelligence  
     
Career Summary:

Publications

Google Scholar - DBLP - ORCID
2020 (3)
A Deep Learning Framework for Malware Classification
M Kalash, M Rochan, N Mohammed, N Bruce, Y Wang, F Iqbal
International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics (IJDCF) 12 (1), 90-108
Towards a Better Understanding of Drone Forensics: A Case Study of Parrot AR Drone 2.0
H Bouafif, F Kamoun, F Iqbal
International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics (IJDCF) 12 (1), 35-57
The Internet of Things: Challenges and considerations for cybercrime investigations and digital forensics
Á MacDermott, T Baker, P Buck, F Iqbal, Q Shi
International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics (IJDCF) 12 (1), 1-13
2019 (17)
On Data-driven Curation, Learning, and Analysis for Inferring Evolving Internet-of-Things (IoT) Botnets in the Wild
MS Pour, A Mangino, K Friday, M Rathbun, E Bou-Harb, F Iqbal
Computers & Security, 101707
A Privacy-Preserving Context Ontology (PPCO) for Smart Connected Toys
B Yankson, F Iqbal, S Aleem, B Shah, PCK Hung, AP de Albuquerque
2019 12th CMI Conference on Cybersecurity and Privacy (CMI), 1-6
Solving MAX-SAT Problem by Binary Biogeograph-based Optimization Algorithm
Hafiz Munsub Ali, Waleed Ejaz, May Al Taei, Farkhund Iqbal
2019 IEEE 10th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON)
Data-driven curation, learning and analysis for inferring evolving iot botnets in the wild
Morteza Safaei Pour, Antonio Mangino, Kurt Friday, Matthias Rathbun, Elias Bou-Harb, Farkhund Iqbal, Khaled Shaban, Abdelkarim Erradi
Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security
ER-AE: Differentially-private Text Generation for Authorship Anonymization
Haohan Bo, Steven HH Ding, Benjamin Fung, Farkhund Iqbal
A Predictive Model for Predicting Students Academic Performance
Fazal Aman, Azhar Rauf, Rahman Ali, Farkhund Iqbal, Asad Masood Khattak
2019 10th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications (IISA)
Forensic Analysis of Wearable Devices: Fitbit, Garmin and HETP watches
Áine MacDermott, Stephen Lea, Farkhund Iqbal, Ibrahim Idowu, Babar Shah
2019 10th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security (NTMS)
Memory Forensics: Recovering Chat Messages and Encryption Master Key
Abdullah Kazim, Fadya Almaeeni, Shamsah Al Ali, Farkhund Iqbal, Khalil Al-Hussaeni
2019 10th International Conference on Information and Communication Systems (ICICS)
ZigBee Security Vulnerabilities: Exploration and Evaluating
S Khanji, F Iqbal, P Hung
2019 10th International Conference on Information and Communication Systems (ICICS)
Robot Computing for Music Visualization
PC Lin, D Mettrick, PCK Hung, F Iqbal
International Conference on Theory and Applications of Models of Computation
A secure fog based platform for SCADA based IoT critical infrastructure
T Baker, M Asim, Á MacDermott, F Iqbal, F Kamoun, B Shah, O Alfandi, Mohammad Hammoudeh
Software: Practice and Experience
A Hybrid Framework for Sentiment Analysis Using Genetic Algorithm Based Feature Reduction
F Iqbal, JM Hashmi, BCM Fung, R Batool, AM Khattak, S Aleem, Patrick CK Hung
IEEE Access 7, 14637-14652
Wordnet-based criminal networks mining for cybercrime investigation
F Iqbal, BCM Fung, M Debbabi, R Batool, A Marrington
IEEE Access 7, 22740-22755
Modeling privacy preservation in smart connected toys by petri-nets
B Yankson, F Iqbal, Z Lu, X Wang, P Hung
Proceedings of the 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Unmanned aerial vehicles enabled IoT platform for disaster management
W Ejaz, MA Azam, S Saadat, F Iqbal, A Hanan
Energies 12 (14), 2706
Drone forensics: examination and analysis
F Iqbal, B Yankson, MA AlYammahi, N AlMansoori, SM Qayed, B Shah, Thar Baker
International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics
Smart Toys.
PCK Hung, F Iqbal, B Yankson
Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games
2018 (15)
Towards a Music Visualization on Robot (MVR) Prototype
PC Lin, D Mettrick, PCK Hung, F Iqbal
2018 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality (AIVR)
Arabic authorship attribution: an extensive study on Twitter posts
MH Altakrori, F Iqbal, BCM Fung, SHH Ding, A Tubaishat
ACM Transactions on Asian and Low-Resource Language Information Processing
SafePath: Differentially-private publishing of passenger trajectories in transportation systems
K Al-Hussaeni, BCM Fung, F Iqbal, GG Dagher, EG Park
Computer Networks 143, 126-139
Smart TV Face Monitoring for Children Privacy
PCK Hung, K Kanev, SC Huang, F Iqbal, BCM Fung
Journal of Internet Technology 19 (5), 1577-1583
Differentially private multidimensional data publishing
K Al-Hussaeni, BCM Fung, F Iqbal, J Liu, PCK Hung
Knowledge and Information Systems 56 (3), 717-752
Intelligent multi-agent collaboration model for smart home IoT security
L Rafferty, F Iqbal, S Aleem, Z Lu, SC Huang, PCK Hung
2018 IEEE International Congress on Internet of Things (ICIOT), 65-71
Smart home systems security
AJ Hussain, DM Marcinonyte, FI Iqbal, H Tawfik, T Baker, D Al-Jumeily
2018 IEEE 20th International Conference on High Performance Computing and Communications
Security and privacy challenges in smart cities
T Braun, BCM Fung, F Iqbal, B Shah
Sustainable cities and society 39, 499-507
Opportunistic mining of top-n high utility patterns
J Liu, X Zhang, BCM Fung, J Li, F Iqbal
Information Sciences 441, 171-186
Fuzzy searching and routing in unstructured mobile peer-to-peer networks
B Shah, F Iqbal, O Alfandi, Y Kim, SY Kang, KI Kim
Cluster Computing 21 (1), 363-375
Remote Data Acquisition Using Raspberry Pi3
S Ibrahim, N Al Harmi, E Al Naqbi, F Iqbal, D Mouheb, O Alfandi
2018 9th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security (NTMS)
Drone forensics: challenges and new insights
H Bouafif, F Kamoun, F Iqbal, A Marrington
2018 9th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security (NTMS)
Malware classification with deep convolutional neural networks
M Kalash, M Rochan, N Mohammed, NDB Bruce, Y Wang, F Iqbal
2018 9th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security (NTMS)
A glance at research-driven university's technology transfer office in the UAE
F Iqbal, PCK Hung, F Wahid, SMQA Mohammed
International Journal of Technology Management 78 (1-2), 70-87
A security study for smart metering systems
M Hasan, F Iqbal, PCK Hung, BCM Fung, L Rafferty
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Urban and Civil Engineering
2017 (9)
Revealing determinant factors for early breast cancer recurrence by decision tree
J Guo, BCM Fung, F Iqbal, PJK Kuppen, RAEM Tollenaar, WE Mesker, Jean-Jacques Lebrun
Information Systems Frontiers 19 (6), 1233-1241
Charging infrastructure placement for electric vehicles: An optimization prospective
W Ejaz, M Naeem, MR Ramzan, F Iqbal, A Anpalagan
2017 27th International Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (ITNAC)
Learning stylometric representations for authorship analysis
SHH Ding, BCM Fung, F Iqbal, WK Cheung
IEEE transactions on cybernetics 49 (1), 107-121
Sonar: Automatic detection of cyber security events over the twitter stream
Q Le Sceller, EMB Karbab, M Debbabi, F Iqbal
Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Availability …
A Study of Detecting Child Pornography on Smart Phone
F Iqbal, A Marrington, PCK Hung, JJ Lin, GP Pan, SC Huang, B Yankson
International Conference on Network-Based Information Systems, 373-384
Privacy preservation framework for smart connected toys
B Yankson, F Iqbal, PCK Hung
Computing in Smart Toys, 149-164
A security threat analysis of smart home network with vulnerable dynamic agents
L Rafferty, F Iqbal, PCK Hung
Computing in Smart Toys, 127-147
A Preliminary Study of Research-Driven University Spin-off Companies in UAE
F Iqbal, PCK Hung, M Suaad
working paper No. ZU-WP 2017-04-24. Zayed University
Towards a privacy rule conceptual model for smart toys
L Rafferty, PCK Hung, M Fantinato, SM Peres, F Iqbal, SY Kuo, SC Huang
Computing in Smart Toys, 85-102 20
2016 (14)
Privacy Requirements for mobile e-Service in the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD)
AM Khattak, F Iqbal, PCK Hung, JS Sun, GP Pan, JJ Lin
2016 11th International Conference for Internet Technology and Secured Transactions (ICITST)
Forensic analysis of xbox one and playstation 4 gaming consoles
S Khanji, R Jabir, F Iqbal, A Marrington
2016 IEEE International Workshop on Information Forensics and Security
Magec: an image searching tool for detecting forged images in forensic investigation
S Al Sharif, M Al Ali, N Al Reqabi, F Iqbal, T Baker, A Marrington
2016 8th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security
White-hat hacking framework for promoting security awareness
S Al-Sharif, F Iqbal, T Baker, A Khattack
2016 8th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security
A study of children facial recognition for privacy in smart tv
PCK Hung, K Kanev, F Iqbal, D Mettrick, L Rafferty, GP Pan, SC Huang, Benjamin CM Fung
International Symposium Computational Modeling of Objects Represented in Images
Children's Privacy Protection Engine for Smart Anthropomorphic Toys
PCK Hung, F Iqbal, SC Huang
Engineering in Medical Applications,
Multimedia file signature analysis for smartphone forensics
D Hamdi, F Iqbal, T Baker, B Shah
2016 9th International Conference on Developments in eSystems Engineering (DeSE)
A glance of child’s play privacy in smart toys
PCK Hung, F Iqbal, SC Huang, M Melaisi, K Pang
International Conference on Cloud Computing and Security, 217-231
Privacy-preserving data mashup model for trading person-specific information
JB Rashid Hussain Khokhar, Benjamin C.M. Fung, Farkhund Iqbal, Dima Alhadidi
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 17 (May–June 2016), 19
Towards a self adaptive system for social wellness
AM Khattak, WA Khan, Z Pervez, F Iqbal, S Lee
Sensors 16 (4), 531 6 2016
Bounded message delay with threshold time constraint in delay tolerant networks (DTNs)
A Abbas, B Shah, F Al-Obeidat, F Iqbal
2016 3rd MEC International Conference on Big Data and Smart City (ICBDSC), 1-6
Fuzzy query routing in unstructured mobile peer-to-peer networks
B Shah, F Iqbal, AM Khattak
2016 IEEE Tenth International Conference on Semantic Computing (ICSC), 154-161
Forensic investigation of SIM card
N Ibrahim, N Al Naqbi, F Iqbal, O AlFandi
Proceedings of the Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law, 219
SIM Card Forensics: Digital Evidence
N Ibrahim, N Al Naqbi, F Iqbal, O AlFandi
2015 (5)
Fusion: privacy-preserving distributed protocol for high-dimensional data mashup
GG Dagher, F Iqbal, M Arafati, BCM Fung
2015 IEEE 21st International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems
Fuzzy logic-based guaranteed lifetime protocol for real-time wireless sensor networks
B Shah, F Iqbal, A Abbas, KI Kim
Sensors 15 (8), 20373-20391
E-mail authorship attribution using customized associative classification
RS Michael, I Farkhund, F Benjamin C.M.
Digital Investigation 14 (1), 116-126
Identification and analysis of free games' permissions in google play
E Alothali, F Belqasmi, O Alfandi, F Iqbal
2015 6th International Conference on Information and Communication Systems
Graph-Theoretic Characterization of Cyber-threat Infrastructures
M Boukhtouta, A., Mouheb, D., Debbabi, M., Alfandi, O., Iqbal, F. and El Barachi
Digital Investigation: The International Journal of Digital Forensics and Incident Response
2014 (4)
Testing the forensic soundness of forensic examination environments on bootable media
AFAL Mohamed, A Marrington, F Iqbal, I Baggili
Digital Investigation 11, S22-S29
A forensic analysis framework for recovering encryption keys and BB10 backup decryption
H Al Shehhi, IE Asad, F Iqbal
2014 Twelfth Annual International Conference on Privacy, Security and Trust
Privacy-Preserving Medical Reports Publishing for Cluster Analysis
A Hmood, BCM Fung, F Iqbal
2014 6th International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security
An Approach for the Validation of File Recovery Functions in Digital Forensics' Software Tools
S Al Sharif, M Al Ali, N Salem, F Iqbal, M El Barachi, O Alfandi
2014 6th International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security
2013 (4)
CAT record (computer activity timeline record): a unified agent based approach for real time computer forensic evidence collection
S Al Awawdeh, I Baggili, A Marrington, F Iqbal
2013 8th International Workshop on Systematic Approaches to Digital Forensics
Computer Profiling for Preliminary Forensic Examination
A Marrington, F Iqbal, I Baggili
International Conference on Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, 207-220
Towards a unified agent-based approach for real time computer forensic evidence collection
S Al Awawdeh, I Baggili, A Marrington, F Iqbal
2013 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM 2013)
A unified data mining solution for authorship analysis in anonymous textual communications
F Iqbal, H Binsalleeh, BCM Fung, M Debbabi
Information Sciences 231, 98-112
2012 (2)
Mining criminal networks from chat log
F Iqbal, BCM Fung, M Debbabi
2012 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conferences on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology
Investigating the dark cyberspace: Profiling, threat-based analysis and correlation
C Fachkha, E Bou-Harb, A Boukhtouta, S Dinh, F Iqbal, M Debbabi
2012 7th International Conference on Risks and Security of Internet and Systems
2011 (1)
Messaging forensic framework for cybercrime investigation
F Iqbal
Concordia University
Speaker verification from partially encrypted compressed speech for forensic investigation
LA Khan, F Iqbal, MS Baig
Digital Investigation 7 (1-2), 74-80
2010 (3)
Mining writeprints from anonymous e-mails for forensic investigation
F Iqbal, H Binsalleeh, BCM Fung, M Debbabi
digital investigation 7 (1-2), 56-64
E-mail authorship verification for forensic investigation
F Iqbal, LA Khan, BCM Fung, M Debbabi
Proceedings of the 2010 ACM Symposium on Applied Computing, 1591-1598
2009 (1)
Towards an integrated e-mail forensic analysis framework
R Hadjidj, M Debbabi, H Lounis, F Iqbal, A Szporer, D Benredjem
digital investigation 5 (3-4), 124-137
2008 (1)
A novel approach of mining write-prints for authorship attribution in e-mail forensics
F Iqbal, R Hadjidj, BCM Fung, M Debbabi
digital investigation 5, S42-S51
Efficient scheduling of video camera sensor networks for IoT systems in smart cities
M Naeem, W Ejaz, M Iqbal, F Iqbal, A Anpalagan, JJPC Rodrigues
Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies
Best Approaches For Reducing Anti-Forensics Effectiveness When Dealing With Industrial Control Systems (ICS)
M Al Dhanhani, B Al Rasebi, A Al Nuaimi, F Iqbal
A Secure Fog-based Platform for SCADA-based IoT Critical Infrastructure
TB Shamsa, M Asim, AM Mac Dermott, F Iqbal, F Kamoun, B Shah, O Alfandi, M Hammoudeh
Software: Practice and Experience
Drones Forensics: A Case Study of Digital Forensic Investigations Conducted on Common Drone Models
K Al-Room, F Iqbal, TM Shamsa, B Shah, B Yankson, A Mac Dermott
International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics (IJDCF)
Forensics of” Hello Barbie” Smart Toy
M Al Dhanhani, B AlRasebi, A Al Nuaimi, F Iqbal
Session 4: Information security
AIN Neamah, N Clarke, P Oowland, F Li, Z El Uahhabi, H El Bakkali
Algorithms and Distributed System Applications
M Baldi, N Maturo, E Paolini, F Chiaraluce, S Bouamama, C Blum
SECURITY TRACK CHAIRS Welcome Message
G Spanoudakis, A Marrington, F Iqbal
...

Teaching

Courses
Graduate
  • SEC 530: Cyber Forensics
  • SEC 535: Advanced Cyber Forensics
  • SEC 538: Small Scale Digital Devices Forensics
Undergrad
  • SEC 215: Computing Foundation
  • SEC 235: Information Security Basics
  • SEC 335: Information Security Technologies
  • CIT 460: Systems Analysis and Design
  • SEC 435: Cyber-Forensic Foundation
Course (New) - Creation/Delivery
  • CIT 435: Digital Forensics Foundation
  • CIT466: Big Data Analytics
  • SEC675: Cyber Criminal behavior (syllabus and textbook)

Services

Committees Membership
I have served on multiple committees at the college and university level such as Graduate Council, Standing Committee for Graduate Programs, Quality Assurance Committee, College Council, faculty and staff search committee, College Advisory Board, and Research Committee.
Professional membership
  • Associate member of Data Mining and Security Lab (DMaS) at School of Information Science, McGill University, Canada. 2015- date.
  • Associate member of Man and Machine Lab, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Ontario, Canada, 2015- date.
  • National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, Canada (NCFTA Canada), 2006-date.
  • IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2012-date.
  • ACM: Association for Computing Machinery, 2010-date.
Chair: Conference / Track / Program
  • International symposium on Computing in Smart Toys in Conjunction with Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences HICSS-50 (2017), Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii.
  • Launched the First IFIP NTMS International Workshop on Cybercrime Investigation and Digital forensics (CID) in conjunction with the 8th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security (NTMS2016), Cyprus, Larnaca, Cyprus.
  • SWT Leader of "Computing in Smart Toys," Half-day Symposium, SWT Theme: Software Development Approach, the IEEE 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-51), Big Island, Hawaii, USA, January 3-6, 2018.
  • Second IFIP NTMS International Workshop on Cybercrime Investigation and Digital forensics (CID), NTMS'2018 is the 9th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security that will be held from 26 to 28 February 2018 in Paris – France.
Guest Editor
  • Special Issue: Towards Secure, Privacy-Preserving, and Reliable Smart Cities and Society, Journal: Sustainable Cities and Society 2017-18.
  • Special issues "Cybercrime Investigation and Digital Forensics" (https://www.igi-global.com/journal/international-journal-digital-crime-forensics/1112) in the International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics (IJDCF) 2017-18.
  • Book called "Cybercrime Investigation and Digital Forensics" in the Springer International Series on Computer Entertainment and Media Technology (http://www.springer.com/series/13820).
Reviewer
  • Elsevier, Digital Investigation journal
  • Elsevier, Sustainable Cities and Society
  • IEEE international conference of Privacy, Security and Trust
  • International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics (IJDCF)
  • IEEE International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security, Dubai, United Arab
  • EAI International Conference on Digital Forensics & Cyber Crime

Awards and Distinctions

  • Best paper award in The 14th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES 2019) August 26 - August 29, 2019, Canterbury, UK.
  • Outstanding reviewer for Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation.
  • Nominated for Outstanding Research Award for 2019-20, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi.
  • Received Exceeds Expectation Award for 2016-17, in recognition of excellent performance and contributions in the three areas of teaching, research, and services.
  • Received Exceptional Employee Award for 2016-17, in recognition of excellent performance and contributions in the three areas of teaching, research, and services.
  • Outstanding Faculty Award for 2015-16, in recognition of excellent performance and contributions in the three areas of teaching, research, and services.
  • Salary increase Award for 2014-15, in recognition of excellent performance and contributions in the three areas of teaching, research, and services.
  • Exemplary Merit Award for the year 2013-14, in recognition of excellent performance and contributions in the three areas of teaching, research, and services.

Projects

2011 - Authorship Analysis
This is my collaborative project between CIISE and NCFTA Canada. The work was published in Digital Investigation and Information Sciences. The study has received international coverage in New York TimesUPIWired (UK), Toronto StarInternational Business TimesPC WorldSecure Computing Magazine (Australia), Computer World (New Zealand),  Thinq (UK),  MetroCanada TechWorld CIO Magazine R&D Magazine Giz Magthe Economic TimesInventors SpotThe InquirerAhmedabad Mirror (India), IDG News (Sweden), NetWorld (Poland), PC Pro (UK), BBC (in Spanish), Today Commercial News (in Chinese), the Chronicle of Higher Order, the Epoch Times, Sina.com, TechRepublic, Imagine, Bit City (Italy), The Register (UK), La Stampa (Italy), and Slashdot. Prof. Mourad Debbabi was also interviewed on Radio-Canada radio's Je l'ai vu à la radio, Désautels, and CBC Radio One Edmonton regarding the study. The original story was published in the Concordia Journal and ENCS Faculty Magazine.

Upcoming Events

4th IFIP NTMS International Workshop on Cybercrime Investigation and Digital forensics (CID2020)
in conjunction with the 11th IFIP International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security

July 6-8, 2020

PARIS, FRANCE

Technically co-sponsored by IEEE and IFIP TPC6
DFRWS USA 2020

July 19-22, 2020

Memphis, TN, USA
EAI ICDF2C 2020 - 11th EAI International Conference on Digital Forensics & Cyber Crime

October 14-16, 2020

Boston, United States
DFRWS APAC 2020

September 21-25, 2020

International Convention Centre Sydney, Australia
NTMS2020

JULY 6-8, 2020

30- 32 Avenue de la République, 94800 Villejuif, France
Digital investigation journal
HESSA 53 Hawaii
URC 2020

Photo Gallery