Tao Wang


Assistant Professor

School of Computing Science

Simon Fraser University


Office: TASC1 9015
E-mail: "my full name in one word, seven characters"@sfu.ca

About Me


I received my BSc from HKUST in 2010 and my MMath and PhD from the University of Waterloo in 2012 and 2016 respectively. I was an Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology between 2016 and 2020. I've served on the Program Committee of the Privacy Enhancing Symposium from 2017.

Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae and List of Publications

Google Scholar page

Hobbies


I enjoy reading, especially classics and history. You may find me running around the campus in the evening. I also enjoy video games.

I speak Mandarin, Cantonese, and English, and I can read Japanese. I sometimes translate old texts as an amateur.

Research interests


Graduated Students


Current Students


I am looking to take on more students who are eager to conduct research in privacy-enhancing technologies. I earnestly invite all interested applicants to e-mail me with a CV highlighting academic potential. Applicants demonstrating research ability and a passion for privacy research will be invited to an interview. Please note that I am not a machine learning/AI researcher; students interested in these areas will be encouraged to find a better fit.

I am committed to building a more diverse and inclusive research group. Diversity and equity are fundamental values to me; I am proud to support these values as a Canadian researcher. Further, these values lead to greater research excellence, creativity and productivity. I recognize and continue to learn about the systemic challenges that under-represented groups in academia face, including women in computer science and LGBT+. To ensure that all of my students are included, welcomed and safe, I ask that all students in my group follow a code of conduct.

Recent publications


Recently, we published at IEEE TIFS 2023, ACM CCS 2022, IEEE S&P 2022, IEEE S&P 2021, IEEE S&P 2020, NDSS 2020, and USENIX 2020.

Please visit my Google Scholar page for a list.

PhD Thesis: "Website Fingerprinting: Attacks and Defenses"

Papers/data/code for my earlier research can be found here. My recent research with my students is usually hosted in their web pages; feel free to contact me for a link.

Teaching


Here are the courses I've taught at SFU:

I created and taught a Principles of Cybersecurity undergraduate-level course at HKUST for several years.

Philosophy


I teach with the principle that there is no difference between dedication and talent over a sufficient time scale. Students who are interested in a subject and dedicated to succeed will excel at it. My main goal is to interest you in the topic: students who find the topic interesting will retain more, engage more, and continue to learn far more than I can teach within the 40-ish hours of lecture.

Need help?


If you need some more help in one of my courses, please feel free to contact me, either before/after class or by e-mail.

My general advice for struggling students is: