Dalhousie Computer Science professor Israat Haque has been recognized by her alma mater, the University of Alberta, with an Alumni Honour Award. The award, which acknowledges significant achievements and contributions by six U of A alumni to their profession and/or community, was bestowed at a ceremony in Edmonton on October 24.

The award

Haque, who is a cybersecurity expert and systems developer, says she was initially skeptical of the email announcing her award, thinking it was spam. But eventually, she realized hackers probably wouldn’t be able to fabricate that level of detail, and her skepticism turned to joy.

“My focus has always been on doing good work, doing quality work, and training my students so they can succeed,” Haque says. “Building your own research lab with that kind of culture took a lot of effort, time, and motivation. It was not always easy. But in the end, when I see this sort of recognition, I feel like it means I did the right thing.”

The work that earned Haque her Alumni Honour Award is a combination of her in-lab mentorship — where she has trained over 40 students in developing network and distributed systems — and her academic research on systems and security. According to U of A, Haque is “creating internationally recognized advances in networking applications while giving her students hands-on experiences that are shaping them into the next generation of highly sought computer scientists.”

The work

Haque develops programmable and intelligent systems for a variety of uses, be it Internet of Things (IoT) appliances like toasters or vacuums, systems for 5G cellular communications, or even for big data. “Your phone is a system, your computer is a system, and AI or machine learning need systems in order to deploy,” Haque explains. “I'm really excited about what I do because I can develop and deploy a system and then see its performance in real life.”

The security aspect comes into play when hackers take control of a smart device, often during the setup period when information is particularly vulnerable. “We focus on when these devices are first installed, because during that time you need to do some sort of communication, and you're accessing and changing credentials like usernames and passwords,” Haque says. “So, what happens to that information? How are these devices designed so that you are not revealing your sensitive information?”

It turns out, that’s a major concern with many of these so-called “smart” devices: Haque and her team tested 20 different devices and found that 13 of them leaked sensitive information. And the more devices a home has connected, the more vulnerable those devices are. Haque published this assessment work in a top measurement conference, ACM IMC 2024. She and her team also notified companies of a leak as part of the responsible disclosure so they can prepare a patch. The next phase of Haque’s research is to design a tool to let users know when their devices are leaking sensitive information.

The importance of a good mentor

Haque has always maintained that good work is the result of a good working environment. “I feel that it's not only about work quality, but the environment is also important,” she says. “It’s something so important for student success. I don't simply recruit students to work with them; I always tell them that they become my extended family.”

Haque credits Professor Nael Abu-Ghazaleh at the University of California, Riverside, where she completed her NSERC post-doctoral fellowship, for showing her the value of a strong mentor.

“I learned how you can nurture someone to find out their strengths, not criticize their weaknesses,” she says. “I also learned how to interact with students, how to make connections. I believe that was really good training for me, and I now apply it here at Dal and see the benefits.” She also mentioned her other notable mentors from the University of Alberta, including Janelle Harms, Martha Steenstrup, and Ioanis Nikolaidis.

“I just want to tell people: have your goal or objective and focus on that. Give your best effort and eventually you will see outcomes,” she says.