With a powerful background in cybersecurity and computer science, Usman is helping to advance the field through impactful research, internships and publications.

Most recently, Usman completed an impressive seven month internship as a NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium research assistant at NextGen Research. He secured the role based on a proposal to use advanced AI/ML to secure wireless communication in 5G/6G networks, protecting sensitive data and critical applications. Usman co-wrote the proposal with former assistant professor Robin Chataut.

During his internship, Usman headed a multidisciplinary team in designing and implementing AI-driven Physical Layer Security (PLS) solutions and protocols for 5G and beyond and massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) transmission systems. The resulting research, now under review, will help support NASA's mission-critical needs with groundbreaking accuracy and efficiency in secure communications.

As an international graduate student from Nigeria, Usman came to Quinnipiac with previous experience including his post as a cybersecurity analyst at the National Assembly of Nigeria. Working there equipped him with the skills to mitigate cyber threats, enhance data center network security and optimize software and hardware troubleshooting.

Usman is the first member of his family to travel abroad and come to the United States to attend graduate school. Growing up in a small village where his family has a business, Usman said he was struck by people’s lack of secure information-sharing and the growing threat of cybersecurity issues.

“I felt like something big was going to affect a lot of people. It’s something that encouraged me to get into cybersecurity,” he said.

While he was admitted to other top-notch American universities to pursue cybersecurity graduate studies, Usman had several reasons for choosing Quinnipiac.

“It is such a welcoming environment. The Director of International Admissions Sarah Gardner is an amazing person, and the staff is so responsive,” said Usman. “When I talked to the Cybersecurity Program Director, Dr. Scholl, and when I reviewed the program, I saw all of the professors in cybersecurity are actually from the industries and work in cybersecurity. That also attracted me to come to Quinnipiac.”

To give back to his university community, Usman serves on Quinnipiac’s international student advisory board.

Usman is proud to contribute to research papers having publication. Together with those now in review and submitted, to date, Usman has contributed research to 10 papers on cutting-edge topics.

One publication focuses on fighting AI-generated cyberattacks on vehicle lock systems by exploiting vulnerabilities.

“Someone doesn’t have to be smart or have knowledge in cybersecurity to carry out some kind of attack," said Usman. "The first thing we did was carry out the attack to measure what AI is capable of, to inform the automobile industry. That gives the company a heads up so they can tackle it. Next, we worked on the countermeasures, on how to make AI not respond to the attacks, which has been submitted.”

Other submitted research to which Usman has contributed includes a focus on the implications of generative AI as a tactical cyber weapon for threat actors. The research involves using generative AI to carry out cyberattacks against any environment or system.

Generative AI cybersecurity research is race against bad actors which Usman hopes to help win.

“Right now, there is more than a 300 percent increase in cyberattacks because of generative AI. Fifty percent of all the cyberattacks now are from generative AI, because even people who actually don’t know anything about cybersecurity or cyber-crime have more access to AI. They can just tell it to do what they want,” said Usman.

On a promising note, solutions such as those Usman is helping to produce and publish are rapidly integrated and implemented by companies by using AI to block the exposed threats.

“If somebody carries out something from our paper, it’s not going to work. It’s already been seen and blocked,” said Usman.

While at Quinnipiac, Usman also co-authored the paper "Can AI Keep You Safe? A Study of Large Language Models for Phishing Detection” (January 2024), which was presented at the 14th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference (IEEE CCWC 2024). The research looks at defensive measures against email phishing attacks with AI and large language models.

“We’re working on creating the Chrome browser that you can download in your computer that will be able to identify phishing the moment the email comes in,” Usman said.

At Quinnipiac, Usman is also proud to be the first graduate student in the Master of Science in Cybersecurity to serve as the graduate assistant to the Dean of the School of Computing and Engineering.

“Yusuf’s contributions to cybersecurity research, particularly in leveraging AI to address modern threats, demonstrates his commitment to advancing the field,” said Dean Taskin Kocak. “Yusuf’s work, recognized at prestigious conferences and published in leading journals, both enriches our academic community and serves as a great example of innovation and academic excellence we strive for here at the School of Computing and Engineering.”

For Quinnipiac's 9th Annual Project Day, Usman contributed a poster presentation, "Enhancing Cybersecurity: Leveraging AI, ML and LLMs for Phishing Detection and Prevention.” The poster was also presented at prestigious events including the 2024 CAE in Cybersecurity Community Symposium in Louisville, Kentucky.

Usman’s lab and academic support for the cybersecurity program has included orchestrating a seamless transition of lab operations (from FrameCyber to AWS), resolving critical business login errors and developing CyberGPT with over 60,000 datasets. The latter accomplishment achieved 95 percent accuracy in student-focused cybersecurity coursework.

“Yusuf has done a great job as a grad student including authoring and presenting multiple research papers on cybersecurity and building out cyber labs for others in the MS program,” said MS Cybersecurity Program Director Dr. Frederick Scholl. “He has also been an active participant in cybersecurity conferences we have had on campus. I am sure he will be successful in this field, no matter what career path he chooses.”

This spring, while completing his work at the Mount Carmel Campus, Usman will also undertake a remote cybersecurity internship with Help at Home based in Chicago, Illinois. His role will be in cybersecurity incident response and business continuity.

Usman looks forward to graduating in May 2025 and said he’s eager to explore summer internship or full-time job opportunities.

“I love challenges. I love doing new things. I love trying stuff,” Usman said. “When I see something, the first thing I’m going to think of is how can somebody break it, and how am I going to fix it? You have to think ahead of the bad guys.”