Lan Zhang

Dr. Lan Zhang

orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

2Years (2025-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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12 November 2025
Verified
Book Chapter
Open access
PDF file
LZLan Zhang
Lan Zhang
PLPeng Liu
Peng Liu
The deployment of deep learning-based malware detection systems has transformed cybersecurity, offering sophisticated pattern recognition capabilities that surpass the traditional signature-based approaches. However, these systems introduce new vulnerabilities requiring systematic investigation. This chapter examines adversarial attacks against graph neural network-based malware detection systems, focusing on semantics-preserving methodologies that evade detection while maintaining program functionality. We introduce a reinforcement learning (RL) framework that formulates the attack as a sequential decision-making problem, optimizing the insertion of no-operation (NOP) instructions to manipulate graph structure without altering program behavior. Comparative analysis includes three baseline methods: random insertion, hill-climbing, and gradient-approximation attacks. Our experimental evaluation on real-world malware datasets reveals significant effectiveness differences, with the reinforcement learning approach achieving perfect evasion rates against both Graph Convolutional Network and Deep Graph Convolutional Neural Network architectures while requiring minimal program modifications. Our findings reveal three critical research gaps: transitioning from abstract Control Flow Graph representations to executable binary manipulation, developing universal vulnerability discovery across different architectures, and systematically translating adversarial insights into defensive enhancements. This work contributes to understanding adversarial vulnerabilities in graph-based security systems while establishing frameworks for evaluating machine learning-based malware detection robustness.

20 July 2026
Verified
Book Chapter
Closed access
PDF file
ZWZhilong Wang
Zhilong Wang
HWHaizhou Wang
Haizhou Wang
NLNanqing Luo
Nanqing Luo
LZLan Zhang
Lan Zhang
PLPeng Liu
Peng Liu
XSXiaoyan Sun
Xiaoyan Sun

6 June 2025 in arXiv
Verified
Preprint
Open access
PDF file
ZWZhilong Wang
Zhilong Wang
NNNeha Nagaraja
Neha Nagaraja
LZLan Zhang
Lan Zhang
HBHayretdin Bahşi
Hayretdin Bahşi
PPPawan Patil
Pawan Patil
PLPeng Liu
Peng Liu
LLM agents are widely used as agents for customer support, content generation, and code assistance. However, they are vulnerable to prompt injection attacks, where adversarial inputs manipulate the model's behavior. Traditional defenses like input sanitization, guard models, and guardrails are either cumbersome or ineffective. In this paper, we propose a novel, lightweight defense mechanism called Polymorphic Prompt Assembling (PPA), which protects against prompt injection with near-zero overhead. The approach is based on the insight that prompt injection requires guessing and breaking the structure of the system prompt. By dynamically varying the structure of system prompts, PPA prevents attackers from predicting the prompt structure, thereby enhancing security without compromising performance. We conducted experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of PPA against existing attacks and compared it with other defense methods.