Zahid Akhtar

Zahid Akhtar


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

16Years (2011-Present)

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

Representative Publications

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19 September 2020 in The Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation: Applications, Methodology, Technology
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
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DDDipankar Dasgupta
Dipankar Dasgupta
ZAZahid Akhtar
Zahid Akhtar
SSSajib Sen
Sajib Sen
Today’s world is highly network interconnected owing to the pervasiveness of small personal devices (e.g., smartphones) as well as large computing devices or services (e.g., cloud computing or online banking), and thereby each passing minute millions of data bytes are being generated, processed, exchanged, shared, and utilized to yield outcomes in specific applications. Thus, securing the data, machines (devices), and user’s privacy in cyberspace has become an utmost concern for individuals, business organizations, and national governments. In recent years, machine learning (ML) has been widely employed in cybersecurity, for example, intrusion or malware detection and biometric-based user authentication. However, ML algorithms are vulnerable to attacks both in the training and testing phases, which usually leads to remarkable performance decreases and security breaches. Comparatively, limited studies have been conducted to understand the essence and degree of the vulnerabilities of ML techniques against security threats and their defensive mechanisms. It is imperative to systematize recent works related to cybersecurity using ML to seek the attention of researchers, scientists, and engineers. Therefore, in this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of the works that have been carried out most recently (from 2013 to 2018) on ML in cybersecurity, describing the basics of cyber-attacks and corresponding defenses, the basics of the most commonly used ML algorithms, and proposed ML and data mining schemes for cybersecurity in terms of features, dimensionality reduction, and classification/detection techniques. In this context, this article also provides an overview of adversarial ML, including the security characteristics of deep learning methods. Finally, open issues and challenges in cybersecurity are highlighted and potential future research directions are discussed.

21 March 2019 in Computer
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
Kamran SiddiqueKamran Siddique
Kamran Siddique
ZAZahid Akhtar
Zahid Akhtar
AKAftab Aslam Parwaz Khan
Aftab Aslam Parwaz Khan
Yangwoo KimYangwoo Kim
Yangwoo Kim
Many consider the KDD Cup 99 data sets to be outdated and inadequate. Therefore, the extensive use of these data sets in recent studies to evaluate network intrusion detection systems is a matter of concern. We contribute to the literature by addressing these concerns.

13 January 2023 in Journal of Imaging
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Journal Article
Open access
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ZAZahid Akhtar
Zahid Akhtar
Advancements in deep learning techniques and the availability of free, large databases have made it possible, even for non-technical people, to either manipulate or generate realistic facial samples for both benign and malicious purposes. DeepFakes refer to face multimedia content, which has been digitally altered or synthetically created using deep neural networks. The paper first outlines the readily available face editing apps and the vulnerability (or performance degradation) of face recognition systems under various face manipulations. Next, this survey presents an overview of the techniques and works that have been carried out in recent years for deepfake and face manipulations. Especially, four kinds of deepfake or face manipulations are reviewed, i.e., identity swap, face reenactment, attribute manipulation, and entire face synthesis. For each category, deepfake or face manipulation generation methods as well as those manipulation detection methods are detailed. Despite significant progress based on traditional and advanced computer vision, artificial intelligence, and physics, there is still a huge arms race surging up between attackers/offenders/adversaries (i.e., DeepFake generation methods) and defenders (i.e., DeepFake detection methods). Thus, open challenges and potential research directions are also discussed. This paper is expected to aid the readers in comprehending deepfake generation and detection mechanisms, together with open issues and future directions.

11 September 2017 in IEEE Access
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
ZAZahid Akhtar
Zahid Akhtar
TFTiago H. Falk
Tiago H. Falk
Measuring perceived quality of audio-visual signals at the end-user has become an important parameter in many multimedia networks and applications. It plays a crucial role in shaping audio-visual processing, compression, transmission and systems, along with their implementation, optimization, and testing. Service providers are enacting different quality of service (QoS) solutions to issue the best quality of experience (QoE) to their customers. Thus, devising precise perception-based quality metrics will greatly help improving multimedia services over wired and wireless networks. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of the works that have been carried out over recent decades in perceptual audio, video, and joint audio-visual quality assessments, describing existing methodologies in terms of requirement of a reference signal, feature extraction, feature mapping, and classification schemes. In this context, an overview of quality formation and perception, QoS, QoE as well as quality of perception is also presented. Finally, open issues and challenges in audio-visual quality assessment are highlighted and potential future research directions are discussed.

23 January 2025 in Information
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Journal Article
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SAURABH A PAHUNESAURABH A PAHUNE
SAURABH A PAHUNE
ZAZahid Akhtar
Zahid Akhtar
Large Language Models (LLMs), such as the GPT series, LLaMA, and BERT, possess incredible capabilities in human-like text generation and understanding across diverse domains, which have revolutionized artificial intelligence applications. However, their operational complexity necessitates a specialized framework known as LLMOps (Large Language Model Operations), which refers to the practices and tools used to manage lifecycle processes, including model fine-tuning, deployment, and LLMs monitoring. LLMOps is a subcategory of the broader concept of MLOps (Machine Learning Operations), which is the practice of automating and managing the lifecycle of ML models. LLM landscapes are currently composed of platforms (e.g., Vertex AI) to manage end-to-end deployment solutions and frameworks (e.g., LangChain) to customize LLMs integration and application development. This paper attempts to understand the key differences between LLMOps and MLOps, highlighting their unique challenges, infrastructure requirements, and methodologies. The paper explores the distinction between traditional ML workflows and those required for LLMs to emphasize security concerns, scalability, and ethical considerations. Fundamental platforms, tools, and emerging trends in LLMOps are evaluated to offer actionable information for practitioners. Finally, the paper presents future potential trends for LLMOps by focusing on its critical role in optimizing LLMs for production use in fields such as healthcare, finance, and cybersecurity.

Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
SAURABH A PAHUNESAURABH A PAHUNE
SAURABH A PAHUNE
ZAZahid Akhtar
Zahid Akhtar
VMVenkatesh Varma Mandapati
Venkatesh Varma Mandapati
Kamran SiddiqueKamran Siddique
Kamran Siddique
AI data governance is a crucial framework for ensuring that data are utilized in the lifecycle of large language model (LLM) activity, from the development process to the end-to-end testing process, model validation, secure deployment, and operations. This requires the data to be managed responsibly, confidentially, securely, and ethically. The main objective of data governance is to implement a robust and intelligent data governance framework for LLMs, which tends to impact data quality management, the fine-tuning of model performance, biases, data privacy laws, security protocols, ethical AI practices, and regulatory compliance processes in LLMs. Effective data governance steps are important for minimizing data breach activity, enhancing data security, ensuring compliance and regulations, mitigating bias, and establishing clear policies and guidelines. This paper covers the foundation of AI data governance, key components, types of data governance, best practices, case studies, challenges, and future directions of data governance in LLMs. Additionally, we conduct a comprehensive detailed analysis of data governance and how efficient the integration of AI data governance must be for LLMs to gain a trustable approach for the end user. Finally, we provide deeper insights into the comprehensive exploration of the relevance of the data governance framework to the current landscape of LLMs in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, finance, supply chain management, and cybersecurity sectors and address the essential roles to take advantage of the approach of data governance frameworks and their effectiveness and limitations.