People
Atefeh Mashatan
Canada Research Chair | Director of The Cybersecurity Research Lab | Associate Professor
Department: Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management
Education: BMath, MMath, PhD; CISSP, SOA Certified
Office: TRS 2-038
Phone: 416-979-5000 x 553632
Dr. Atefeh (Atty) Mashatan is the founding director of the Cybersecurity Research Lab (CRL) at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and recognized as a leading expert in cryptography, blockchain technology, quantum-resistant solutions, enterprise security architecture and Internet-of-Things (IoT) security.
Since 2016, Dr. Mashatan has been a professor at the Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management and holds the prominent position as a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Quality of Security (QoS) Framework (external link) for Internet-of-Things (IoT) as of September 2021. She investigates new threats that have emerged due to the widespread adoption of IoT, develops new security systems for these networks, and recommends best practices for users, technical audiences and policy-makers. Her CRC program focuses on enhancing the quality of security of smart yet small IoT devices in the specific context in which they are being deployed. The aim of this multidisciplinary research program is to make a solution as secure as possible, given the contextual parameters and limitations of its use-case.
Dr. Mashatan’s remarkable contributions to cybersecurity have been globally recognized as she continues to be an innovative leader and researcher at the forefront of the field. She has been acknowledged with many prestigious awards some of which include being recognized as the Top 25 Women of Influence (2024) (external link) by Women of Influence+, Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award 2023 under the Executive Leader category awarded by Women’s Executive Network (WXN), Canada’s Cyber Security Research Expert of the Year (2023) (external link) by Wealth & Finance International and the Top 5 Women of Influence in Security 2019 (external link) by SC Magazine. Furthermore, her achievements include receiving the University Blockchain Research Initiative Innovator Award from Ripple in November 2021 and winning the Hyperledger Challenge by the Hyperledger Foundation in August 2022.
Dr. Mashatan continues to be a catalyst for women in IT, and over the past decade has been an advocate for critical dialogue between academia, industry, and regulators to address information security and privacy gaps in order to effectively address societal concerns. She serves as a Director and Board Member for Compute Ontario (external link) and Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst (external link) since 2019. She contributes as an Expert for the Research Executive Agency of the European Commission (2021). She is an Advisory Group member of the Mastercard Emerging Leaders Cyber Initiative (ELCI) (external link) , designed to empower women and non-binary leaders. In addition, Dr. Mashatan continues to be a member of the Program Advisory Committee (PAC) for the Bachelor of Engineering in Information Systems Engineering at Humber College and the Quantum College of Reviewers, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). More recently, she has also joined the Editorial Board for the Computer & Security Journal (external link) , a well recognized cybersecurity journal. As of May 2023, she is now also a Member of the National Quantum Advisory Council (external link) within the Deputy Ministry of Science and Economic Development Canada, Government of Canada. This advisory position showcases the importance of the research Dr. Mashatan conducts as well as her status in the broader community.
Her research has been supported by numerous industry partners as well as agencies such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Research Chair, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Ontario Centres of Innovation. She is a Certified Service Oriented Architect (SOA) with Honours and holds a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification from the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC2).
Dr. Mashatan has an Erdős Number of 2! (external link) This is the best a researcher can achieve since 1996 when Paul Erdős passed away.
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(external link)
NSERC Chair for Women in Science and Engineering | Professor
Department: Physics and Computer Science, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
(external link)
Professor
Department: Data Science Laboratory
(external link)
Associate Professor
Department: School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Clemson University, USA
Previous Title at CRL: Manager, Research Projects Administration
Previous Title at CRL: Manager, Administration & Operations
Previous Title at CRL: Research Associate
Previous Title at CRL: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Previous Title at CRL: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Previous Title at CRL: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Previous Title at CRL: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Previous Title at CRL: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Previous Title at CRL: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
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Previous Title at CRL: Graduate Research Assistant
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Previous Titile at CRL: Graduate Research Assistant
Previous Title at CRL: Graduate Research Assistant
Previous Title at CRL: Graduate Research Assistant
Previous Title at CRL: Graduate Research Assistant
Previous Title at CRL: Graduate Research Assistant
Previous Title at CRL: Graduate Research Assistant
Previous Title at CRL: Graduate Research Assistant
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Previous Title at CRL: Visiting Graduate Research Assistant
Previous Title at CRL: Visiting Graduate Research Assistant
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Previous Title at CRL: Visiting Graduate Research Assistant
Previous Title at CRL: Visiting Graduate Research Assistant
Previous Title at CRL: Visiting Graduate Research Assistant
Previous Title at CRL: Visiting Graduate Research Assistant