FBI Raids Home of Prominent Computer Scientist Who Has Gone Incommunicado (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0176873029
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/03/31/149248/fbi-raids-home-of-prominent-computer-scientist-who-has-gone-incommunicado
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/03/computer-scientist-goes-silent-after-fbi-raid-and-purging-from-university-website/
> A prominent computer scientist who has spent 20 years publishing academic papers on cryptography, privacy, and cybersecurity [1]has gone incommunicado , had his professor profile, email account, and phone number removed by his employer, Indiana University, and had his homes raided by the FBI. No one knows why.
>
> Xiaofeng Wang has a long list of prestigious titles. He was the associate dean for research at Indiana University's Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, a fellow at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a tenured professor at Indiana University at Bloomington. According to his employer, he has served as principal investigator on research projects totaling nearly $23 million over his 21 years there.
>
> He has also co-authored scores of academic papers on a diverse range of research fields, including cryptography, systems security, and data privacy, including the protection of human genomic data.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/03/computer-scientist-goes-silent-after-fbi-raid-and-purging-from-university-website/
Downloaded all his papers... (Score:2)
Only one of them was on encryption. Most of it was white-hat hacker stuff, preventing hacks and detecting malware type of stuff.
That is one creepy article (Score:4, Interesting)
I recommend reading the article - I know, I know, but in this case there's important info which doesn't appear in TFS.
The story sounds like it has the potential to become a movie - pick a genre from among spy, mystery, suspense, thriller, or dystopian. If Slashdot stories came in installments, I would be eagerly awaiting the next one.
Re: That is one creepy article (Score:2)
Thanks, it was a good shout, worth a read and I'll keep following the story.
Re: (Score:3)
Mark Whalberg is.... Xiaofeng Wang
Re: (Score:2)
[1]His Wikipedia page is still up. [wikipedia.org]
Per this page and TFS/TFA, it's not clear whether Wang is a US citizen or a permanent resident (green card.) No doubt it is one or the other, as he has anchored his career in the USA for more than two decades.
TFA seems to indicate the raid was court-authorized. Yet I can't imagine he can be held incommunicado indefinitely. Can't someone file a writ of habeus corpus on his account? Or are we in an era where people can simply be disappeared?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaofeng_Wang
Re: (Score:3)
Sorry, I didn't see any indication he was arrested in any of the sources I mentioned. So he may very well be on the lam.
Chinese Spy? (Score:2)
So...maybe the found him to be a Chinese spy?
His cover got blown...and he was either arrested or he is on the run by to china?
Re: (Score:2)
That was my thought as well. You don't remove someone's communication and all their information at their place of business unless something is up.
Re:Chinese Spy? (Score:5, Funny)
Satoshi Nakamoto CONFIRMED.
Re: (Score:1)
Would they not have kept all those active as not to tip him off?
Re: (Score:2)
Possibly. However, he might have left in a hurry if he thought he was found out so the university would not have known to remove his information until the FBI showed up at their door.
Re: (Score:3)
or he will turn up in 2 weeks in an ice dention centre in El Salvador,
"Xiaofeng Wang" No one knows why.. (Shatner voice) (Score:2)
A mystery if there ever was one.
Cyber espionage, most like. (Score:2)
With a response like that it must undoubtedly be a national security issue. Too many serious things have happened in short succession for it to be anything else. With his position he'd be perfectly positioned to intercept knowledge, secrets, suggest protocol weaknesses or even bundle government software with backdoors.
Re: (Score:2)
> With a response like that it must undoubtedly be a national security issue. Too many serious things have happened in short succession for it to be anything else. With his position he'd be perfectly positioned to intercept knowledge, secrets, suggest protocol weaknesses or even bundle government software with backdoors.
It's also possible that he found out something that will embarrass the current administration. It's too early to ascribe malicious intent to him. Let's wait for the details. Let's hope we get some details.
Really? You don't know why? (Score:4, Insightful)
> and had his homes raided by the FBI. No one knows why....
> ...Xiaofeng Wang
That's why.
With the [1]repeated history of Chinese academics arrested for spying for the regime in Beijing [google.com], is anyone with a whit of sense actually shocked?
[1] https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=chinese+academics+arrested+for+spying&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Lazy writing (Score:2, Informative)
"No one knows why."
This is so lazy on the part of the writer. Of course some people know why. The FBI knows why. They just aren't saying. The missing guy didn't vanish into another dimension, he was abducted and the people who abducted him know why they did it.
Re: (Score:1)
True, but also troll. "Nobody knows" is just slang for "there's no public information."
Re: (Score:3)
What is your proof that he was abducted? Maybe he's fled the country. Maybe he's in hiding in the US.
Maybe this is a show by the FBI and he's in FBI custody but they want to give the impression they don't have him.
Lots of possibilities.
More detail at "Talking Points Memo" (Score:3)
Recently updated news at [1]Talking Points Memo [talkingpointsmemo.com]
[2]March 29th: Sketchy First Reports [talkingpointsmemo.com]
[3]March 30th: More Details on Situation at Indiana University [talkingpointsmemo.com]
[4]March 31st: Another Update on the Situation at Indiana University [talkingpointsmemo.com]
I wanted to provide a quick update on the case of Professor Xiaofeng Wang at Indiana University. For overview details, see the posts below. The latest is the IU chapter of a faculty organization (the American Association of University Professors) has sent a letter to the university challenging Professor Wang’s termination. You can see that letter here. The letter itself is the best evidence we as yet have that Wang was in fact fired by the university. The university itself has not confirmed that or publicly commented at all. And at least no one who is talking appears to be in contact with Wang. So we don’t have any confirmation from him or anyone speaking on his behalf.
It’s important to note that all of this is unfolding in the context of people having pretty little information about what’s happening. It appears that Professor Wang is the target of a federal investigation of some sort. ...
[1] https://talkingpointsmemo.com/
[2] https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/sketchy-first-reports
[3] https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/more-details-on-situation-at-indiana-university
[4] https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/another-update-on-the-situation-at-indiana-university
Indiana? (Score:3)
Has anyone checked if they are in the Upside Down? Get out the Christmas lights!