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York research collaboration to improve cybersecurity threat detection, mitigation

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York University’s Behaviour-Centric Cybersecurity Center (BCCC) is advancing leadership in cybersecurity by collaborating with cPacket – a network monitoring company – to tackle a major cybercrime threat.

A significant challenge in cybercrime is a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, in which cybercriminals flood an online server with internet traffic to prevent users from accessing connected services and sites. This usually results in a server’s total shutdown and inaccessibility.

Sometimes, institutions detect DDoS attacks after the damage has already been done or when they are too far underway to stop them. Recognizing the critical need for real-time detection to combat this cyberthreat, York’s BCCC and network monitoring company cPacket collaborated to develop a comprehensive solution to help cybersecurity researchers more effectively study and respond to DDoS attacks.

The result of this collaboration is a new dataset – a structured collection of data commonly used in fields such as machine learning, statistics and data science for tasks such as training models, conducting research or decision making – named BCCC-cPacket-Cloud-DDoS-2024. This DDoS attack-specific dataset was created to overcome a range of shortcomings among existing datasets.

Arash Habibi Lashkari portrait
Arash Habibi Lashkari; photo by Rob Blanchard.

“This collaboration between York University and cPacket marks a significant step forward in the fight against DDoS attacks, addressing critical gaps in existing datasets and paving the way for more effective detection and mitigation strategies,” says Professor Arash Habibi Lashkari, founder and director of BCCC at York. 

The newly developed dataset captures a diverse range of potential threat scenarios, providing researchers with a comprehensive set of situations to study and respond to.

Another crucial component is the dataset’s cloud infrastructure, which combines several computers, servers, switches and routers on a single platform. This makes it possible to create a system that can easily change in size and shape, simulating different kinds of network traffic and helping researchers to more easily mimic real-life scenarios, which is useful for testing new ways to find and stop cyberattacks.

“By providing a comprehensive dataset that reflects real-world network conditions, we aim to empower researchers and practitioners in the information technology security field to develop more robust and resilient cybersecurity solutions, ultimately making the digital world safer for everyone,” says Ron Nevo, cPacket’s chief technology officer. 

The new dataset also includes detailed information about network traffic, which allows researchers to more closely analyze the data and develop methods that use artificial intelligence to detect and classify different types of network activity.

“This collaboration represents a significant advancement in cybersecurity,” says Lashkari. “By addressing the shortcomings of existing datasets and providing a comprehensive solution for studying DDoS attacks, this project could result in the deployment of more resilient cybersecurity systems across various sectors, safeguarding critical infrastructure, businesses and individuals from evolving cyber threats.”

For more information about cybersecurity datasets, visit the Behaviour-Centric Cybersecurity Center website.

SAS students shine at prestigious Canadian case competition

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Two School of Administrative Studies (SAS) students, and one alumnus, took top prizes at the 16th annual Canadian Marketing League (CML) – the largest marketing case competition in the country – which gives passionate marketing students the opportunity to demonstrate and gain real-world business experience.

Formerly known as Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec, CML recently hosted 270 student contenders hailing from 26 universities nationwide. Participants engaged in complex marketing challenges ­– provided by leading companies such as Microsoft, McDonald’s, Kraft Heinz and Environics Analytics – to win top spots in the competition.

For several years, CML has provided York marketing students an opportunity to excel, succeeding in the competition itself, gain experiential learning, and demonstrating their abilities. “This platform has offered fantastic opportunities,” says Professor Pallavi Sodhi, who dedicated countless hours this year mentoring students in preparation for CML. “For students, it has provided transformative experiences to showcase their marketing skills, determination and passion. Companies have benefited from groundbreaking ideas to address their most challenging business issues and access ready-to-go marketing talent.”

This year, Amanda Volpato, a fourth-year York SAS student majoring in marketing, won the first place, securing the esteemed CML grand prize of $20,000. It marked not just a professional accomplishment but a personal one, too. Seven years ago, Volpato arrived in Canada from Mato Grosso, Brazil knowing little English and struggling with mental health challenges. Nonetheless, she persevered to become an up-and-coming – and now award-winning – marketer. “Participating in CML has truly shown me that sticking to a strong work ethic is always worth it. For any international student who is struggling with mental health and may be reading this, don’t give up, there is light at the end of the tunnel,” she says.

In addition to Volpato, other members of SAS also won awards.

The Top CML Alumni award was presented to Jacky Li, a former student and Top 10 CML winner in 2014, who is now a strategy director at renowned creative marketing and communications agency Cossette, and continues to serve as a mentor to numerous students, emphasizing the value of experiential learning.

Nicole Rodrigues, a fourth-year bachelor of commerce student, was also recognized, earning her the second prize of $750 for her role as a campus engagement leader. As one of the 47 campus managers, Rodrigues actively promotes CML at York through information booths and class talks.

These York community members add to an ever-growing catalogue of students and alumni who have earned top prizes at CML – a tradition bound to continue.

About the Competition: Canadian Marketing League/Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec was launched in 2007, with the goal to bridge the gap between classroom and industry. Today it has grown to be the largest marketing case competition in Canada, structured in a 3-phase process mirroring the intensity of NHL/NBA. To date more than 50 competitors have been awarded career-starts at major corporations and more than $575,000 in prize money has been awarded.

York hosts website preserving Canadian broadcasting history

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Following an agreement signed with the Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF), York University now hosts a one-of-a-kind website that documents information on a diverse variety of small, local radio stations and television stations in Canada from 1922 to the present.

Anne-F.-MacLennan
Anne MacLennan

Over the past four years, former CCF member and communication and media studies Professor Anne MacLennan has been diligently working with the CCF to transfer archival materials from the organization’s History of Canadian Broadcasting website to its new home at York.

The archives are an invaluable cultural resource due to broadcasting stations not typically documenting their own histories thoroughly, and other existing research in the field being dominated by literature on broadcasting regulation and the building of the CBC.

The website – the only archive of its kind in Canada – has built up a careful history of all the broadcast media in Canada, chronicling and documenting the development of radio and television broadcasting in Canada since 1922. It also features biographies of prominent media personalities who have made significant and innovative contributions to the growth and development of Canadian broadcasting, but whose vision, ingenuity, dedication and venturesome undertakings had not been otherwise recognized.

The website has achieved a great deal over the years in developing a definitive history of broadcasting in Canada, and York made the decision to take it over when the CCF began winding down operations in 2020. In the process, the archive will help the school fulfill its commitment to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that look to encourage the protection and safeguarding of the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

With the transfer of ownership from CCF to York now complete, the website will serve as more of an archive than an active site. It aims to provide a valuable resource to students in communications, media, and history programs at York University and other universities, as well as high-school students and any member of the public who is curious about the rich historical development of Canadian broadcasting.

York University program offers teaching practicum in Japan

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York University’s Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Certificate program offers students a unique experiential education opportunity: participate in an international teaching practicum in Japan, in partnership with Meiji University, where they can practice teaching in an English immersion program.

Setting teachers up for success when they’re at the front of a classroom is at the heart of every teaching program. York U’s TESOL Certificate program provides a 50-hour teaching practicum that allows participants to observe and apply what they have learned in a range of English language teaching contexts, including internationally. The Meiji University partnership provides a field experience in a global setting and enables participants to explore their new skills while enjoying the rewards of teaching abroad.

This year’s field experience with Meji University took place in March. TESOL students Denise Suarez, Kelvin Luk and Veronica Ward-Bone travelled to Japan where they worked with 50 students and five faculty from Meiji University. They were able to do so through funding support from York International Mobility Award and the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (LA&PS).

York language students with Meiji University students
From left to right: York students Kelvin Luk, Veronica Ward-Bone and Denise Suarez with Meiji students.

Under the supervision of Antonella Valeo, professor and TESOL Certificate Program coordinator in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics of LA&PS, York students participated in a week-long course with formal English language classes led by Meiji instructors.

The York TESOL students helped provide lessons and support, while living together with Meiji students and faculty at a seminar house in a mountain setting just north of Tokyo. Teaching and learning inside and outside the classroom, the experience provided the York students with an opportunity to learn how to run a class, as well as how to support other instructors as teaching assistants.

“Getting to observe the teachers’ different instruction methods and activities, while seeing how the students respond to it in a new context, improved and expanded my own perspectives on teaching,” reflected Suarez.  

“It was amazing to see the students’ quick progress in their English proficiency as they became more comfortable talking to us in the new setting,” added Ward-Bone.

“The most valuable things I got out of the trip were the teaching practice in real classrooms and the opportunities to learn about Japanese culture through authentic interactions with Meiji students,” said Luk.

According to Valeo, that is an important part of this opportunity. “This unique international experience helps students broaden their perspectives and experience teaching abroad with personalized support and mentoring,” she says. “For many students, it is a life-changing experience that stays with them long after graduation.”

York demonstrates global, national education leadership in latest QS subject rankings

York University commons pond

With three placements in the top 100 of the 2024 QS World University Rankings by Subject report, York University builds on ongoing momentum to right the future as it positions itself as a global leader in post-secondary education through its academic programming.

Each year, the QS Subject Report ranks a total of 55 disciplines grouped into five subject areas: arts and humanities; engineering and technology; life sciences and medicine; natural sciences; and social sciences and management.

The most recent report – which evaluated more than 15,000 programs from 1,561 institutions – placed York among the top 100 in the world in three subject areas: education, English language and literature, and philosophy. Within Canada, the University also received top-five placement across 11 subjects.

“These rankings reflect the high quality education and impactful research that define York University,” says York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton. “We continue to drive positive change locally and globally guided by our values as a progressive university dedicated to excellence, social justice, diversity, inclusion and sustainability. It is gratifying to be recognized for our leadership in the higher education sector. We are providing the talent needed for the 21st-century workforce and solving the complex problems facing society today and in the future.”

The new QS rankings add to the momentum of York’s continued impressive results over the past year in other prestigious rankings. Notably, in June 2023, the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings placed York among the top 40 institutions advancing the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Then, in July, the QS World University Rankings saw the University strengthen its global position as a leading research-intensive university by climbing more than 100 spots from the previous year.

Faculty of Education advancing its leadership

In the new QS subject rankings, released this April, the University placed particularly high in education, demonstrating its ongoing efforts in advancing the future of pedagogy.

That leadership has been shepherded by York’s Faculty of Education, which offers a broad range of programs, research initiatives and community partnerships, all of which embody its long-running dedication to practices of equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization.

Last year, the Faculty advanced those efforts for the occasion of its 50th anniversary and developed its new five-year strategic plan. Through the plan, the Faculty reaffirmed its commitment to providing an environment where students are encouraged to challenge the status quo to uncover new possibilities in the advancement of education and social justice.

Opportunities – like its Concurrent Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Arts in Educational Studies – also have helped the Faculty stand out, as have initiatives like its Public Lecture Series, Additional Basic Qualifications courses and the Wüléelham offering, which engages participants in learning from Indigenous peoples.  

The Faculty of Education also this year launched a new international consultancy called ED Global, offering education and professional learning consulting services to school boards, educational organizations and diverse communities.

Top five in Canada

In addition to York’s placement in the top 100 globally in three subjects, it was represented further within the top 150 in eight other subject areas: anthropology, history, accounting and finance, communication and media studies, psychology, performing arts, sociology, developmental studies and psychology (at Glendon college). The University was also represented in the top five for each of these subjects within Canada.

The rankings reflect a range of Faculties and schools at York, including the Faculty of Health, the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design.

QS World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) that serves as an important indicator for global post-secondary education leadership and success.

Professor Christina Sharpe named 2024 Guggenheim Fellow

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The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has awarded its prestigious fellowship to Christina Sharpe, a professor in York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the Department of Humanities.

Christina Sharpe close-up portrait
Christina Sharpe

The Guggenheim Foundation is a beacon of excellence in supporting scholars, artists, and researchers in their endeavours to push the boundaries of knowledge and creativity. This year, 188 culture creators working across 52 disciplines were named Guggenheim Fellows, selected on the basis of prior career achievement and exceptional promise, and rewarded with both recognition and monetary prizes.

This honour is a testament to Sharpe’s contributions to the field of Black studies and her innovative approach to research and writing. Her trailblazing work has resonated with scholars and readers alike, shedding light on important issues related to what she calls the “ordinary extraordinary matter of Black life.”

“As a member of our faculty, we are truly delighted and honoured to witness her exceptional achievements,” says J.J. McMurtry, dean of LA&PS. “She is not simply being acknowledged for her outstanding contributions but is being rightly celebrated on a global scale. Her outstanding success serves as a source of inspiration and pride for our entire academic community, highlighting the calibre of talent and dedication that thrives within our Faculty.”

Sharpe’s recent works have garnered significant acclaim, with her book Ordinary Notes (Penguin Random House Canada, 2023) earning her the Hilary Weston Writer’s Trust Prize for Nonfiction and being selected as a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. Ordinary Notes was further recognized as a best book of the year by esteemed publications such as the New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, NPR, New York Magazine and literary magazine Granta. This month, Sharpe was also awarded a Windham-Campbell Prize for nonfiction.

Beyond the many recent accolades, Sharpe remains immersed in her upcoming projects – What Could a Vessel Be? and Black. Still. Life. – showcasing her ongoing commitment to exploring and engaging with important themes through her writing.

“I am very glad for the support of the Guggenheim Foundation toward completing What Could a Vessel Be? and to be among so many writers, artists and thinkers whose work I respect,” says Sharpe.

Twelve LA&PS researchers receive SSHRC funding

York U letters in Vari Hall

Researchers from York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) have received a combined $687,686 in funding from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), through a Connection Grant and Insight Development Grants in 2023, to pursue research initiatives in the areas of knowledge mobilization, artificial intelligence, feminism, environmental humanities and more.

Connection Grants support events, workshops, and outreach activities that often lead to longer-term research projects and enable scholarly exchanges with academic and non-academic partners, and collaboration between the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

This year, Adrian Shubert, a professor emeritus in the Department of History, received a Connection Grant of $25,446 to pursue phase two of his project “Spanish Civil War: A Virtual Museum – adding new galleries and content, extending the audience and developing resources for educators.”

Shubert’s outreach project’s overarching goal is to further extend knowledge exchange and dissemination about one of the most controversial and written-about events of the 20th century. The project will build on the core research team’s prior achievement of the permanent Spanish Civil War: A Virtual Museum, the construction of which was aided by SSHRC support. Since opening in September 2022, the virtual museum has been visited by 66,000 people from more than 130 countries.

“We greatly value the work of knowledge mobilization in our Faculty, and these successes not only advance our research agendas, they widen the audiences for our work and grow our reputation for research excellence,” said Ravi de Costa, associate dean of research and graduate studies, LA&PS.

In addition to Shubert, several York professors also received Insight Development Grants, which are awarded to emerging and established scholars in the social sciences and humanities to work on research projects of two to five years.

With 11 out of the 18 successful projects, LA&PS faculty saw a 61.1 per cent success rate for the 2023 Insight Development Grants. The initiatives supported by the program will help LA&PS researchers advance knowledge in critical areas of artificial intelligence, feminism, environmental humanities and many other fields.

“Support for research in its early stages is vital for scholars at all stages of their careers,” said David Cuff, director of strategic research and partnerships, LA&PS. “This funding will help our new colleagues establish themselves and give established colleagues scope to explore new avenues of discovery.”

The 11 faculty, and their projects, are:

Duygu Biricik Gulseren, School of Human Resources Management
Inconsistent Leadership: Scale Development and Measurement
$69,415

Ann Marie Murnaghan, Department of Humanities
Old poles and new stories: archival knowledges and oral histories of C’idimsggin’is and Kurt Seligmann
$70,521

Rianka Singh, Department of Communication & Media Studies
Platform Feminism
$53,363

Hannah Johnston, School of Human Resources Management
Regulating algorithmic management in standard employment: A comparison of legislative and industrial relations approaches
$71,209

Matthew Leisinger, Department of Philosophy
Cudworth’s conscious self
$36,492

Simone Bohn, Department of Politics
When Reproductive Self-Determination Remains Restricted. Women’s Strategies of Resistance in Brazil
$74,518

Ibtissem Knouzi, Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics
Critical Transitions in the Literacy Development of International Multilingual Students in English-medium Universities: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study
$63,000

Zhixiang Liang, School of Administrative Studies 
The Impact of Institutional Systems on Foreign Direct Investment: A Multilevel Study of Chinese Multinational Enterprises
$63,393

Andrew Sarta, School of Administrative Studies
Imagining Augmentation Possibilities and How Organizations Adapt to the Emergence of Artificial Intelligence
$55,750

Jean-Thomas Tremblay, Department of Humanities
Eco-subtraction: downsizing the environmental humanities
$47,341

Yishu Zeng, Department of Economics
The Design of Information Disclosure Policy in Strategic Interaction
$57,238

York researchers launch exhibit documenting Ontario’s wine history

grapes on a vine

York University history Professor Marcel Martel and research assistant Alex Gagné have collaborated with the Archives of Ontario to launch a new online exhibit titled Wine Making in Ontario. Through images, maps and graphs, the exhibit surveys wine production in Ontario from 1866 to 1940.

Marcel Martel
Marcel Martel

Martel and Gagné proposed the exhibit based on their surprising research findings of an active pre-Second World War wine industry that spanned the province, from Windsor to Sudbury.

“When I conduct research on an issue, there are always some unexpected discoveries,” explains Martel. “I was surprised to discover the number of wineries and wine sellers in urban areas, especially in Toronto, and the multicultural ethnic origins of wine makers and sellers, since most of them came from Britain, France, Italy and the United States.”

The exhibit shows how European settlers struggled to use Indigenous-cultivated grape varietals to make European-style wines. It examines the background of various figures in the industry, including farmers seeking wealth and international acclaim, but also Jewish and Italian migrants and women who made wine for domestic consumption. It also considers the impact of prohibition and other headwinds that ultimately delayed the industry’s flourishing until the 1990s.

Barrels at Canadian Wineries Ltd., A. McKim and Co., Niagara Falls. 1941. Photo by Gordon Powley. Archives of Ontario, I0002637
Barrels at Canadian Wineries Ltd., A. McKim and Co. in Niagara Falls, 1941. Photo by Gordon Powley. Archives of Ontario, I0002637.

“As we continued our research, we expected to find a landscape of grape growers and vintners in competition – each vying for their share of the Canadian market,” says Gagné. “Instead, we found a story of co-operation and unity among the multicultural wine makers who dotted the 19th-century Canadian landscape.”

Among their many surprising discoveries, the researchers learned that early Canadian winemakers would share grape cultivation, harvesting and hybridization secrets through publications like Canadian Agriculturist. This collaborative spirit, Gagné explains, aimed to overcome the prevailing belief that Canada’s climate wasn’t suitable for winemaking.

“They sought to convince both the government and the public to embrace Canadian wines,” he says. “While ultimately stymied by the rise of temperance movements and prohibition, their efforts revealed an industry defined by shared knowledge – and, often, even shared vine cuttings – to prove to the world that Canada was home to unique and delicious wine.”

In support of the online exhibit, the Archives of Ontario has also prepared a display of archival records and historical artifacts related to Ontario’s wine history that can viewed until fall when visiting the Archives in person at 134 Ian MacDonald Boulevard, next to the Kaneff Tower on York’s Keele Campus. The Archives is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday.

To view the online exhibit, visit Wine Making in Ontario (or La fabrication du vin en Ontario for the French version).

Call for nominations: Ian Greene Award for Teaching Excellence

LAPS teacher interacting with students

The Ian Greene Award for Teaching Excellence is an annual, merit-based award given to one professor and one teaching assistant (TA) in York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) who have demonstrated excellence in teaching and supporting their students.

The award was created by former students of Professor Emeritus Ian Greene – from York’s School of Public Policy & Administration – in recognition of his outstanding drive and efforts to make learning a unique experience. The award is overseen and presented by the Student Council of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (SCOLAPS).

Award nominations are open to LA&PS students only, ensuring that truly outstanding professors and TAs receive the recognition they deserve. Each student is eligible to nominate one professor and one TA of their choice. Nominees do not need to have taught the students this academic year, but they must be current, practising members of the University’s academic staff.

Recipients are selected by a five-person adjudication committee made up entirely of students. The committee is formed by the award director, a student position elected within the SCOLAPS executive.

To submit a nomination, students can fill out either the online nomination form or the PDF nomination form.

For more information, email Hale Mahon at hmahon@my.yorku.ca

Students continue Japanese speech contest winning streak

Microphone on stand

York University students from the Japanese Studies Program in the Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics (DLLL) built on recent success by winning top prizes at the 35th Canadian National Japanese Speech Contest (NJSC).

In March, four undergraduate students from the program earned top prizes at the annual Ontario Japanese Speech Contest. Among them were Hei Tung Chloe Shek, who received the grand prize, and Wonkyung Lee, who was awarded first place in the Open category.

NJSC contestants who are first-prize winners in each category of the year’s respective provincial Japanese speech contests are invited to travel across the country to compete together in a national competition.

Shek and Lee participated in this year’s contest on March 24 at the Embassy of Japan in Ottawa, where the current Japanese ambassador to Canada and a former Canadian ambassador to Japan were among the five judges of the competition.

njsc2024_shek_receiving_mistui_award
Shek receiving the Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Award

Shek, a linguistics student, won first place in the Advanced category for her speech “Views and allies of ‘young carers,’” which described her personal experience as a young caregiver to her disabled father and emphasized the importance of positive thinking.

She also was the recipient of a brand-new prize called the Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Award, which includes a return ticket to Japan and an official invitation to visit the main branch office of the Mitsui trading company in Tokyo this summer.

Lee, a financial and business economics student, won second place in the Open category for her speech titled “Liquor or Coffee,” in which she used the metaphor of sake and coffee to view people’s lives from unique perspectives.  

DLLL associate professors Noriko Yabuki-Soh and Norio Ota coached the students leading up to the national contest. Yabuki-Soh also served on the 2024 NJSC’s organizing committee. “The level of the national Japanese speech contest is extremely high, and this year’s competition was no exception,” Yabuki-Soh said. “We are so proud of Chloe and Wonkyung.”