PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Benjamin Fung

Benjamin Fung is a full professor in McGill University's School of Information Studies whose research connects artificial intelligence with data privacy and cybersecurity. After working as a software developer at BusinessObjects in Vancouver from 1999 to 2003, he completed a PhD in computing science at Simon Fraser University in 2007 and taught at Concordia University from 2007 to 2013 before joining McGill in September 2013. Appointed a Canada Research Chair in Data Mining for Cybersecurity in 2015, he oversaw the McGill team that built the Kam1n0 assembly-code search engine and was promoted to full professor in 2020. Since 2025, he is editor-in-chief of Elsevier's Sustainable Cities and Society: Advances and leads a Canadian university team on unstructured data research, while in April 2026 he and Steven Ding received a $4 million contract to develop AI-powered security methods for IoT firmware.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1999–2007

    BusinessObjects and a computing PhD

    From 1999 to 2003, he works as a software developer for BusinessObjects in Vancouver. He completes a PhD in computing science at Simon Fraser University in 2007.

  2. 2007–2013

    Faculty at Concordia University

    From 2007 to 2013, Fung serves as an assistant and then associate professor in the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering at Concordia University.

  3. September 2013

    Associate professor at McGill

    In September 2013, he joins McGill's School of Information Studies as an associate professor and holds an affiliate associate professorship in Concordia's CIISE.

  4. 2015–2016

    A cybersecurity research chair

    He is appointed a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Data Mining for Cybersecurity in 2015, an award announced by McGill in February 2016, and holds the chair from 2015 to 2025.

  5. 2015–2018

    Building Kam1n0 for security

    At McGill's Data Mining and Security Lab, he oversees a team with PhD students Steven Ding and Miles Li developing Kam1n0, an AI-powered search engine for assembly code that helps reverse engineers find previously analyzed code. Begun in 2014 with a $400,000 grant from Defence Research and Development Canada, Kam1n0 places in the Hall of Fame of the Hex-Rays Plug-In Contest in 2015 and receives another grant from DRDC and NSERC in 2018.

  6. Since 2025

    Editor-in-chief at Elsevier

    In 2025, Fung becomes editor-in-chief of Elsevier's Sustainable Cities and Society: Advances and serves as an associate editor of ACM Transactions on Knowledge Discovery from Data. In July 2025, he is named to lead a team of 14 co-applicants and collaborators from 10 Canadian universities in a $5.6 million unstructured data research project.

  7. 2026

    Visiting professor and IoT security

    In 2026, he serves as a visiting professor in the Department of Computer Science at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. In April 2026, he and Steven Ding receive a $4 million contract from Defence Research and Development Canada to develop AI-powered security methods for heterogeneous IoT firmware. Their project uses AI and large language models to help identify vulnerabilities.

  8. As of October 2026

    Full professor at McGill

    Promoted to full professor in 2020, as of October 2026 he is a full professor in McGill's School of Information Studies, with expertise in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, foreign interference and privacy.

Career

  1. Since 2013McGill UniversityAssociate Professor
  2. From 2026National Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityVisiting Professor
  3. From 2013Concordia UniversityAffiliate Associate Professor
  4. 1999–2003Business ObjectsSoftware developer

Education

  1. 2007Simon Fraser UniversityPhD in computing science

From the biography.

  1. People shaping AI who were born in China spent 54% of recorded working years there from 2018 onIncludes Benjamin Fung. We estimate that people shaping AI who were born in China spent 54% of recorded working years there in 2018–2026, up from 51% in 2008–2017.
  2. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes McGill University. We estimate that 539 of the 6,766 people with a known current organization (8%) hold both a university role and a company role, including 20% of people at companies and 13% of people at universities.
  3. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes McGill University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  4. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes McGill University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Benjamin Fung yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Benjamin C. M. Fung's Homepage dmas.lab.mcgill.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Benjamin Fung - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. The School of Information Studies welcomes new faculty members Dr. Benjamin Fung, Dr. Ilja Frissen & Dr. M. Max Evans mcgill.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Dr. Benjamin Fung of the School of Information Studies appointed Canada Research Chair in Data Mining for Cybersecurity mcgill.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Searching for a Safer Cyberworld mcgill.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Benjamin C. M. Fung's Homepage dmas.lab.mcgill.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Canada invests $5.6M into unstructured data research project itbrief.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. SIS Faculty Members Secured $4M Research Contract to Strengthen Canada’s Critical Infrastructure mcgill.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Benjamin Fung | Newsroom - McGill University mcgill.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.