Yan Zhu

{{Short description|American computer security engineer}}

{{Infobox person

|name=Yan Zhu

|image=File:Yan_Zhu_(12824849574).jpg

|caption = Zhu in 2014

|native_name = 朱颜

|native_name_lang = zh-hans

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1991|05|04}}{{cite web|url=https://diracdeltas.github.io/blog/0x19/|title=25|first=Yan|last=Zhu|publisher=Github|date=2016-05-04|access-date=2018-04-05}}

| birth_place = Beijing, China

|other_names = @bcrypt

|website=[https://azuki.vip/ azuki.vip]

|nationality= American

|alma_mater = MIT

|occupation = Computer security engineer

|employer=Brave

|known_for=

}}

__NOTOC__

Yan Zhu ({{Lang-zh|t=朱顏|s=朱颜|p=Zhū Yán}}) is a security engineer, open web standards author, technology speaker, and open source contributor.{{cite magazine|last1=Finley|first1=Klint|title=The Ad-Blocking Hacker Making Your Browser More Paranoid|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/05/meet-ad-blocking-hacker-making-browser-paranoid/|magazine=Wired|access-date=14 May 2018}}{{Cite web|url=http://lanyrd.com/profile/bcrypt/sessions/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804214023/http://lanyrd.com/profile/bcrypt/sessions/ |archive-date=2017-08-04 |title=Speaking history for Yan Zhu {{!}} Lanyrd|website=lanyrd.com|access-date=2017-09-28}} In 2015 she was recognized as one of Forbes 30 Under 30.{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2015/01/05/meet-the-30-under-30-rising-stars-in-enterprise-technology/#19539293452d|title=2015 30 Under 30: Enterprise Technology|date=2015-01-05|work=Forbes|access-date=August 4, 2017}}

Education

Yan Zhu is a high school dropout who earned a B.S. in physics at MIT.{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Tate |title=Boston Programmers Hold Hackathon in Memory of #AaronSwartz |url=https://www.openmediaboston.org/content/boston-programmers-hold-hackathon-memory-aaronswartz |publisher=Open Media Boston |date=5 February 2013}} She enrolled as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at Stanford University in experimental cosmology but dropped out after four months.

Employment

Zhu worked for Yahoo as a security engineer in 2014 and 2015, is a fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation,{{cite web |title=EFF People - Staff - Technologist Fellow |url=https://www.eff.org/about/staff/yan-zhu-0 |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation |access-date=17 February 2022}} and is currently the chief security officer and manages the security team at Brave Software.{{Cite web|url=https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/yan-zhu-brave-privacy-data|title=Yan Zhu on privacy, data mining and the principle of least privilege|website=siliconrepublic.com|access-date=2025-04-29}}{{Cite web|url=https://twit.tv/shows/triangulation/episodes/411|title=Triangulation 411 Yan Zhu, AKA bcrypt|website=TWiT.tv|access-date=2019-09-09}}

W3C participation

Zhu is the editor of two W3C documents: the Secure Contexts web standard and End-to-End Encryption and the Web, a W3C TAG finding that supports the use of end-to-end encryption for web communications.{{cite web |last1=West |first1=Mike |last2=Zhu |first2=Yan |title=Secure Contexts |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/secure-contexts/ |publisher=W3C |date=18 September 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Zhu |first1=Yan |title=End-to-End Encryption and the Web |url=https://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/encryption-finding/ |publisher=W3C |date=16 July 2015}} Zhu served on the W3C Technical Architecture Group in 2015.{{cite web |title=W3C Advisory Committee Elects Technical Architecture Group |url=https://www.w3.org/blog/news/archives/4304 |publisher=W3C |date=9 January 2015}}{{cite web |title=W3C Advisory Committee Elects Technical Architecture Group |url=https://www.w3.org/blog/news/archives/5266 |publisher=W3C |date=11 January 2016}}

Other work

As an independent researcher, Zhu demonstrated security vulnerabilities in web browsers at the Toorcon security conference in San Diego, and published a proof of concept website and open source for the exploit.{{Cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/10/unpatched-browser-weaknesses-can-be-exploited-to-track-millions-of-web-users/|title=Unpatched browser weaknesses can be exploited to track millions of Web users |website=arstechnica.com|access-date=2025-04-29}}

Zhu served on the board of directors of the Zcash Foundation from July 2017{{cite web |title= Foundation Update for July 2017 |url=https://www.zfnd.org/blog/july-updates/ |website=Zcash Foundation}} to June 2018{{cite web |title=Zcash Foundation Board Meeting Minutes |url=https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/ZcashFoundation/blob/master/board-documents/minutes/2018-06-28.md |website=GitHub |publisher=Zcash Foundation |date=28 June 2018}} and Noisebridge in 2013.{{cite web |title=Noisebridge Form 990-EZ for period ending December 2013 |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/263507741/2014_12_EO%2F26-3507741_990EZ_201312 |publisher=ProPublica}}

Zhu has contributed to open source works including:

References

{{Reflist}}