Cybersecurity professor faced an investigation into China’s financing before disappearing, sources say

Jason Court, one of the lawyers representing Xiaofeng Wang and his wife, Nianley Ma, an analyst of library systems whose profile of employees has also been removed from the University of Indiana, tells WAG that Wang and Ma are “safe” and that none of them has been arrested. At present, their legal team is not familiar with pending criminal charges against them, and while the couple’s attorneys have considered a search order from the Ministry of Justice, Covert says they have not received a copy of the declaration, creating a probable cause.

Vang is considered the best researchers in the field of confidentiality, data security and biometric confidentiality, and his sudden disappearance has come as a shock to many of his academic peers. Wang joined IU in 2004 and is a leading chief researcher of the Multidisciplinary Center for Distributed Confidential Calculations, which he created in 2022 with almost almost almost $ 3 million Grant of the National Scientific Foundation (NSF), according to a Since deleted bio On the IU website. As part of his application for NSF funding and other federal US -based research grants, Wang would be Required to reveal Other grants he has already received or is currently waiting for a review.

On March 28, FBI searched Two home addresses associated with Wang. On the same day IU also reports The student in IndianaS The email also said it was understood that Wang recently accepted a position at Singapore University, detail was also repeated in the statement attributed to Li.

The statement said Wang planned to start from the unnamed Singapore University on June 1, 2025 and asked for leave from the University of Indiana in early March. But IU replied by “posting it on administrative leave, removing its IU homepage and deactivating its IU email address,” he said.

Wang’s new job offer “It would be irrelevant in any case because it is for (the next academic year and would not justify his dismissal,” says Tantreford. The termination of his work via email was a violation of University policyTanford claims to prohibit the dismissal of hiring a professor for no reason and requires a 10-day notice and hearing before the Faculty Review Council if requested by the employee. “The faculty is deeply concerned. If the administration can fire professor of hiring without a proper process and in violation of a policy approved by our guardians, none of us is safe,” he says.

He reached a comment, a spokesman for IU declined to answer detailed questions from Wired about previous communications between the University and Wang and the school’s decision to fire him.

“The University of Indiana has recently been familiar with the federal investigation of the Faculty of Indiana Faculty,” Mark Bode spokesman told Wired in an email statement. “In the direction of the FBI, the University of Indiana will not make public commentary on this investigation. In accordance with the University of Indiana University, the University of Indiana will also not make public comments about the condition of that individual.”