Arifa Islam Champa is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Idaho State University (ISU), USA. She has completed her Master of Science in the same field and institution in Fall 2023. Arifa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science & Engineering from Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET), Bangladesh. From September 2018 to July 2022, she served as a Lecturer at the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Bangladesh Army International University of Science & Technology (BAIUST). Arifa has been a dynamic educator and researcher, engaging in various roles such as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), Graduate Research Assistant (GRA), and Career Path Intern (CPI) at ISU.
Arifa has been a PhD researcher member at the Software Engineering and Cybersecurity Research Team (SECReT) since Fall 2022. Her PhD thesis advisor and the SECReT team lead is Dr. Minhaz Zibran, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Computer Science at ISU Her research is focused on Machine Learning applications in Cybersecurity and Software Engineering. She has a strong publication record, contributing to numerous peer-reviewed conferences and book chapters. In addition to her academic and research commitments, Arifa had been actively involved in mentoring undergraduate teams and organizing technical workshops during her service at BAIUST. She has received several awards and recognitions, including the NSF travel award, 2nd place at 3MT competition, ACM SIGSOFT CAPS Travel Support, and being named Student employee of the Year (2nd Runner Up), Career Path Intern of the month at ISU. Her work has been recognized in media coverage highlighting contributions to understanding gender dynamics in software development.
Ph.D. in Computer Science (Fall 2022 - to date)
Idaho State University (ISU), USA
M.S. in Computer Science (Fall 2022 - Fall 2023)
Idaho State University (ISU), USA
B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering (2013- 2017)
Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET), Bangladesh
A. I. Champa, M. F. Rabbi, and M. F. Zibran, “Battling Phish: An Empirical Comparison of ML, DL, and LLM in Phishing URL Detection Across Datasets”, ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC), 2026.
A. I. Champa, M. F. Rabbi, F. Z. Eishita, and M. F. Zibran,“Catch Me If You See: Using Visual Cue and Explanatory Feedback to Enhance Human Phishing Detection”, IEEE Access, 2025.
A. I. Champa, M. F. Rabbi, and M. F. Zibran, “Illustration or Illusion? Reassessing the Use of Machine Learning in Phishing Email Detection,” Studies in Computational Intelligence (SCI), 2025.
M. F. Rabbi, A. I. Champa, C. Nachuma, and M. F. Zibran, “SBOM Generation Tools Under Microscope: A Focus on the npm Ecosystem,” ACM/SIGAPP Symposium On Applied Computing (SAC), 2024.
A. I. Champa, M. F. Rabbi, M. F. Zibran, and M. R. Islam, “Insights into Female Contributions in Open-Source Projects,” IEEE/ACM 20th International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR), 2023.
12/09/2025 Our paper titled "The SBOM Gap: Adoption and Compliance in Open Source Software" has been accepted for publication at SANER-2026
11/21/2025 Our paper titled "Battling Phish: An Empirical Comparison of ML, DL, and LLM in Phishing URL Detection Across Datasets" has been accepted for publication at ACM SAC-2026
11/13/2025 Presented my research on Phishing URL Detection at the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition arranged by Graduate School, Idaho State University
11/21/2025 Our paper titled "Catch Me If You See: Using Visual Cue and Explanatory Feedback to Enhance Human Phishing Detection" has been accepted for publication at IEEE Access
10/30/2025 PC member invitation for ACM/SIGAPP Symposium On Applied Computing, Machine Learning and Its Application Track
10/16/2025 I have been awarded the Arlene & Jim Lupher Scholarship !!
09/20/2025 Gave an invited lightning talk on "Phish Eye View: Can You Spot the Scam?" at BSides Idaho Falls Conference
09/10/2025 Artifact Evaluation Committee memeber invitation for the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PoPETS 2026)
08/19/2025 Got invited to be a Artifact Evaluation Committee memeber for IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P 2026)
07/30/2025 Got invited to be a PC member for the ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS 2026)
07/30/2025 Got selected to be a Shadow PC member for the technical research track of the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2026)
06/21/2025 Our paper titled "Trick or Treat: A Study of Human Detection of Manipulative Tactics in Phishing Emails" has been accepted for publication at SENSEI-2025
05/30/2025 Got invited to be a PC member for the technical research track of the 23rd International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR-2026)
05/27/2025 Received the "2025 Summer Research Activity Grant" from Grad School, ISU
04/29/2025 Presented poster at IEEE/ACM International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE-2025)
04/28/2025 Received the "MSR 2025 Distinguished Junior Reviewer Award" from MSR
04/11/2025 Won the "Student Employee of the Year 2025" 2nd runner up award from the ISU Career Center
02/11/2025 Received ACM SIGSOFT CAPS Travel Support to Attend ICSE 2025
02/11/2025 Presented my research on phishing attempt detection at Statewide 3MT Competition
02/11/2025 Received Dean's Excellence Fund and Graduate School Travel Fund
02/11/2025 Presented my research on phishing attempt detection at Statewide 3MT Competition
11/14/2024 Won 2nd place at the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition arranged by Graduate School, Idaho State University
09/29/2024 Got selected as a Junior PC member for the technical research track of the 22nd International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR-2025)
09/10/2024 PC member invitation for ACM/SIGAPP Symposium On Applied Computing, Machine Learning and Its Application Track
12/22/2023 I have been awarded MS degrees in Computer Science!!
08/01/2023 I have been named the Career Path Intern for the month of August!!
06/20/2023 My research, "Insights into Female Contributions in Open-Source Projects", has been featured in a local newspaper!
04/11/2023 I have received Dean's Excellence Fund and Graduate School Travel Fund
04/11/2023 I have been selected to receive the NSF travel award for attending MSR 2023