With three decades of experience in cybersecurity and an equal amount of time dedicated to the world of cartoons, we combine paralleled expertise in both fields. The Cybersecurity Cartoon Award, co-founded by Dr. Arash Habibi Lashkari and Kianoush Ramezani in 2024, celebrates the convergence of technical prowess and artistic creativity, offering a unique platform that bridges these two dynamic fields. Our goal is to make cybersecurity engaging and accessible through creative graphics, inspiring the next generation to take interest and participate, ultimately elevating the topic, sparking widespread involvement, and celebrating innovative ideas in the field.

Arash Habibi Lashkari

Dr. Arash Habibi Lashkari is a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Cybersecurity and a Full Professor at the School of Information Technology, York University. As the founder and director of the Behaviour-Centric Cybersecurity Center (BCCC), he is also a Senior Member of IEEE. Prior to joining York University, he was an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Computer Science, University of New Brunswick (UNB), and served as the Research Coordinator of the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity (CIC). With more than 29 years of experience across academia and industry, Dr. Lashkari has taught and conducted research and development at several international universities and organizations, making significant contributions to the cybersecurity field. He has received 15 awards at international computer security competitions, including three gold medals, and was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 150 Researchers in 2017. He is the author of 11 books and more than 120 academic publications covering a broad range of cybersecurity topics. His current research focuses on behavior-centric cybersecurity, AI-driven threat detection, network traffic analysis, malware and memory forensics, blockchain and DeFi security, IoT and cyber-physical system security, and the development of vulnerability detection technologies to protect digital infrastructures against cyberattacks.

KIANOUSH RAMEZANI

Iranian-awarded political cartoonist Kianoush Ramezani has lived and worked in Europe since 2009. His editorial cartoons have appeared in “Courrier International“, “Guardian“, “Libération“, “Arte“, “Le1“, “WeDemain” and many other European and International media. Kianoush publishes his weekly column "Vu par Kianoush Ramezani" in “La Croix” newspaper each Monday since 2019. A series of Kianoush’s Original cartoons titled “R like Resistance” are part of the collection of Kunst Museum Solingen in Germany. Kianoush received many awards, such as the French Award for Artistic Courage of 2018 in the Angouleme International Comics Festival, the International Cartooning Award of 2012 from Geneva City Hall given by Kofi Annan, and the Award of the Canadian Committee for Press Freedom in 2020. He is also the winner of the LiberPress International Award in 2022. He has given educational lectures in high schools, colleges, and universities since 2010 in Europe to raise awareness about the importance of “freedom of expression” among the young generation. He chose “Cartooning: The Art of Danger” for his TEDx talk 2014, months before the terrorist attack against Charlie Hebdo.