An Indiana professor who spent 20 years focused on cybersecurity has vanished. Xiaofeng Wang was reportedly fired from his job at Indiana University on the very same day at the FBI raised his home with search warrants in tow. The college quickly removed Wang’s online profile. However, something doesn’t seem to be adding up to those connected to the situation. Of course, it has sparked many questions from his students who want answers about what’s going on with the professor.
In the weeks leading up to Xiaofeng Wang’s firing, the Indiana University allegedly removed his email account, phone number, and eventually his profile page from the directory. The school also reportedly removed the profile for his wife, Nianli Ma, who worked as a programmer at the university’s Library Technologies division, per CNBC.
After the news broke on social media, it raised even more questions. The FBI was allegedly seen taking someone from the professor’s home, and many are saying the school didn’t properly address this. Some fellow researchers even spoke out on the situation. Professor Matthew Green from Johns Hopkins University revealed his thoughts.
“None of this is in any way normal,” Green said (via Ars Technica). “Has anyone been in contact? I hear he’s been missing for two weeks and his students can’t reach him. How does this not get noticed for two weeks???”
Finally, a spokesperson for Indiana University addressed Wang’s absence, giving a vague statement.
Indiana Professor Xiaofeng Wang Fired As FBI Raids Home
“Indiana University was recently made aware of a federal investigation of an Indiana University faculty member,” Marke Bode said. “At the direction of the FBI, Indiana University will not make any public comments regarding this investigation,” Bode said. In accordance with Indiana University practices, Indiana University will also not make any public comments regarding the status of this individual.”
Over on Reddit, many speculated about what may be going on with Professor Wang. There were plenty of opinions and theories regarding the strange situation.
“Something much darker is happening here,” one person claimed.
“How often does the wife also disappear, a very big three letter agency show up to retrieve everything and all their history scrubbed from the university? This isn’t the run of the mill someone got too old and basically never showed back up thing,” another stated.
“So curious on what is going to come from this. Sad to see a lot of the immediate theories, from redditors, of him selling information because of his ethnicity. In this period anything is possible but we don’t need to assume the worst. It’s important to be innocent until proof of guilt,” a third comment read.
It appears there is much more to the story of Indiana professor XiaoFeng Wang and his wife. However, the mystery surrounding his departure and the FBI raid remains unknown to his students and others in their community.
