Cybersecurity
Faculty/Staff
Faculty |
Staff |
Richard Forno, Graduate Program Director of the Cybersecurity Program at UMBC, has 20+ years of experience in government, military, and private sector, including helping to build the first formal cybersecurity program for the U.S. House of Representatives, serving as the first Chief Security Officer for at Network Solutions (operator of the InterNIC), and co-founding the Maryland Cyber Challenge. Dr. Forno was also one of the early thought leaders on the subject of “information warfare” and he remains a longtime commentator on the influence of Internet technology upon society.
In addition to teaching cybersecurity at UMBC, Dr. Forno has lectured on information security, information warfare, and infrastructure protection at American University, and the National Defense University in Washington D.C. He is an affiliate of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society (CIS) and since 2005, been a Visiting Scientist at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, serving as an instructor for the CERT Coordination Center.
His interdisciplinary research and professional interests include information age conflict, cybersecurity operations, risk communication, and the social shaping of technology — specifically, issues related to resiliency and autonomy in networked societies. In addition to many articles and commentaries over the years, he is the co-author of O’Reilly’s Incident Response (2001). Dr. Forno holds a Ph.D. in Internet Studies from Curtin University of Technology in Australia.
Robert Clark is currently the Cyber Operations Legal Advisor with the U.S. Army Cyber Command at Fort Belvoir, VA. Through this position, Dr. Clark advises Commander and staff on all legal matters relating to full spectrum cyberspace operations and information operations. Prior to this position, he worked in the Department of Homeland Security in the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications and the National Protection and Programs Division, and with the Department of the Navy as the Chief Information Officer.
Mr. Clark received his J.D. at the Michigan State University College of Law. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Dr. Clark has received many Military Awards and has presented at conferences and summits across the nation.
Ben Shariati is a technology and business executive with over 20 years of experience, specializing in international organizations. Currently, he is the Director of INFOSEC at SEATEC, Inc. in Gaithersburg, MD. In this role, he provides executive leadership and is responsible for all aspects of strategic IT planning, implementation and support worldwide as an integral component of business plan. Prior to this position, Ben was the Manager of End-User Technology at Barents KPMG in Washington, D.C. and a Systems Specialist at NCSI in Rockville, MD.
Mr. Shariati received his M.S. in Engineering Management and is completing his Ph.D. in Information Assurance/Cybersecurity at George Washington University. In addition to teaching at UMBC, he is an adjunct professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at George Washington University
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