About Me

I am currently an Assistant Professor in Cybersecurity and the Research Director of the Digital Forensics and Information Intelligence (DFi2) lab in the School of Interdisciplinary Informatics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

I received my Ph.D. in Computing Science from the University of Glasgow, Scotland in 2016. My thesis investigated efforts to improve the quality of data generated during security incident response, with the aim of allowing organizations to use this data to develop deeper insights into security incident causes and to assist with security incident learning. I have also earned a M.Sc. in Computer Forensics and E-Discovery from the University of Glasgow, and a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Computer Networks from Middlesex University, England. Prior to joining the University of Nebraska at Omaha, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Lero - The Irish Software Research Centre, based at the University of Limerick in the Republic of Ireland, working within the Security, Privacy, Adaptation and Requirements Engineering (SPARE) group lead by Prof. Bashar Nuseibeh. 

Generally, my research primarily examines how data can be gathered from modern digital devices and information systems for either harmful uses, such as cybercrime, or lawful uses, such as digital forensics and cybersecurity. By understanding how cybercriminals access or steal data, I aim to develop both technical and non-technical solutions that reduce the likelihood of security breaches. Taking a defense standpoint, I work on creating and improving methods for collecting and analyzing data stored across various devices and systems. I am particularly interested in how this data can serve as legal evidence or help organizations improve their overall cybersecurity measures. You can find more information regarding my current and past research here.

My research has been cited in various policy documents. For example, my cloud forensic research is cited in the NIST Cloud Computing Forensic Science Challenges report (Draft NISTIR 8006, 2015) and the final NISTIR 8006: NIST Cloud Computing Forensic Science Challenges report. Likewise, my cybersecurity incident response research has been cited in a report for the European Commission on maritime supply chains for port operations.