Gary C. Kessler

I am a retired professor of cybersecurity from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL. Post retirement, I am a Senior Non-Resident Fellow with the Atlantic Council, principal consultant at Fathom5, and active with USCG Auxiliary cybersecurity activities.

Prior to coming to ERAU in 2012, I was the program director of the M.S. in Information Assurance Program at Norwich University (Northfield, VT) and, before that, the developer and coordinator of an undergraduate Digital Forensics program at Champlain College (Burlington, VT).

I hold B.A. in Mathematics, M.S. in Computer Science, and Ph.D. in Computing Technology in Education. I am also a Certified Information Systems Security Practitioner (CISSP) and (former) Certified Computer Examiner (CCE). My research interests are primarily maritime cybersecurity, with a particular interest in AIS, and digital forensics, cryptography, and cybersecurity management and policy. I am a member of the USCG Auxiliary and active in cybersecurity leadership at the national level. Feel free to check out my Web site at https://www.garykessler.net if you'd like any additional professional information.

I took my first computer programming class in 1973. I accidentally crashed a mainframe computer for the first time in 1974, possibly due to the fact that I took my first computer programming class in 1973! I purposely crashed a mainframe computer for the first time in 1975. I first broke into a time-sharing system in 1977. Computer security, as we used to call it, has been a growth industry for the last 45 years.

I live with my wife in Ormond Beach, Florida. I am also a certified PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer and have hundreds of dives all over the world; please check out some of my SCUBA photos at https://scuba.garykessler.net/photos/index.html. I hold a USCG Auxiliary coxswain qualification and a 50GT captain's license, and drive a weekly eco-tour boat in Ponce de Leon Inlet.