as of (2023-08-03)
Short-form Bio:
Dr. Richard Forno is a Principal Lecturer in the UMBC Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, where he directs the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program and serves as the Assistant Director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity. Prior to academia, his career in operational cybersecurity spanned the government, military, and private sector in both technical and management roles, including helping build a formal cybersecurity program for the US House of Representatives, serving as the first Chief Security Officer for Network Solutions (then, the global center of the internet DNS system), consulting to Fortune 100 companies, the government, national security community, and more. Dr. Forno holds degrees in international relations from American University and Salve Regina University, and is a graduate of Valley Forge Military College and the United States Naval War College. His doctoral research at Curtin University of Technology explored the complex nature of security informatics and risk communication for internet-based organizations. [Contact]
Long-form Bio:
With over 25 years experience in the operational and strategic domains of cyber across industry and government, Dr. Richard Forno has distinguished himself as a globally astute cyber leader who embraces collaborative and innovative thinking to build relationships, facilitate actionable outcomes, and foster public understanding. His interests and professional expertise focus on information age conflict, incident handling, risk communication, cybersecurity operations, and technology policy, among other areas.
Presently, Dr. Forno is a Principal Lecturer in the UMBC Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, where he directs the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program, serves as the industry-facing Assistant Director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity. He is an Affiliate Scholar at the Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society (CIS) and member of the International Cyber Security Center of Excellence (INCS-CoE) Expert Community. He also advises a venture firm on cybersecurity projects and engages in periodic consulting. In 2023, he was named Honorary International Professor at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico.
Before academia, Richard’s career includes helping build a formal cybersecurity program for the United States House of Representatives and serving as the first Chief Security Officer at Network Solutions (then, the global center of the internet DNS system), and consulting to the government, assorted military/defense entities, and Fortune 100 companies. Between 2005-2012 was a Visiting Scientist at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University where he served as a course instructor for the CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC). In the late 1990s he was part of a team that launched an innovative open source information environment recognized for its operational and tactical utility to deployed military units that remains in-use to this day.
As one of the original thought leaders on information-age conflict, Richard continues to speak at government, industry, academic symposia, and to the global media. Along with several articles, commentaries, and papers written over the years, he is the co-author of Incident Response (O’Reilly, 2001) and Cybersecurity for Local Governments (Wiley, 2022). Additionally, he contributed chapters to the books Cyberwar 2.0: Myths, Mysteries and Realities (1998), Inventing Arguments (2005), and The Edinburgh Companion to Political Realism (2018). He is a frequent contributor to The Conversation and known for public outreach activities that are marked by a commitment to understandability across audiences and experience levels to deliver common sense guidance, actionable analysis, and occasional outside-the-box perspectives.
Richard was a founding member of the Academic Advisory Board for Northern Virginia Community College’s Information Security Program and participated in the 2000 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Information Security Education Research Project.
Richard holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in international relations from the American University School of International Service and Salve Regina University, and is a graduate of Valley Forge Military College and the United States Naval War College. His doctoral research at Curtin University of Technology explored the complex nature of security informatics and risk communication for internet-based organizations.
In his spare time, Richard enjoys tennis, SCUBA diving, and consuming fine coffee, kabobs, and sushi (though not at the same time) while plotting world takeovers. He's also a lifelong aerospace and aviation aficionado. [Contact]