DISCLOSURES
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I am on faculty at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. As a faculty member and part of our UMBC Cybersecurity Institute’s leadership, I write and speak on a range of topics but the views expressed are my own unless indicated otherwise, regardless of any accompanying identifying affiliation.
My primary salary and source of income is paid by UMBC. It does not vary or depend upon any additional outside income and I am not required to raise research funds. However, I have raised individually and/or jointly, over $10M in grant funding since 2010, some of which has directly and/or indirectly benefitted me as a faculty member. At times during my UMBC career I have served on the UMBC Research Park Advisory Committee – in that role and as a faculty member, I may interact with startup companies in our technology incubator. I also advise the University of Maryland's Maryland Momentum Fund in reviewing products/companies seeking State funding. In all cases. to my knowledge I am in full compliance with UMBC’s ethics disclosure policies, and will remain so.
I sometimes collect royalties or honoraria by publishing books, articles, or commentaries. Wherever possible I will make things I write available online for free under a Creative Commons license. These days, I prefer to write in CC-oriented venues and/or public mediums where maximum readership and knowledge transfer can take place – and for reasons of principle, practicality, and protest, I rarely publish in exploitative paywalled academic journals. If I mention a product, service, or company in an article, it’s exclusively within that content and context; I will never accept money to provide paid promotions.
I sometimes earn speaking fees and/or receive travel expenses for speaking, moderating or keynoting at an event. When paid to speak, I will contract as to subject matter (e.g., whether the speech is about cybersecurity, hacking, technology policy, etc.), but not as to substance or content. If I mention a product, service, or company in a talk, it’s exclusively within that content and context; I will never accept money to provide paid promotions. I generally ask for such talks to be made available for free online afterwards. If I am paid to speak at an event, I will use personal leave time from UMBC to avoid any perception of 'double-dipping' my income.
I may consult to and/or have worked for assorted government entities or their contractors. Much of that work was sensitive and/or classified. While I continue to engage with some government entities in my faculty duties, those relationships are entirely unclassified and/or public and I am no longer cleared.
I may have professional relationships/appointments at other academic institutions and/or consult with industry, to include venture capital investors. Where required by law, policy, ethics, or common sense, I declare those relationships in accordance with appropriate institutional or editorial policies.
I am invested in the stock market through individual equities, mutual funds, futures, and/or options. I manage these investments personally. In some cases I’ve been asked to join company advisory boards and received stock options as compensation for my involvement. Where required by law, policy, ethics, or common sense, I disclose any relevant corporate relationships in my articles or comments. My personal investment decisions are based entirely on public knowledge and/or analysis.
Other activities of note can be found at my bio page on this site and/or at other official sites and may be considered part of this disclosure document.
Kudos: This disclosure page is based on similar disclosure pages by net-savvy professors Kate Darling, Jonathan Zittrain, Larry Lessig, and others.
Kudos #2: Thanks to @drew_mc for his fantastic plain no-frills MF'ing website idea and style.