Researcher Profiles
USA CFITS has assembled a talented team of researchers whose interests are profiled below.
Mr. Les Barnett
CFITS Director
School of Computing
University of South Alabama
Mr. Barnett holds a Bachelors degree from the University of South Alabama, where he has served for the past decade on the Advisory Board for the School of Computing. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Forest Owners Association. In 1988, Les and two others founded Omniphone, a telecommunications equipment design and manufacturing company, where he served as President and CEO for 20 years, retiring in 2008. His publications include The Phone Fraud Niche; Compensation: How Much and By What Means?; The Prison Marketplace; and From Soup to Nuts: Prison Phone Management Systems, all published in various trade magazines. In March 2005, he helped develop a two day course for Public Safety Professionals entitled Public Safety Communications. The course is used for Continuing Education credit through the University of South Alabama. In 2007, Les was appointed to the Alabama Educational Television Commission by Governor Bob Riley, where he currently serves as the commissioner from the First Congressional District.
Ms Rebecca Bace
Chief Strategist CFITS
School of Computing
University of South Alabama
Ms Bace is a pioneer in cyber security research, Rebecca Bace was an early information security program manager, directing research in information security for the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1980's and 1990's. Her work in building the early intrusion detection research and development community led to her recognition as the "Den Mother of Intrusion Detection." Her book on intrusion detection remains the definitive text on that topic. Bace's public service also includes stints as a security operations officer at Los Alamos National Laboratory and as an investment team lead for InQTel. She also worked in the venture capital industry for a decade, building the information security product and service industry.
Dr. Bob Sweeney
Associate Professor
School of Computing
University of South Alabama
Dr. Sweeney received his Ph.D. in Management Information Systems in 1994 from the University of Memphis. His research interests include web application security and object-oriented analysis and design.
Dr. Alec Yasinsac
Dean and Professor
School of Computing
University of South Alabama
Dr. Yasinsac received his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1996 from the University of Virginia. His research interests include security protocols, wireless security, mobile agents, electronic voting, tamper-resistant software, intrusion detection, digital forensics, privacy, and cybertrust.
Dr. Jingshan Huang
Assistant Professor
School of Computing
University of South Alabama
Dr. Huang received his Ph.D. in Computer Science in May 2007 from the University of South Carolina. His research interests include machine intelligence, ontology matching, and semantic integration.
Dr. Jeffrey McDonald
Assistant Professor
School of Computing
University of South Alabama
Dr. Jeffrey "Todd" McDonald received his Ph.D. in computer science from Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 2006. His research interests include secure programming, software and hardware-based protection, cyber defense, and agent-based security.