Hal Berghel is currently Professor of Computer Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he has previously served as Director of both the Schools of Computer Science and Informatics, and as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering. In 2005, Dr. Berghel created and directed Nevada's first CyberSecurity degree programs (bachelor's, master's, and PhD), which became an NSA Center for Academic Excellence. He was the founding Director of the Identity Theft and Financial Fraud Research and Operations Center and CyberSecurity Research Center. His research interests are wide-ranging within the binary and digital ecosystem, ranging from logic programming and expert systems to relational database design, algorithms for non-resolution-based inferencing, approximate string matching, digital watermarking and steganography, and digital security and privacy. Since the mid-1990s, Dr. Berghel has applied his work in digital security to law enforcement and intelligence gathering, particularly with respect to digital crime, digital money laundering, information warfare, and trusted identities. His research has been supported by both industry and government for over 30 years. In addition to his academic positions, Dr. Berghel is also a popular columnist, author, frequent talk show guest, inventor, and keynote speaker. For nearly 15 years he wrote the popular "Digital Village" column for the Communications of the ACM, and he has written the "Out-of-Band" column for IEEE Computer since 2011.

Dr. Berghel is a Fellow of both the IEEE and the ACM and serves both societies as a Distinguished Visitor and Distinguished Lecturer, respectively. He has received the ACM Outstanding Lecturer of the Year Award four times and was recognized for Lifetime Achievement in 2004. He has also received both the ACM Outstanding Contribution and Distinguished Service awards. Dr. Berghel is also the founder and owner of Berghel.Net, a consultancy serving government, business, and industry. He is a member of the Nevada Technology Crimes Advisory Board and chairs the Nevada Privacy Subcommittee. He can be reached at hlb@berghel.net.