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Majors & Degrees

Pat Engebretson

Pat Engebretson

Pat Engebretson

Associate Professor

Department

The Beacom College of Computer & Cyber Sciences

Education

D.Sc., in Information Systems - Dakota State University
M.S., in Information Systems - Dakota State University
B.S., in Psychology - North Dakota State University
B.S., in Sociology - North Dakota State University

Biography

Dr. Patrick Engebretson currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Beacom College where he teaches advanced networking courses for the university. He is also the Director of DSU's Cisco Networking Academy where he leads the effort to help students prepare for and pass Cisco's Networking Certifications. Prior to his current roles, he served as the Dean of The Beacom College from 2020-2023. Before serving as dean, he was Chief Information Officer for East River Electric. Prior to joining East River, Dr. Engebretson worked for the Department of Defense, where he focused on cybersecurity projects. He also served as a tenured Associate Professor of Computer and Network Security, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in information security including penetration testing, intrusion detection, exploitation, and malware. Dr. Engebretson is also the author of the best selling book "The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing".

Contact

Office Location: Beacom Institute of Technology
Phone: (605) 256-5838
Email
Website

  • Networking
  • Routing Protocols
  • Network Administration
  • Computer Science
  • Cyber Operations

  • Security Fundamentals
  • Penetration Testing
  • Malware Analysis
  • Networking, Wireless Security
  • Ethical Hacking
  • Software Security
  • Programming

Ernest M. Teagarden Award for Excellence in Teaching. Dakota State University – 2014 

  • National Security Agency’s NCAE-C Grant $240,269.95 - 2024-2026
  • National Science Foundation Scholarship for Service (NSF-SFS) grant titled "DSU Cyber Corps Renewal" – 2014 
  • Department of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Program (DoD IASP) grant – 2013, 2014 
  • Department of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Program (DoD IASP) grant – 2012

Dr. Engebretson has published numerous peer reviewed conference papers and journal articles. He is also the author of two bestselling cyber security books on hacking and penetration testing. His books have been translated into nine different languages.

  • J. Schulte, P. Engebretson, M. Spanier. "Artificial Intelligence Usage and Data Privacy Discoveries within mHealth". Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Computers and Their Applications (CATA), Volume 98, 2024, Pages 61-68.
  • "The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing: Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing Made Easy, 2nd Ed." P. Engebretson, Syngress, 2013
  • "The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing: Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing Made Easy," P. Engebretson, Syngress, 2011
  • Llansó, Thomas, and Patrick Engebretson. "A Unified Model for System Security Engineering Support." 2016 49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). IEEE, 2016.
  • Podhradsky, A., Dovidio, R., Engebretson, P., & Casey, C. (2013, January). Xbox 360 Hoaxes, Social Engineering, and Gamertag Exploits. System Sciences (HICSS), 2013 46th Hawaii International Conference (pp. 3239-3250). IEEE
  • Engebretson, P., Podhradsky, A., Grahek, D. L., Diane, S. D., & Bierschbach, A. J. “Security Analysis of Xbox 360 Vulnerabilities”. Proceedings of The 17th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics: WMSCI 2013
  • P. Engebretson, A. Podhradsky, Casey (2013). “An analysis of security vulnerabilities of the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live mobile network”. International Journal of Mobile Network Design and Innovation (IJMNDI). Volume 5, Number 1, October 2013, pp. 9-16(8)
  • J Pauli, P Engebretson. “Filling Your Cyber Operations Training Toolbox”. IEEE Security & Privacy 10(5): 71-74 (2012)
  • Podhradsky, Pauli, Streff, Engebretson (2012): “A Restructured Information Technology Risk Assessment Model for Small and Medium-Sized Financial Institutions.” Journal of Accounting and Finance. ISSN# 2158-3625.
  • Podhradsky, P. Engebretson. “A Forensic Investigation of an Xbox 360: Mapping Investigative Data using Open Source Tools”. 4th International Conference on Digital Forensics & Cyber Crime. October 25–26, 2012 Lafayette, IN, USA
  • P. Engebretson, D. Greene " An Integrated Approach to Network Vulnerability Scanning for Security Engineers". Proc. of the 8th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations (ITNG 2012). April 2012, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
  • Podhradsky, P. Engebretson, J. Pauli, and K. Streff. "A Restructured Information Technology Risk Assessment Model for Small and Medium-sized Financial Institutions". Proc. of 11th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Business. May 2011. Honolulu, HI, USA.
  • J. Pauli, M. Ham, M. Zautke, and P. Engebretson. "CookieMonster: Automated Session Hijacking Archival and Analysis". Proc. of the 7th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations (ITNG 2011). April 2011, Las Vegas, NV, USA
  • J. Burroughs, P. Engebretson, and J. Pauli. “Attack Traffic Libraries for Testing and Teaching Intrusion Detection Systems”. Proc. of Information Systems Analysis and Synthesis: (ISAS 2011). March 2011. Orlando, FL, USA.

  • National Rural Electric Cooperative Association: Connect Conference, “Cybersecurity in Plain English”, May 2017 
  • DefCon 19, Las Vegas 2011 
  • Black Hat Technical Security Conference, Las Vegas, 2010 
  • Department of Homeland Security, Software Assurance Forum, November 2009 
  • P. Engebretson, Security in Software Engineering Session Chair, The 9th IASTED International Conference on Software Engineering and Applications (SEA 2008)