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Home ― Directory ― Michael Ham

Michael Ham

Michael Ham

Michael Ham

Associate Professor

Department

The Beacom College of Computer & Cyber Sciences

Education

D.Sc., Cybersecurity - Dakota State University
M.S., Dakota State University
B.S., Dakota State University

Biography

Dr. Mike Ham is an Associate Professor in The Beacom College of Computer and Cyber Sciences. He develops and teaches courses in advanced cyber operation topics to upper-level undergraduate and doctoral cybersecurity courses. His primary teaching areas include software reverse engineering, cyber operations, and routing and switching. These focus areas encompass several knowledge areas of cyber operations such as assembly, C, Python, vulnerability analysis, software exploitation, network protocol analysis, enterprise networking, offensive security, and security first principles. Dr. Ham is the program coordinator for DSU’s Cyber Operations bachelor’s program and graduate-level Ethical Hacking Certificate.  

In addition to his teaching role, he is the lead faculty for Dakota State University’s NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations (CAE-CO) designation, serves as a dissertation chair and committee member to students in DSU’s Cyber Operations Ph.D. program, and assists with campus cyber events like CCDC, DakotaCon, and the GenCyber summer camps. 

Prior to joining the faculty at DSU, Dr. Ham worked as a security consultant for Eide Bailly. He specialized in software penetration testing and security administration for internal and client infrastructures including external networks, internal networks, wireless networks, physical site assessments, social engineering, reporting, and making recommendations for improving an organization’s security practices. He continues to serve as an independent security consultant, making recommendations to clients on infrastructure, vulnerability remediation, and policy. 

Contact

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

  • Software reverse engineering
  • Cyber operations
  • Routing and switching

Ham is involved with and leads scholarship programs, cyber-related grants, and other efforts to reduce the nation's gap in qualified cybersecurity professionals including:   

Dakota State University CyberCorps SFS (PI), Supplement – 2023-2025 

Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program (CO-PI – 2021-2022 

DSU GenCyber Co-Ed (Co-PI) – 2020-2022 

Dakota State University CyberCorps SFS Expansion (PI) – 2020-2021 

Dakota State University CyberCorps SFS Renewal (PI) - 2019-2024 

DSU and NDSU GenCyber Partner Camp (Co-PI) – 2019-2020 

M. Ham, A. Kramer. (2023, September 27). Preventing Ransomware and Malware Starts with Good Cyber Hygiene. Infosecurity Magazine. 

M.Ham, A.Kramer. “Hardware Reverse Engineering Platform: An Open-source Educational Tool.” Computing Education + Information Systems Applied Research (ISCAP) 2023. 

S. Zwach, M. Ham. “ICT: Attendance & Contact Tracing During a Pandemic.” International Conference on Information Technology (ITNG). April 2023, Virtual Conference. 

C. Welu, K. Cronin, and M. Ham. “Verifying X.509 Certificate Extensions.” International Conference on Information Technology (ITNG). April 2023, Virtual Conference. 

M. Ham, K. Cronin, and T. Halverson. “Electronic Cyber Badge: An Experiential Teaching Platform for Cybersecurity Concepts.” EDSIG Conference on Computing Education (EDSIGCON) 2022. 

K. Cronin, M. Ham. “Teaching Routing Concepts: The Internet of Strings.” EDSIG Conference on Computing Education (EDSIGCON) 2022. 

M. Ham, K. Cronin, and T. Halverson. “Wireless Security: Learning by Hacking with Software Defined Radios.” Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium (MICS) 2022. 

K. Cronin, M. Ham, and T. Halverson. “Internet of Strings: Introducing Routing Concepts to Kids.” Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium (MICS) 2022. 

M. Ham, K. Cronin, and T. Halverson. “IPv6 RPKI Implementation Validator: A Security Utility for BGP Administrators”. Conference on Information Systems Applied Research (CONISAR) 2021. 

K. Cronin, M. Ham (2021). “Using Python for teaching 802.11 security and intrusion detection”. Paper presented at EDSIGCON in Washington, D.C. 

K. Cronin, M. Ham (2020). “Open Source Capture and Analysis of 802.11 Management Frames”. Proc. of the 17th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations (ITNG: 2020). April 2020, Las Vegas, NV USA (virtual conference). 

K. Cronin, M. Ham (2020). “A python tool for rogue 802.11 hunting”. Paper presented at Central Area Networking and Security Workshop (CANSec) in Ames, IA. 

K. Cronin, W. Pauli, M. Ham. (2012). Using the Cloud: The Cost of Encryption in IaaS. Paper presented at Conference on Information Systems Applied Research in New Orleans, LA. 

K. Cronin, W. Pauli, and M. Ham. Using the Cloud: Keeping Enterprise Data Private, Journal of Information Systems Applied Research (JISAR 2012), Issue 3, Volume 5, 212 

M.Ham, K.Cronin. 20 Years of CAE: Was the Juice Worth the Squeeze? National Cybersecurity Education Colloquium (NCEC); September 20, 2023, Chicago, IL. 

M.Ham. Leading a Successful SFS Program. Marquette University Colloquium; April 3, 2023, Milwaukee, WI. 

M.Ham, K.Cronin. Camp Activity – Electronic GenCyber Badge. GenCyber 2022 Fall Meeting; October 21, 2022; Virtual. 

M.Ham. Student success = Your success. SFS New PI Bootcamp; April 28, 2022; Arlington, VA.