Dr. Funminiyi Olajide is an Associate Teaching Professor in Cybersecurity, Digital Forensics, Incident Response, and Cybercrime at Penn State University, College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), Department of Privacy and Cybersecurity Informatics (PCI). He also serves as an Accessibility Champion and Course Leader within the CYBER, SRA, and IST programs, contributing to academic leadership, curriculum development, and program management.
Dr. Olajide earned his PhD in Cybersecurity, Digital Forensics, Incident Response, and Cybercrime from the University of Portsmouth, UK. His doctoral research focused on digital forensic investigations, incident response, and the management of cybercrime. He also holds an MSc in Forensic Information Technology from the University of Portsmouth, UK, and an MBA from Edge Hill University, UK. With over 34 years of professional experience spanning academia, research, banking, and IT/IS, he combines technical expertise with management knowledge in cybersecurity, digital forensics, risk governance, and information security management.
Career Overview
Before joining Penn State University in 2025, Dr. Olajide held senior academic appointments at various universities in the United Kingdom and gained international teaching experience. He has extensive expertise in teaching at undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels and has supervised numerous professional and research doctoral candidates. Dr. Olajide has contributed to curriculum development, program leadership, and research supervision across multiple programs, demonstrating strong insights into academic program management and applied research in cybersecurity, digital forensics, incident response, and cybercrime.
Beyond his academic roles, Dr. Olajide has worked at Airbus in Newport, Wales, United Kingdom, contributing to research on SCADA forensics and participating in projects with Airbus Defence & Space involving SCADA/ICS security, digital investigations, and cyber incident management. His PhD research on application analysis aligns with the research agenda of the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), the UK National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), and other partner organizations. These collaborations underscore his ability to bridge rigorous academic research with applied cybersecurity challenges across both industry and government contexts.
Research Interests
Dr. Olajide’s research integrates technical, cybercrime, forensic, and organizational perspectives of cybersecurity. His work focuses on:
- Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics (Event reconstruction, malware analysis, Windows/AWS security, cloud forensics)
- Incident Response (Forensic memory analysis, mobile forensics, large-scale e-discovery/e-disclosure)
- Cybercrime and Criminology (Criminological aspects of cybercrime, cyber-terrorism, and risks in business applications)
- Enterprise Security & Risk Management (Frameworks, ISM policies, SOC operations, vulnerability assessment, cloud security)
- Applied Research on Legacy Systems (SCADA forensics, IoT/IIoT integration, and enterprise systems)
Professional Memberships & Leadership
- Senior Fellow (SFHEA), Higher Education Academy (UK)
- Fellow (FBCS), British Computer Society (UK)
- Member, Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences (UK)
- Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of e-Healthcare Information Systems
- Professional Member, ACM, Membership No.: 5698822
Advisory & Committee Memberships
Dr. Olajide actively contributes to professional and academic communities through advisory, editorial, and committee service roles that support the advancement of cybersecurity, digital forensics, cybercrime research, and information systems practice. He currently serves as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Economic Criminology, where he contributes to advancing interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersection of criminology, economic crime, cyber-enabled crime, digital investigations, and security management.
In addition, Dr. Olajide contributes to professional and academic initiatives through Advisory and Committee Membership roles with Infonomics Society initiatives and ACM-related programmes. These activities reflect his commitment to promoting knowledge exchange, ethical technology practices, research collaboration, and global engagement in cybersecurity, digital forensics, information systems, and emerging technology domains.
Selected Research Projects and Areas of Expertise
Dr. Olajide’s research portfolio reflects an interdisciplinary approach that combines cybersecurity, digital forensics, criminology, information security management, and emerging technologies. His research interests include:
- Cyber-attack detection, threat intelligence, and incident response within emerging clouds, enterprise, and digital infrastructures.
- Digital forensics and cyber investigations, including memory forensics, mobile forensics, evidence acquisition, analysis, and presentation for complex digital environments.
- Cybercrime and criminological perspectives, examining cyber-enabled crime, organizational vulnerabilities, offender behaviors, and the impact of digital transformation on crime and security.
- Information Security Management (ISM) and cybersecurity governance, including security policy development, risk management, compliance, privacy protection, and assurance frameworks.
- AI-driven cybersecurity and emerging technologies, exploring the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation for cyber threat detection, governance, and decision-making.
- Security challenges in business and organisational environments, focusing on the relationship between technology, people, processes, governance, and regulatory requirements.
Through these interdisciplinary research activities, Dr. Olajide seeks to bridge the technical, organizational, and criminological dimensions of cybersecurity challenges, contributing to the development of effective, ethical, and resilient approaches for managing cyber risks in modern digital societies.
Supervision
Dr. Olajide supervises undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral research projects. He welcomes PhD candidates interested in the following areas:
- Cybersecurity
- Digital Forensics & Incident Response (including Malware Analysis)
- Enterprise Cloud Computing & Information Security
Research Groups/Centers
Dr. Olajide is affiliated with the Centre for Cyber-Security, Information Privacy, and Trust (LIONS Centre) at Pennsylvania State University, where he contributes to cross-disciplinary research on cybersecurity, privacy, and digital trust and cyber resilience.
Editorial Leadership
