Brian Nussbaum

Brian Nussbaum is an associate professor of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (EMHS), in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany. He focuses on cybersecurity, terrorism, homeland security, intelligence analysis, and critical infrastructure protection. 

Dr. Nussbaum formerly served as senior intelligence analyst with the New York State Office of Counter-Terrorism (OCT), a part of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES). He oversaw both terrorism and cyber threat analysis efforts at New York's designated state fusion center, the New York State Intelligence Center (NYSIC). Dr. Nussbaum served as a subject matter expert on international terrorism and helped to create NYSIC's Cyber Analysis Unit (CAU). He worked for almost a decade in New York State's homeland security agencies and was the author and project lead on the New York State risk-based funding formula, a formula that was used to distribute over $300 million dollars in Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) funds between 2006 and 2014.

Additionally, Dr. Nussbaum served as the first-ever Visiting Professor of Homeland Defense in the Strategic Wargaming Division at the Center for Strategic Leadership and Development, part of the United States Army War College in Carlisle, PA (2012-2013). As such, he has experience in wargaming, simulation, and professional education incorporating interactive and active-learning techniques.

In the past he has served as a fellow of the Cybersecurity Initiative at the think tank New America, an affiliate scholar at the Center for Internet and Society (CIS) at Stanford Law School, and a senior fellow with the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security (CCHS) at George Washington University.

Dr. Nussbaum's work has appeared in numerous books, conferences, and journals including Computer Law & Security Review, Global Crime, Public Integrity, The Journal of Financial Crime, The International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, and Business Horizons. 

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CEHC Courses Taught

CEHC 101 Introduction to EHC

CEHC 221 Introduction to Intelligence 

CEHC 242 Cybersecurity 

CEHC 325 Critical Infrastructure 

CEHC 391 Research Internship in EHC

CEHC 399 Special Topics in EHC - The Politics of Transnational Organized Crime

CEHC 457/457 Intelligence Analysis for Homeland Security 

CEHC 554 Terrorism and Political Violence

CEHC 546 Homeland Security Risk Management 
 

Research Interests

• Terrorism and Counterterrorism
• Homeland Security
• Cyber Threats
• Infrastructure Protection
• Intelligence Analysis and Risk Assessment
• State and Local Homeland Security