BIO

Computing and New Media Technologies is full of dedicated individuals who always do everything we can to give students every opportunity to succeed. We aren’t afraid of innovation, creative solutions, or hard work. In my teaching, I enjoy exploring computer criminology, cybersecurity networking and information assurance. My research interests are in authorship attribution, cyber-crime, hardware hacking, image forgery detection, cyber-ethics, and digital behavioral analysis. I serve as the principal faculty member of our CIS: Cybersecurity option, and I also teach graduate courses in cybersecurity.

I lead the Digital Forensics and Recovery Analysis Lab housed within the department. We offer a full range of forensics services designed to assist in recovering and investigating electronic data. This new center serves the needs of the local community and offers unique opportunities for students to gain practical experience in the digital forensics field.

On campus, I am involved with STEAMPoint Day for Boys/Girls and College Days for Kids. I love the opportunities to lead younger learners to new horizons. I strongly believe in learning for the sake of self rather than as a means to an end. I believe that teaching cybersecurity is as much about teaching a mindset as skills and knowledge. Curiosity, creativity, tenacity, and respect for diversity of thought – that is the mindset that founded the field of cybersecurity as a profession and best serves it into the future.

PUBLICATIONS

C.R. Johnson. (2026). Digital Behavioral Analysis and Computer Crime Investigations: Persona ex Machina. Routledge. 224 pp. [forthcoming Dec. 2026]

C.R. Johnson. (2026). Unmitigable: The Use and Abuse of Technology’s Promise. Barnes & Noble Press 594 pp.

C.R. Johnson. (2026). Deepfake and Image Forgery Detection: Cybersecurity, Multimedia Forensics, Image Manipulation. (De Gruyter STEM). O’Reilly. 463 pp.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• American Association of Forensic Scientists
• IEEE
• Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence
• Wisconsin Association of Certified Computer Investigator

We are at a critical juncture where the next generation of leaders will make decisions that shape the way humans interact with technology in the next great age of humanity. We need those people to be competent, informed, and armed with the wisdom to make those decisions in a way that doesn’t just benefit employers, but society. That journey could begin here, at UWSP.

-CHAD JOHNSON