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Bryson Payne
GREM, GPEN, GRID, CEH, CISSP
Award-Winning Cybersecurity Professor and Researcher
Coaching Staff, US Cyber Team
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Dr. Bryson Payne is the head cyber coach of two-time #1-in-the-nation NSA Codebreaker Challenge championship UNG CyberHawks, coach to the US Cyber Team 2021-2024, successful grant writer of more than $81 million in funded projects, a respected researcher with more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and 200+ presentations across six continents, innovative international instructor with over 75,000 online students in 182 countries, author published in eight languages, and TEDx speaker on coding and cybersecurity.
He is a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), SANS|GIAC GPEN, Industrial Defense (GRID), and Reverse Engineering Malware (GREM) cybersecurity professional - and the recipient of numerous awards including:
- 2024 Authors' Recognition Bibliography, recognized by Dean of Libraries for outstanding peer-reviewed publications in computer science and cybersecurity
- 2023 #1 Most-Downloaded Research Paper in the Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research, and Practice, "Car Hacking: Accessing and Exploiting the CAN Bus Protocol"
- 2022 INSA Achievement Award for significant contributions to US intelligence and national security, Intelligence and National Security Alliance
- 2021 Academic Instructor of the Year award from cybersecurity industry association EC-Council
- 2021 Distinguished Professor Award, highest academic recognition from the UNG Alumni Association
- 2020 Military Order of Thor medal for exceptional contributions to the US military cyber community, Military Cyber Professionals Association
- 2019 Commander's Award for Public Service commendation medal from United States Army Cadet Command, Fort Knox
- 2019 NSA Codebreaker Challenge Medallion from NSA Director GEN Paul Nakasone, as coach & faculty sponsor of the #1 Nationally Ranked UNG CyberHawks in NSA Codebreaker Challenge 2019 (and #1 again in 2020)
- Recognized as Top 10% Most Engaging Instructor on Udemy.com since 2018
Featured in CIO magazine, Campus Technology, and the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Payne is the best-selling author of Go Hack Yourself (2022), Learn Java the Easy Way (2017), and Teach Your Kids to Code (2015), all published by No Starch Press. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science and has taught computer science and cyber operations for over 25 years.
Dr. Payne was the first Department Head of Computer Science at the University of North Georgia and enjoys working with K-12 schools worldwide to promote computer science education. He has spoken and taught on six continents and is a TEDx speaker on coding and cybersecurity. Dr. Payne was also the founding Director of the Center for Cyber Operations Education at UNG, an NSA-DHS National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense.
In addition to his love for technology, Bryson speaks Spanish, French, Russian, and Mandarin Chinese. He lives with his family north of Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Bryson Payne's Courses and Books
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Learn from a multi-award-winning cybersecurity coach in this hands-on virtual course introducing you to the world of hacking. As you perform common attacks against yourself, you'll be shocked by how easy they are to carry out... and you'll realize just how vulnerable most people really are.
with Bryson Payne
Teach yourself (and your kids) to code fun, colorful apps and games in Python, the powerful programming language used at tech companies and in colleges worldwide. Learn coding step-by-step from award-winning Computer Science Professor Dr. Bryson Payne!
with Bryson Payne
Code your own desktop and mobile apps in Java and Android! Create fun, playable, interactive apps like the animated, multi-touch BubbleDraw app, a Secret Messages app, and a Guessing Game! Master concepts like variables, loops, functions, and object-oriented programming concepts in a fun way with Java!
with Bryson Payne
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Praise / What others think
Dr. Payne merits recognition for his inspired leadership in establishing a cyber education program… and growing America's next generation of cyber leaders.
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Burke Garrett, Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army Forces Command, Ft. Bragg
Bryson Payne delivers an excellent guide for anyone wishing to learn about offensive information security in Go H*ck Yourself.
It is perfect for aspiring penetration testers, security analysts who want more insight into how hackers approach a target, or individuals who want to better protect themselves online. Its practical, hands-on approach provides opportunities for readers to try out real hacking techniques in a safe, legal way. I'll be recommending it to my mentees.
Matt Burrough, Principal Penetration Testing Team Manager - Microsoft
Full of detailed, well-explained exercises ... fascinating and informative ... Anyone with a basic grasp of tech know-how should apply Go H*ack Yourself lessons in their own life, and share the knowledge they learned.
—Joshua Allen Holm, opensource.com