The Department of Criminology and the Cybercrime Interdisciplinary Behavioral Research (CIBR) Lab had a strong and visible presence at Cyber Florida’s annual CyberBay Conference, a three-day gathering of cybersecurity professionals, researchers, and government partners held in downtown Tampa, Florida.
CIBR Lab students Dontavious Ellis, Lovisa Gunnlaugsdottir, and Lavisha Khiantani attended the event alongside CIBR Lab managers Courtney Weber and Marlena Bolton, who staffed a booth representing the department. Their outreach highlighted the department’s undergraduate and graduate programs while promoting the mission and ongoing work of the CIBR Lab.
Roberta O’Malley at the 2026 CyberBay Conference.
Faculty members Roberta O’Malley, PhD, and C. Jordan Howell, PhD, both assistant professors, contributed to the conference’s research discussions by presenting current studies that address emerging challenges at the intersection of crime and cybersecurity.
A highlight of the opening reception was the presentation of findings from the department’s collaborative research on cybersecurity practices among small- and medium-sized businesses. This project — conducted in partnership with the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing and — examines how businesses approach cybersecurity and identifies critical gaps that remain.
The research team included George Burruss, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Criminology; doctoral students Weber and Bolton; and students from the CIBR Lab, who helped design the survey and compile the .