Erika Leal

Dr. Erika Leal is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Baylor University, where she teaches cybersecurity and advises the Cyber@Baylor student organization. She also serves as the Director of Research and Development for the Central Texas Cyber Range, contributing to regional cybersecurity infrastructure and education.

Her research focuses on innovative approaches to malware analysis, particularly leveraging hardware performance counters to detect and unpack obfuscated malware. She integrates hardware-assisted techniques with machine learning to improve the detection of packed binaries and enhance software security in high-performance computing environments.

Dr. Leal's recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on hardware-based malware detection, binary analysis, and high-performance computing security, with contributions to top-tier conferences such as USENIX Security and IEEE HOST. Her work bridges low-level system behavior with practical security solutions.

She actively contributes to the academic community through service as a Technical Program Committee member for SC23 and SC24, Session Chair at ICISSP 2023, and Diversity Chair for SC22. She also mentors the Baylor Cybersecurity Team in national competitions including CCDC and NCL.

Dr. Leal earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Tulane University and the University of Texas at Arlington, advised by Dr. Jiang Ming, and holds a Bachelor’s in Computer Science with a minor in Business Administration from Texas Wesleyan University.

She currently advises one Ph.D. student, Abanisenioluwa Orojo, and has served as an external reviewer for journals and conferences including ACM Computing Surveys and CCS. Her leadership extends beyond research into developing cybersecurity talent and promoting diversity in computing.