Dr. Ala Al-areqi is currently a Lecturer in Cybersecurity and Behaviour at Western Sydney University. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy and a Master of Computer Science in Information Security from University Technology Malaysia, and a Bachelor of Information Technology (Honours) in Security Technology from Multimedia University.

With over 15 years of teaching experience, Dr. Ala has taught a wide range of courses in cybersecurity and computer science, including Introduction to Cybersecurity, Penetration Testing, Network Security, Applied Cryptography, Biometrics Technology, Programming II (Java-OOP), Programming with R, Data Structures, Data Visualization, Python Programming, Introduction to C Programming, Database, and Data Science courses. His dedication to teaching excellence was recognized when he received the Best Teaching Award in 2019 at the American University of Afghanistan.

Dr. Ala served as Associate Professor of Computer Science and the Dean of Faculty at the American University of Afghanistan until July 2024, managing a team of 105 academic faculty and staff. In this role, he supervised five program chairs overseeing departments such as Business, Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Law, and the Academy Program. He played a pivotal role in curriculum development, innovative teaching methodologies, and supporting faculty research and scholarship. Notably, he collaborated on various grants, including the U.S. Department of State Grant for the AUAF Transition to Success Program, which aimed to provide educational opportunities for Afghan girls. He also managed a research and training grant from the Hewlett Foundation and led a project funded by Save the Children Denmark to develop an IT mobile learning platform addressing communication needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Ala has made significant scholarly contributions, publishing over 19 research papers in international conferences and journals. His research interests encompass Biometrics, Penetration Testing, Cryptography, Machine Learning in Cybersecurity, and Data Science. In recognition of his scholarly achievements, he received the Second-Best Scholarship Award in 2019 at the American University of Afghanistan. Currently, he is conducting research on Cyberwarfare and Penetration Testing.

Beyond academia, Dr. Ala has served as a cybersecurity consultant for AIbiotex IT Solutions, where he developed secure methodologies to protect systems and networks from potential threats. He is also an experienced programmer with expertise in Python, Java, C++, C, R, PHP, JavaScript, Perl, HTML, and CSS, along with extensive knowledge of databases, networking, and web technologies.