Before joining the Agency, he worked as Director for EU Cybersecurity Policy at Microsoft, in national and European government cyber and security agencies. He strategically coordinates impactful cooperation between industry and public stakeholders, supports the Agency concerning its public engagement and communication, and coordinates the Agency’s activities regarding the new mandate.

In 2023, he was presented with the President’s Award for Outstanding Contribution, at Pace University. During his time at Pace, he has been co-principal investigator on close to $7 million in federal grants related to cybersecurity.

He proudly serves as Academic Adviser for the Student Veterans Associate at Pace. Hayes has been listed as one of the Top 10 Computer Forensics Professors, by Forensics Colleges. He has been a visiting professor at Sapienza University, Rome, Italy, University College Dublin, and New York University.

He frequently presents at conferences and workshops worldwide on topics ranging from cybersecurity, compliance and corporate governance, threat intelligence, OSINT, digital forensics, and cell site analysis. He frequently appears in the media, including CNBC, Bloomberg TV, MSNBC, Fox Business, NPR, and in print publications, including The Washington Post, Japan Times, Wall Street Journal, SC Magazine, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, The Guardian (UK), The Times (UK), to name but a few.

Hayes is an accomplished author with numerous peer-reviewed publications on digital forensics, threat intelligence, and cybersecurity. In late 2020, he published the second edition of “A Practical Guide to Digital Forensics Investigations” and his sixth book was published in 2024, “CISSP Certification Guide”. Hayes has served as a subject matter expert for both criminal and civil investigations and has been declared an expert witness in federal court. He has also conducted OSINT training for law enforcement agencies both domestically and internationally.

He has been a consultant for the New York Department of Education, New York County District Attorney, and the National Crime Agency (UK). For several years, he was also the Federal Bureau of Investigations Academic Alliance Coordinator. He is the recipient of the 2020 Homeland Security Investigations New York Private Sector Partnership Award. In 2024, he was awarded International Digital Investigation Award, by Homeland Security, U.K. Hayes is a frequent guest speaker, both domestically and internationally.

He has frequently been invited to discuss the intersection of cybersecurity and compliance, risk, and privacy. Hayes has a B.A. (Hons) in History from University College Dublin, an HDBS from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, an MSc in Information Systems from Pace University, a Doctorate in Computing from Pace University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Engineering from Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.

He is a graduate of the Hellenic Navy School of Information Technology and the Athens University of Economics and Business, and he holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science. With more than twenty-four years of experience in cybersecurity and cyber operations, he has earned multiple GIAC (Global Information Assurance Certification) credentials, including Incident Handling, Reversing Malware, Web Application Penetration Testing, Network Penetration Testing, Firewall Analysis, and Digital Forensics. He has extensive expertise in organizing cyber defense exercises.

Since 2009, he has participated in NATO’s “Cyber Coalition” exercise, and between 2014 and 2017 he was a member of the Red Team in the large-scale cyber defense exercise “Locked Shields.” In 2016, he also took part in the “Crossed Swords” exercise organized by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Estonia.

At the national level, he was responsible for organizing the annual National Joint Cyber Defense Exercise “PANOPTIS.” He has been a regular lecturer on cyber operations at the Hellenic National Defense School and the Supreme Joint War College.

His academic contributions include teaching at the University of Piraeus, the University of West Attica, and the Cyber Defense School, where he has delivered courses on Penetration Testing and Red Teaming, Windows and Linux Security, Live Response, Incident Handling, and System Forensics for both Windows and Linux environments. He is also a graduate of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the U.S. Department of State.