Prominent computer forensic expert's college degrees under microscope
Fresh court documents are revealing new details about what specific part of well-regarded computer forensic expert Mark Lanterman's past is under scrutiny.
Mark Lanterman, the chief technology officer at Computer Forensic Services, is being accused by Wisconsin attorney Sean Harrington of inflating his resume and misrepresenting his credentials. Lanterman has accused Harrington of a "smear campaign", but the claims were enough to lead both the Hennepin County Attorney's Office and FBI to probe Lanterman's education and work experiences.
In a series of motions filed in federal trade secrets case in Florida, attorneys representing clients that hired Lanterman as an expert witness provided receipts for almost all of his positions and appointments. The biggest question mark, however, was about his college degrees.
According to court documents, Lanterman said in sworn depositions that he earned both a bachelor's and master's degree in Computer Science from Upsala College, a now-closed institution in New Jersey.
In their motion to strike Lanterman's testimony, attorneys representing the other side in the Florida case claimed there were no records anywhere confirming Lanterman's degrees or even his enrollment there. Court documents also show that Lanterman, during cross-examination, would not answer questions about whether he could name his former classmates.
"Rare is the case — perhaps once in a lifetime — where an expert not only lies about his background but goes to such lengths to cover up the lies and destroy evidence along the way," attorney David A. Perez wrote in the filing on behalf of the defendants in the case.
The plaintiff attorneys, who hired Lanterman, countered in their response: "Even if Lanterman did not go to Upsala College - which he states he did - he is still more than qualified to provide the very straightforward technical analysis that he is providing in the case."
Lanterman's attorney: "No reason" to lie about degrees
Both Lanterman and his accuser, Sean Harrington, have declined multiple requests for interviews; earlier this month, Lanterman wrote to a federal judge in New Jersey defending himself amidst the allegations and indicating his desire to turn over his business to his children.
For the first time, however, Lanterman's attorney, Mic Puklich, on Tuesday sent a statement to WCCO in response to a series of questions about the uncertainty surrounding Lanterman's college degrees as revealed in the Florida case documents.
"Upsala College went bankrupt in 1995," Puklich told WCCO News. "When Lanterman attended Upsala, he was a commuter student who lived with his grandparents in Morristown, New Jersey, approximately 30 minutes away from Upsala College. With limited resources, Lanterman did not participate in campus social events, nor did he attend graduation ceremonies. When Lanterman first became aware of a transcript issue in 2023, he contacted and confirmed with Felician University — which maintains Upsala College's records — that they could not locate his transcripts, a situation that Felician University indicated was possibly due to unresolved money-related issues."
As to allegations that Lanterman tried to "destroy evidence," Puklick confirmed that Lanterman did indeed travel out of state to retrieve a personnel file at a previous job, but did so for "legitimate reasons" and returned the file when asked.
"Lanterman had/has no reason, motive, or incentive to fabricate academic credentials — much less from a small, defunct, and bankrupt institution," Puklich added. "In his career, Lanterman has never held a position that required a college degree. For nearly 25 years, he has transparently and consistently included Upsala College on his CV without objection or question from employers, opposing counsel, or the numerous courts before which he has testified."