Mark Lanterman, the Chief Technology Officer at Minnesota-based Computer Forensics Services (CFS), was one of two cybersecurity experts CBS News consulted in November 2022 to verify the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Recently, Lanterman has come under scrutiny after allegations surfaced suggesting he misrepresented parts of his resume, particularly his academic credentials, reports the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The accusations have prompted a federal investigation, according to a press release from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO). The office stated that the FBI is now looking into the matter and confirmed that Lanterman will no longer be used as an expert witness in ongoing legal cases. “In compliance with our constitutional and ethical obligations, today, we sent an additional disclosure on the ten cases that are potentially impacted,” the statement read. “This disclosure states the FBI is now investigating the allegations against Mr. Lanterman.”
According to the same press release, the HCAO was “unable to fully verify Mr. Lanterman’s educational and employment background.”
When contacted by the Daily Caller, a Minneapolis FBI spokesperson responded, “Per policy, the FBI does not confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.”
In response to the accusations, Lanterman released a video statement denying any wrongdoing. “My work and background have been scrutinized countless times in an adversarial setting,” he said. “It is the nature of the work that I and the company do. I stand by the truth of my background and credentials.”
However, a Daily Caller investigation found several inconsistencies in Lanterman’s professional and academic claims.
As of March 19, 2025, a web archive showed Lanterman listed as the CTO on CFS’s website. By the time of publication, however, his biography had been removed. According to Fox 9, Lanterman’s son—who is also employed at CFS—said the bio was taken down to keep the controversy from interfering with the company’s operations.
Lanterman’s profile has also disappeared from The Expert Institute’s website, which now redirects to a 404 error page. The organization connects attorneys with subject matter experts.
On LinkedIn, Lanterman states he studied computer science at Upsala College in New Jersey and took cybersecurity courses at Harvard University. During a 2022 deposition, he claimed to have earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science in 1987 and a Master’s in the same field in 1989. He also said he “completed a nine-month program at Harvard University in cyber security” in 2012, which he admitted was a non-degree program.
Ethics attorney Sean Harrington disputes the depth of Lanterman’s Harvard credentials. In a report, he said the program was actually an eight-week online course run through GetSmarter. An email from a GetSmarter representative confirmed that Lanterman had taken the “Harvard VPAL Cybersecurity online short course 2018-04-25.”
According to GetSmarter’s website, “The courses do not carry any credits towards a university degree or diploma qualification.”
So what? Did he do anything that is immoral or against any laws? Why does anybody really care about this?