Professional Summary
A veteran security professional with a proven track record of transforming organizational security landscapes across financial services, cryptocurrency, and manufacturing sectors. Over 15 years of progressive experience, I have consistently pioneered and led cutting-edge Red Team initiatives, evolving from a systems administrator to a strategic security director. My career has been defined by building world-class security teams from the ground up, implementing robust offensive security programs, and bridging the critical gap between technical capabilities and business objectives.
Key contributions include founding Red Teams at multiple Fortune 500 companies, developing sophisticated threat simulation strategies, and implementing comprehensive cybersecurity frameworks that significantly enhance organizational resilience. By combining deep technical expertise with strategic leadership, I have consistently driven security innovation, challenged existing practices, and developed security programs that proactively defend against sophisticated cyber threats.
Experience
Red Team Lead
[CONFIDENTIAL] (*F500 Manufacturing Company*)
March 2024 - Present
- Lead offensive security efforts to identify weaknesses in monitoring and alerting systems
- Implement ongoing, repetitive regression testing of security controls
- Develop and deploy canary token strategies
- Improve Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS) configurations
- Support zero trust initiative testing and validation
- Collaborate with internal blue team to enhance playbooks and DFIR capabilities
- Provide regular security training for internal security analysts
Director of Cyber Security
Skolem
December 2021 - March 2024
- Led comprehensive cybersecurity program for a DeFi trading and accounting platform
- Implemented robust security measures including EDR, application allowlisting, and log monitoring
- Developed and conducted security awareness training programs
- Managed Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) initiatives
- Orchestrated offensive security testing through internal Red Teaming and third-party assessments
- Designed and implemented data loss prevention (DLP) strategies
Red Team Founding Member and Technical Lead
Principal Financial Group
January 2019 - June 2022
- Pioneered the development of Principal Financial's internal Red Team
- Established team documentation, reporting, and operational procedures
- Designed and managed Command and Control (C2) and payload delivery infrastructure
- Coordinated tabletop exercises and purple team events
- Managed team resources and tracking of improvement opportunities
- Facilitated communication between Red Team and business units
Red Team Founding Member
Northern Trust Corporation
July 2015 - December 2018
- Established and operated the internal threat simulation team
- Integrated threat intelligence to conduct realistic, targeted attack simulations
- Specialized in Command and Control (C2) and payload delivery infrastructure
- Architected and maintained Red Team server and endpoint images
- Designed and supervised password cracking processes
- Led multiple Red Team Operations to evaluate cybersecurity capabilities
Sr. Penetration Tester and Manager
Plante Moran, PLLC
October 2010 - July 2015
- Conducted penetration testing for over 100 Banks and Credit Unions
- Developed comprehensive testing and reporting methodologies
- Improved client network security programs through detailed assessments
- Revamped internal penetration testing procedures and equipment
- Promoted to Manager for significant contributions to testing practices
Systems Administrator
Plante & Moran, PLLC
2006 - February 2010
- Performed Systems Administration and LDAP Administration
- Led virtualization and system deployment initiatives
- Designed and implemented Disaster Recovery systems
- Developed an encrypted, portable file server with advanced routing capabilities
- Contributed to the creation of Linbit's DRBD-Proxy product
Education
Bachelor of Science: Network Administration & Database Administration
University of Cincinnati
Professional Development
- Advanced Evilginx Mastery training and certification (2024)
- Completed Abilities Driven Red Teaming workshop (2022)
- Attended SpecterOps Red Team Tactics intensive course (2018)
- SpecterOps Red Team Tactics CTF Winner, awarded Challenge Coin
- Completed SANS SEC564 advanced security training (2017)
- Attended "Password Cracking Like a Pro" workshop by Jeremi Gosney (2017)
- Participated in Red vs Blue conference at Derbycon (2016)
- Obtained Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) v8 certification (2013)
Community Involvement
Passionate contributor to the information security community. Frequent volunteer for Midwest information security conferences, with the goal of helping to teach, share, and support fellow infosec practitioners.
Volunteered across notable security conferences and projects demonstrating a long-standing commitment to the industry:
- Cobalt Strike Beta Tester (Feb. 2012+)
- BSides Chicago (2012-2016)
- BurbSec Core Staff (2013-2024)
- Hak4Kidz (2015-2019)
- CircleCityCon NOC (2014-2019)
- CircleCityCon CTF (2018-2019)
- Blue Team Con CTF (2022+)
Presented at academic forums, hacker conferences, and financial industry leadership conferences on topics including:
- Red Team business integration (ISSA)
- Communication effectiveness and strategies (BSides Chicago)
- Technical benchmarks and metrics for Red Teams (ISSA/BSides Iowa)
Key Skills
Established history of effective team leadership, and constructive critique of standing practices. Well developed communication and interpersonal skills; including extensive cybersecurity strategy, team professional development, and security concern reporting processes for technical and executive presentations.
Past Red Team technical contributions include Attack Infrastructure Design and Management, Threat Intel informed Threat Simulation, Penetration Testing, professional presentation and reporting, Legal Team coordination, Blue Team relationship building, and internal process development.