Consulting

Joff Thyer

IANS Faculty

Joff is a security analyst and penetration tester at Black Hills Information Security (BHIS). He has extensive experience covering intrusion prevention/detection systems, infrastructure defense, vulnerability analysis, defense bypass, source code analysis and exploit research. He is also an instructor at the SANS Institute,  where he primarily teaches the use of Python for information security purposes.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Co-host on the Security Weekly podcast
• Speaker at information security conferences such as DerbyCon
• Former Senior Security Consultant at NWN Corporation, a security innovation SaaS platform
• Former Senior Network Security Architect & Pen Tester at University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Certifications & Credentials

• MS, Computer Science – University of North Carolina, Greensboro
• BS, Mathematics – University of North Carolina, Greensboro
• GPEN, GWAPT, GXPN, GCIA, GCIA Gold–GIAC

Hobbies & Fun Facts

When Joff isn’t working or co-hosting the Security Weekly podcast, he enjoys making music and woodworking.

Jason Gillam

IANS Faculty

Jason is a Principal Security Consultant and CIO at Secure Ideas, a boutique information security consultancy that focuses on penetration testing and training, where he leverages his software design, architecture, and security testing experience. He is also the author of many extensions for Burp Suite and is a contributor to several other projects including SamuraiWTF, MobiSec, and Laudanum.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Speaker at information security conferences such as BSides and ISSA Charlotte
• Former Lead Security by Design Engineer at Bank of America
• Former Software Engineer Team Lead at Vignette and Epicentric

Certifications & Credentials

• BE, Engineering –Royal Military College of Canada
• CISSP –(ISC)2

Hobbies & Fun Facts

In his free time, Jason enjoys running, homebrewing, and spending time with his wife and two kids.

Aaron Turner

IANS Faculty

Aaron is a three-decade veteran of the cybersecurity community, having worked on projects covering every aspect of the industry, from helping build security technologies while at Microsoft to his work on offensive cyber projects for the U.S. government. He has spent the last 15 years on a series of cybersecurity startups, building technologies and developing companies to help teams solve some of the toughest cybersecurity problems.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Congressional witness to help set policy for US critical infrastructure protection
• Winner of SC Media's 2019 Top Executive Leaders of the Last 30 Years award
• Information security leader for the Government of Luxemborg’s Technoport® business incubation program
• Testified before the US House of Representatives to help shape national critical infrastructure protection strategy in 2007
• Interviewed for NBC Washington News and AP News on cellular network vulnerabilities
• VP of Security Research and Development at Verifone after 2015 Terreo acquisition
• Former Co-Founder and CEO of Terreo, an IoT security company focused on credit card skimming detection
• Former Co-Founder and CEO of RFinity, a mobile payment technology company that was eventually sold to a global mobile network operator in 2010
• Former Security Strategist at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory investigating the impact of system vulnerabilities in commodity software on public utilities funded by the DHS, DOE, and DOD. He was on the team which conducted the ‘Aurora’ attack against a simulated power grid.
• Founding Member of many Microsoft information security teams (1999-2006) and coordinated field security testing of Microsoft technologies such as Active Directory, SQL Server, Exchange Server, BitLocker, Windows Update, and Windows Firewall.
• Recognized by Bill Gates for technical excellence and leadership during security incidents involving Microsoft technologies in 2000 and 2003

Certifications & Credentials

• JD Candidate – Dedman School of Law, Southern Methodist University
• BA, Spanish Linguistics – Brigham Young University

Hobbies & Fun Facts

In his free time, Aaron enjoys restoring 1960's split-window VW buses and arranging and recording vocal music with his brothers and daughters. He has completed several Cordon Bleu culinary education programs and volunteers as a Spanish translator for immigration court proceedings. He is an avid traveler, having visited over 80 countries around the world.

James Tarala

IANS Faculty

James is a Managing Partner at Cyverity, an information security consulting firm specializing in cybersecurity risk assessment and governance that is based in Venice, Florida. As a consultant, he has focused on architecting and assessing large enterprise IT security and infrastructure architectures. He has also assisted organizations in security management, operational practices, and regulatory compliance issues. He often performs independent security audits and assists internal audit groups in developing their internal audit programs. James is also a Senior Instructor, Course Author, editor, and regular speaker with the SANS Institute, a contributor to the Center for Internet Security’s Controls for many years, and a founder of the Cybersecurity Risk Foundation (CRF).

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Speaker at information security conferences such as RSA
• Lead Technical Editor of the Center for Internet Security’s Critical Security Controls
• Author of the Open Threat Taxonomy open source project
• Creator of tools at AuditScripts.com

Certifications & Credentials

• MA, Information Security Engineering – SANS Technology Institute
• Master’s Certificate, Information Assurance – University of Maryland Global Campus
• BS, Linguistics - Cairn University (Formerly Philadelphia Biblical University)

Hobbies & Fun Facts

In his free time, James enjoys the Florida sunshine, spending time outdoors (away from computer screens), running, and exercising.

Kevin Johnson

IANS Faculty

Kevin is the Founder, CEO, and Principal Security Consultant of Secure Ideas, an information security consulting company that focuses on penetration testing services and training. He is also a founder and contributor of many open source projects including the Samurai Web Testing Framework (SamuraiWTF), a web penetration testing and training environment, and the Basic Analysis and Security Engine (BASE) project, a web front-end for Snort Analysis

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Presenter at information security conferences such as Black Hat, DEF CON, and ShmooCon in addition to organizations such as Infragard, ISACA, and ISSA
• Former SANS Institute Senior Instructor (8 years)
• Author of SANS Course, Security 542: Web Application Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking
• Former Senior Security Consultant for InGardians, an independent information security consultancy
• Former Technical Architecture Engineer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida
• Former Programmer at ANC Rental Corp, Orlando.com, and eSiteCreation

Hobbies & Fun Facts

Kevin enjoys spending time with his family and is an avid Star Wars fan and member of the 501st Legion, a Star Wars charity group.

Dave Shackleford

IANS Faculty

Dave is the founder and principal consultant with Voodoo Security, an information security consulting firm with broad expertise. He is also a senior instructor, analyst and course author for the SANS Institute and a VMware vExpert with extensive experience designing and configuring secure virtualized infrastructures. In addition, Dave has served as co-chair of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Top Threats Working Group and founded the CSA Atlanta Chapter. Dave has consulted with hundreds of organizations in the areas of security, regulatory compliance, network architecture and engineering. He has also worked as a security architect, analyst and manager for several Fortune 500 companies.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Former CSO for Configuresoft
• Former CTO for the Center for Internet Security
• Speaker at information security conferences such as RSA, DEF CON, and BSides
• Author of Virtualization Security: Protecting Virtualized Environments (2012)

Certifications & Credentials

• MBA – Georgia State University
• BS, Computer Information Systems – Kennesaw State University
• BS, Psychology & Microbiology – Georgia State University
• CISSP – (ISC)2

Hobbies & Fun Facts

In his free time, Dave enjoys running, camping, cooking and playing music (piano, guitar and DJing).

Kevin Beaver

IANS Faculty

Kevin is the founder and principal consultant of Atlanta-based Principle Logic, LLC, an independent information security company that focuses on vulnerability and penetration testing, security operations reviews, and virtual CISO consulting services. He also serves on the Industry Advisory Board for Computer Engineering at Kennesaw State University – Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology. Kevin has served in many information technology and security roles for healthcare, e-commerce, finance, education, and consulting organizations. Kevin is also a prominent writer having written 1,300 plus articles and 12 books on information security.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Author of Hacking For Dummies (2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2022) – currently in its 7^th edition and having been translated into nine different languages, is one of the all-time best-selling books on information security
• Co-Author of Hacking Wireless Networks for Dummies (2011), Laptop Encryption for Dummies (2007), PCI Cardholder Data Protection for Dummies (2010), Identity & Access Management for Dummies (2011), Next-Generation IPS for Dummies (2013), Point-of-Sale Security for Dummies (2015), Securing the Mobile Enterprise for Dummies (2006)
• Co-Author of The Practical Guide to HIPAA Privacy and Security Compliance (2004, 2014)
• Referenced by the PCI Security Standards Council in their Data Security Standard Wireless Guidelines
• Contributor to various TechTarget sites
• Professional speaker who has given hundreds of security talks to tens of thousands of people
• Appeared as a security expert on CNN Television and CBS Radio
• Quoted as a security professional in Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, Fortune Small Business, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Woman’s Day, and Inc. Magazine’s IncTechnology.com

Certifications & Credentials

• MS, Management of Technology – Georgia Tech | Dupree College of Business
• BS, Computer Engineering Technology – Southern College of Technology
• CISSP – (ISC)2

Hobbies & Fun Facts

For fun, Kevin enjoys playing guitar and riding dirt bikes.

Jake Williams

IANS Faculty

Jake Williams (aka MalwareJake) is a seasoned security researcher with decades of experience in technology and security. Jake is a former startup founder, former senior SANS instructor and course author, and an intelligence community and military veteran. He loves forensics, incident response, cyber threat intelligence and offensive methodologies. Today, Jake is an IANS faculty member, an independent security consultant, and is performing security-focused research to benefit the broader community. He has had the honor of twice winning the DoD Cyber Crime Center (DC3) annual digital forensics challenge. You may also know Jake from one of his many conference talks, webcasts, media appearances or his postings about cybersecurity.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Two-Time Winner of the Annual DC3 Forensics Challenge
• Speaker at information security conferences such as Black Hat, DEF CON, ShmooCon, RSA, and DC3
• Designated a Master Computer Network Exploitation (CNE) Operator by the NSA
• Former Vulnerability Analyst at US Department of Defense
• Former Senior Systems Engineer at Dell Services

Certifications & Credentials

• MSIA, Information Assurance –Capitol College
• GSE, GSNA, GCFE, GREM, GCWN, GCIA, GCIH, GPEN, GCFA, GXPN, GSEC –GIAC

Chris Nickerson

IANS Faculty

Chris is the Co-Founder and CEO of LARES Consulting, an information security consulting firm that leverages a blend of assessment, testing, and coaching. He also serves on the Board of Directors at CREST, an international not-for-profit accreditation and certification body that represents and supports the technical information security market.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Appeared on Tiger Team on TruTV
• TEDx Presenter, Hackers are all about curiosity, and security is just a feeling
• Founding member of the Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES)
• Co-founder of the BSides security conferences
• Speaker at information security conferences such as DEFCON, CyberWeek, and BlackHat
• Author of Red Team Testing: Offensive Security Techniques for Network Defense (2016)
• Collaborator with the Red Team Alliance Training Collective
• Former Senior Information Security Compliance Manager at Sprint

Certifications & Credentials

• IEM, IAM –National Security Agency(NSA)
• CISA – ISACA
• CISSP – (ISC)2
• BS7799

Hobbies & Fun Facts

In his free time, Chris can be found out on the ski slopes or playing with his dogs.

Tim Medin

IANS Faculty

Tim is a Principal Consultant and Founder at Red Siege, an information security company focused on adversary emulation and penetration testing. He also serves as the MSISE Program Director, Course Author, and Principal Instructor at the SANS Institute.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Speaker at information security conferences such as BSides, Wild West Hacking Fest, DerbyCon, and ShmooCon
• Creator of Kerberoasting, a technique to extract Kerberos tickets in order to offline attack the password of enterprise service accounts
• Former Senior Security Consultant at FishNet Security (now Optiv)
• Former Senior Technical Analyst at AgStar Financial Services (now Compeer) and Counter Hack
• Former Network Engineer at LeTourneau University
• Former Software Engineer at Tegron

Certifications & Credentials

• MBA – University of Texas, Tyler
• BS, Electrical Engineering – LeTourneau University
• GWAPT, GPEN, GMOB, GCED, GCIH – GIAC

Hobbies & Fun Facts

In his free time, Tim enjoys traveling and watching football.

Josh More

IANS Faculty

Josh is the owner and president of Eyra Security, an information security and business improvement consulting firm that specializes in helping startups and organizations in transition take advantage of lean and agile methods, open source technology and varied frameworks used for security, risk management and compliance. He also serves on the GIAC Advisory Board. Additionally, as an active member in the information security community, Josh is a member of ISSA, Agile Iowa, OWASP, DC612, Central Iowa Area Linux Users Group and Infragard.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• President Emeritus of Central Iowa Area Linux Users Group
• President Emeritus of Iowa Cyber sector of Infragard
• Co-Author of Breaking into Information Security: Crafting a Custom Career Path to Get the Job You Really Want (2016)
• Author of Job Reconnaissance: Using Hacking Skills to Win the Job Hunt (2013)
• Author of Assessing Vendors: A Hands-On Guide to Assessing Infosec and IT Vendors (2013)
• Co-Author of UTM Security with Fortinet: Mastering FortiOS (2012)
• Former Senior Security Consultant at RJS Smart Security and Alliance Technologies

Certifications & Credentials

• BA, Physics – Grinnell College
• CISSP – (ISC)2
• GSLC, GCIH – GIAC
• Novell Certified Linux Professional (NCLP)
• Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)

Hobbies & Fun Facts

In his free time, Josh enjoys reading books from various genres including business, photography, mythology, mythic fiction and natural history. He also enjoys practicing photography, cooking, and other artistic sciences.

Kenneth van Wyk

IANS Faculty

Ken is the President and Principal Consultant of KRvW Associates, LLC, an independent information security consulting company, and a Visiting Scientist at Carnegie Mellon University. He has held executive and senior technologist positions at Tekmark, Para-Protect, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the U.S. Department of Defense, Carnegie Mellon University, and Lehigh University. Ken is a frequent speaker at technical conferences, and has presented papers and training for CSI, ISF, USENIX, FIRST, CERT, among others.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Former Steering Committee and Board of Directors Member for the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST)
• Co-founder of Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT®)
• Project Leader of Open Web Application Security Project’s (OWASP) iGoat project
• Former Member on the Board of Directors for SecAppDev.org
• Former Monthly Columnist for Computerworld.com
• Lead author of Enterprise Software Security: A Confluence of Disciplines (2014)
• Co-author of Rugged Handbook (2012)
• Co-author of Secure Coding (2003)
• Co-author of Incident Response (2001)

Certifications & Credentials

• Graduate Coursework,Software Engineering – Carnegie Mellon University
• Graduate Coursework, Computer Science – Lehigh University
• BSME –Lehigh University

Hobbies & Fun Facts

Ken is a dual citizen of the EU (England) and the USA and holds a current U.S. Department of Defense TOP SECRET clearance. In his free time, Ken enjoys travel, cooking, Saints football, and spoiling a couple of basset hounds. He also volunteers his time teaching firearms safety as an NRA certified instructor.

Dave Kennedy

IANS Faculty

Dave is the Founder and Owner of TrustedSec, an information security consulting firm, and Binary Defense, a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) that detects attackers early to prevent large-scale invasions. In addition to creating several widely popular open-source tools, including 'The Social-Engineer Toolkit' (SET), PenTesters Framework (PTF), and Artillery. David has also released security advisories, including zero-days, with a focus on security research.

Prior to his work in the private sector, Dave served in the United States Marine Corps (USMC), focusing on cyber warfare and forensics analysis activities, including two tours to Iraq. He also served on the board of directors for (ISC)2, which is one of the largest security collectives and offers certifications such as the CISSP.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Founding Member of the Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES)
• Co-Author of Metasploit: The Penetration Testers Guide (2011)
• Guest appearances on Fox News, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Huffington Post, Bloomberg, BBC, and other high-profile media outlets
• Presenter at information security conferences such as Black Hat, RSA, DEF CON, ShmooCon, INFOSEC World, ISACA, ISSA, United Security Summit, INFOSEC Summit, Hack3rCon, BSides, and DerbyCon, which he co-created and expanded into DerbyCon Communities

Certifications & Credentials

• BA, Business Management – Malone University
• CISSP – (ISC)2
• Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) – PCI Security Standards Council
• ISO/IEC 27001 Certified – ISO
• GSEC - GIAC
• Certificate Professional (OSCP) & Certified Expert (OSCE) – Offensive Security
• Global Information Assurance Gold Certification
• Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) – Microsoft

Bill Dean

IANS Faculty

Bill is a Shareholder at LBMC Information Security, where he is responsible for security assessments, incident response, digital forensics, electronic discovery and overall litigation support. He also serves as an expert witness in federal courts and numerous state courts and has conducted digital forensic investigations and electronic discovery services to support litigation efforts. He is also an active member of the International Society for Forensic Computer Examiners and Board Member in East Tennessee’s InfraGard Chapter.

Achievements & Noteworthy Contributions

• Former Director of Computer Forensics and Security Assessments at Sword & Shield Enterprise Security
• Former Founder of Forensic Discoveries before merging with Sword & Shield Enterprise Security
• Former Senior Systems Analyst at Covenant Health
• Former Systems Manager at Citizens Bank of Tennessee

Certifications & Credentials

• BS, Information Technology –East Tennessee State University
• AS, Computer Science –Walters State Community College
• Certified Computer Examiner –International Society of Forensic Computer Examiners
• GPEN, GCIH, GCFA – GIAC
• PCI Professional – PCI Security Standards Council

Hobbies & Fun Facts

In his free time, Bill enjoys boating, UT Football, and hanging out with his two sons.