So you want to know more about me! … Why?
Since you are determined here goes…
I’m a computer geek at the core. I had my first real experience with computers in middle school where I soon had the teacher asking me how to do things and referring students to me to answer questions and fix problems. At that point I was hooked. Since then I managed to get my BS in Computer Engineering and my MS in Computer Science. I have worked in several technology fields including Telecommunications, System Administration, Networking, Security, Programming, Financial Industry, and Legal Industry. I’m presently practicing my skills as a security engineering leader for a global law firm.
My current interests include: Enjoying time with and traveling with my Wife and Sons, visiting National Parks (34 at this point), Computer and Network Security, Gadgets, All things Open Source (focus on Linux), Hot Peppers (I grow Carolina Reapers), Trucks/Cars (My greasy hands hobby), Reading (which I’ve been slacking on lately), and most recently Fencing.
Some highlights in my tech life:
- Graduated BS Computer Engineering UF, May 1998
- Pledged to the “Order of the Engineer“, May 1998
- Member of TriLUG, Joined February 2000
- Published “Sharp Zaurus PDA Review“, April 2003
- Received my RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer), October 2003
- Chaired CALUG, May 2002 – August 2005
- Presented on Mobile Security at the CPLUG Security Conference, March 2005
- Program Committee LinuxWorld Expo and Summit NY, Boston, San Francisco 2006-2009
- Member of NOVALUG, 2006-Present
- Interviewed by Network World, August 2006
- Speaker LinuxWorld San Francisco, OS Security Panel 2006
- Member of the “Society of Industry Leaders“, October 2006
- Published “Managing a Grid, Part 3: Monitoring and Scheduling“, January 2007
- Published “Managing a Grid, Part 4: Day-to-day tasks for a grid admin“, January 2007
- Published “Migrating from WSRF to WSRT“, July 2007
- Graduated MS in Computer Science GU, January 2010
- Elected to Board of Directors tux.org, 2006-2012
- Joined the Fedora Security Team, July 2014
- Joined as a Committee member of BSidesDC KidsCon/CryptKids, September 2014
- Became Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), June 2015
- Became AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, October 2016
- Became Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP), October 2017
- Speaker Valley TechCon “Driving Security Through Technology”, 2018
- Speaker BSidesDC “Blue Teams next tool: Social Engineering“, 2018
- Co-Speaker Layer 8 Conference “Social Engineering for Red & Blue Teams“, 2019
- Became Certified Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK), July 2020
- Joined as a Volunteer and Staff Member for The Diana Initiative, March 2021
- Joined as a Mentor for Black Girls Hack, May 2022
- Became Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), July 2022
Projects I’m currently working on:
My day job is leading Information Security Technologies at a large global law firm.
I’m currently volunteering as the staff lead for The Diana Initiative mentoring programs, including CFP, Speaker, and Scholarship mentoring (2023-2024). I’m also a member for the CFP review board for the conference (2021-2024).
PGP Information for Contact:
KeyID: 863C5631
Fingerprint: 9BBD BB03 893C 9D7F A9F3 22F2 F705 2B03 863C 5631