About SOC Analyst Appreciation Day™
SOC analysts are too often overworked and underappreciated, leading to burnout and turnover.
Devo established SOC Analyst Appreciation Day™ to pay some long-overdue kudos to SOC analysts and to encourage organizations to improve their job satisfaction and mental well-being.
Thank you to everyone who celebrated the second annual SOC Analyst Appreciation Day with us this year. You can re-watch all of the sessions on-demand below.
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SOC Analyst Resources
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Join Liz Padula and Natalie Greene, Certified Yoga Instructors from Artemis Yoga, for a reset and decompression session that you can do right at your desk. You’ll walk away standing taller, thinking more clearly and feeling like you were whisked away on a retreat!
Desk Decompression and Reset
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Are you ready to become a SOC star? In this panel, winners from the 2021 SOC Analyst Appreciation Day Awards program and SOC leaders will come together to share their insights on becoming top-performing SOC analysts. They will explain how they keep their SOCs running efficiently, continuously learn new skills and knowledge about the cyberthreat landscape, and encourage knowledge sharing within their teams.
Josh Copeland, Security Director at AT&T, will moderate the panel. Panelists include:
Becoming a SOC Star
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We’ve all heard about the cybersecurity skills shortage and talent gap. So, how
can we get more individuals to enter the field? In this session, cybersecurity professionals who took an “untraditional” path into cybersecurity will share their unique journeys. Cybersecurity leaders and hiring managers who actively practice diverse hiring methods will also share how they evaluate candidates who may not have “traditional” experience.
David Bittner, CyberWire host, and Kayla Williams, CISO of Devo, will co-moderate this panel. Panelists include:
Untraditional Paths into Cyber
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Being neurodiverse can be a superpower for individuals working in cybersecurity. In this panel, neurodiverse cybersecurity professionals will come together to share their experiences, explain how being neurodiverse accelerated their career growth, and the challenges they faced along the way. Neurodiverse attendees will learn how to maximize their innate skills and approaches to problem-solving, while neurotypical attendees can learn how to best work and collaborate with neurodiverse teammates.
Carraig Stanwyck, CISO of Avnet, will moderate this panel. Panel participants include:
Being Neurodiverse in Cyber
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This session is a special edition of Paul’s Security Weekly hosted by Paul Asadoorian. He will be joined by Chris Crowley, SOC-Class Course Author, SANS Senior Instructor, and Consultant at Montance® LLC, to discuss SOC training and development best practices, including insights from the SANS annual SOC survey. He will also interview Michael Meis, Associate CISO at the University of Kansas Health System, to discuss how the history of warfare has influenced modern-day cybercrime and how cyber leaders can shift to a victory mindset.
Paul’s Security Weekly
View
The SOC is changing. Cybersecurity teams are investing in AI-driven security technologies and planning to outsource many of the Tier-1 and Tier-2 analyst responsibilities to combat talent shortages—enabling in-house teams to become much more focused on threat intelligence. In this panel, SOC professionals from MSSPs and in-house teams will come together to discuss dividing and conquering responsibilities to keep organizations secure.
Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli of ITSPmagazine will co-moderate this panel. Participants include:
The Hybrid SOC
Vista
El sector de la ciberseguridad lleva mucho tiempo luchando contra la escasez de personal cualificado, ya que muchos líderes de los SOC han encontrado cada vez más dificultades para encontrar y retener candidatos. Sin embargo, ¿hemos agotado realmente todas nuestras opciones? En el sector de la ciberseguridad hay espacio para ampliar el grupo de candidatos recurriendo a personas de orígenes menos convencionales y más diversos.
Esta mesa redonda explorará las habilidades, el pensamiento neurodivergente asi como las competencias "no tradicionales" que pueden dar lugar a trayectorias profesionales en ciberseguridad y cómo aprender y crecer una vez que se ha iniciado la carrera professional. Este panel será presentado y moderado por Enrique Serrano Aparicio, Director General de Hackrocks. Entre los participantes se encuentran:
Caminos no tradicionales hacia el ciberespacio
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The cybersecurity industry has long grappled with a skills shortage, as many SOC leaders have found it increasingly difficult to find and retain candidates. But have we exhausted all our options? There’s room in the cybersecurity industry to expand the candidate pool by tapping into individuals from less conventional and more diverse backgrounds.
This panel discussion will explore skills, neurodivergent thinking, and "untraditional" experiences that may translate well into cybersecurity career paths and how to learn and grow once you've started your career. Madeline Carr, Professor of Global Politics and Cybersecurity at University College London, will moderate this panel.
Other participants include:
Untraditional Paths into Cyber
EMEA Panel Descriptions
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A career in the SOC can be an exciting one for anyone in the cybersecurity field. In this panel, we’re looking to not only celebrate those working in the SOC but will also explore job opportunities for aspiring analysts and managers, share pathways to success, and develop ideas to further your career in the SOC.
To help us with this, we’ve gathered some of Asia Pacific’s most preeminent cybersecurity leaders to share their highly sought-after insights. You don’t want to miss out on this!
This panel will be moderated by David Fairman, CISO and CSO of Netskope. Participants include:
Managing and Growing Your Career in the SOC
APAC Panel Description
North America Panel Descriptions
2022 Partners
2022 SOC Analyst Appreciation Day Programming
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Amber Fleet, IT Consultant, InfoSyS Consulting
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Deidre Diamond, CEO and Co-founder, CyberSN
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Jennifer Reed, Security Leader
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Kassandra Pierre, President, WiCyS Neurodiversity Affiliate
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Nathan Chung, Cloud Security Engineer and Host of the NeuroSec Podcast
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Amy Detzel, Lead Security Engineer, Billtrust
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Sadie Gauthier, SROC Engineer, SANS Institute
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Jennifer Kendall, Principal Cybersecurity Engineer, Forter
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Billy Kajos, Senior Security Analyst, FanDuel
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Mark Willis, SOC Operations Manager, AT&T
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Natalie Page, Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst, Talion
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Vincent Laurens, Vice-President, Global Security Strategist, Devo
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José Luis Bedmar Jurado, SOC Manager en Cyberproof España, UST España & Latam
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Marta Barrio Marcos, Ingeniero de la Seguridad de Aplicaciones, Oracle Netsuite
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María Luisa Redondo Velázquez, Directora de Operaciones de Seguridad, Devo
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Rob Smith, Executive, Cyber Security, NAB
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Frank Santucci, Co-Founder and CTO of ParaFlare
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Catherine Buhler, CISO of EnergyAustralia
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Jay Jay Davey, SOC Client Lead, Bridewell
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Sunday Oludare Ogunlana, Security Incident Management Team, Citi
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Yolanda Craig, Director, Business Strategy and Development, IC at Raytheon BBN
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LeAnn Cary, Senior Director - Advanced Fusion Center Practice Leader, Optiv
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And others that will be announced soon!
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Frank Santucci, Co-Founder and CTO of ParaFlare
•
Catherine Buhler, CISO of EnergyAustralia
View
The SOC is changing. Cybersecurity teams are investing in AI-driven security technologies and planning to outsource many of the Tier-1 and Tier-2 analyst responsibilities to combat talent shortages—enabling in-house teams to become much more focused on threat intelligence. In this panel, SOC professionals from MSSPs and in-house teams will come together to discuss dividing and conquering responsibilities to keep organizations secure.
Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli of ITSPmagazine will co-moderate this panel. Participants include:
The Hybrid SOC
•
Jay Jay Davey, SOC Client Lead, Bridewell
•
Natalie Page, Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst, Talion
•
Samara Williams, Manager, Information Security and Risk, Cardinal Health
•
Joyce Ngo, Executive Manager, Cyber Security Operations
and Defense, the Hong Kong Jockey Club
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Next Year
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Michael Meis Interview
Chris Crowley Interview
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Chris Crowley Interview
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Chris Crowley Interview
2022 SOC Analyst Appreciation Day Awards Program Winners
SOC analysts are the unsung heroes of their organizations. These awards recognize analysts who go above and beyond the call of duty and handle their pressure-packed jobs exceptionally well. This year, we received dozens of exceptional nominations.
Our third-party panel of judges reviewed the applications we received for their quality, completeness, and how well the nomination demonstrated that the analyst exemplified the attributes and values outlined in each category. It was a tight race this year, but we’re proud to announce the 2022 SOC Analyst Appreciation Day Award winners. Learn more about what makes each of them extraordinary below.
The SOC Dream Team is a group of SOC analysts that embodies all the skills and attributes that create a productive and supportive work environment. This team communicates effectively with each other to make their work seamless. They’re always hungry to learn more
and share their knowledge with both their colleagues
and the industry.
The SOC Dream Team
HOME
Continuous Learner Award Winner
Metisha worked her way from the airline industry as
a flight attendant to being a security engineer at one of the industry's most well-known IT management companies—and she did it all in just under a year.
She pushed herself through a grueling six-month cybersecurity boot camp and networked with some of the most respected industry leaders. She earned her place in the field despite challenging circumstances. According to her nominator, she’s an inspiration and she’s just getting started.
Security Engineer, Postman
Metisha Harper
Continuous Learner
Award Winners
Metisha Harper
Rachelle Mansilungan
Zeeshan Ansari
Knowledge Sharer
Award Winners
Beth Grech
David Cunniffe
Ruslan Osorio Guerra
Sean Merat
Best Collaborator
Award Winners
Carlos Campillo Saez
Chad Miller
Antonio Pontrelli
Leong Kok Heng
Unflappable Analyst
Award Winners
Javier Buendía
Kevin Massey
Ruolan Zhang
Skalk Gerber
Honorable Mentions
Adam McLaughlin, Cybersecurity Analyst, American Express Global Business Travel
Amit Kumar, IT by Design, System Administrator
Auldrey Padua, SOC Expert, Envision Digital
Blake Shaw, SOC Analyst L2, American Express Global Business Travel
Blanca Mansfield, Security Analyst, Kordia SecOps
Christopher Greenway, Cybersecurity Analyst, Corsica Technologies
Chris van Wagner, SOC Analyst L3, American Express Global Business Travel
Ciera Stroman, SOC Analyst, Zoom
Clay Weeks, Tier 3 Analyst, AT&T
Danilo Lambak, Coordinator, Santander
Gerard Landers, Security Analyst, University of Oklahoma
Harkirat Singh, Information Security Engineer, A2B Australia
Kurtis Cona, Tier 2 Analyst, AT&T
Nishant Sharma, Solutions Architect, Firstsource
Isaiah Ausbon, Tier 2 Analyst, AT&T
Ismael Rodriquez Centeno, Consultor técnico de ciberseguridad junior, A2SECURE
John Rameriz, Security Analyst, Tier 1, ReliaQuest
Rob Arevalo, Tier 3 Analyst, AT&T
Rosita Galiandro, SOC Analyst, Exprivia SpA
Riyan Surya Pratama, Senior Security Analyst, Ensign Info Security
Shawn Taylor, Tier 2 Analyst, AT&T
Siddharth Sajan, Security Engineer, H&R Block
Siew Thiam Loong, Senior Security Analyst, Ensign Info Security
Steven Tam, Cybersecurity Consultant, OwlGaze
William Valiquette, Security Analyst, Square Enix
Yaaseen Sheikh, Security Analyst, Square Enix
Metisha Harper
Alan Morrison
Continuous Learner Award Winner
Alan is Avnet’s “self-identified MacGyver.” According to his nomination, he is the epitome of a continuous learner. When Avnet brought in a new EDR about a year ago, Alan built efficiencies and automation that decreased MTTR by nearly 300%. He also built out TheHive for ticketing and MISP for threat intel.
Security Analyst III, Avnet
Alan Morrison
Continuous Learner Award Winner
Rachelle received five different nominations from her colleagues. Her peers lauded her for her ability to effortlessly juggle high-priority tasks and execute demands and daily issues unruffled. Her nominations outline how she is always willing to increase her knowledge and how she shows a passion for learning and utilizing the knowledge she obtains in her job.
IT Security Operations Engineer,
Hawaii Medical Service Association
Rachelle Mansilungan
Continuous Learner Award Winner
According to this nomination, Zeeshan is a progressive thinker with a never-ending passion
for security. You will see him pitching security ideas
to people around him, talking about recent attacks, and determining what can be improved for the next time. His continual improvement mindset makes
him unique.
Security Engineer, Traveloka
Zeeshan Ansari
Knowledge Sharer Award Winner
According to Beth’s nomination, she leads by example. She continuously mentors other analysts in the process of analyzing alerts and escalating potential incidents. Less experienced analysts frequently seek out her guidance. She is calm in exigent circumstances, handles monotonous tasks with enthusiasm, and is patient with coworkers and new learners.
Cybersecurity Analyst II, Centene
Beth Grech
Knowledge Sharer Award Winner
David is passionate about information security
and has built his capabilities over many years in
the industry. As he's grown, he's become equally passionate about taking the time to share his knowledge with SOC analysts and security professionals who have joined the organization
and with the wider community through industry participation forums, community events, and more.
Senior Information Security Analyst, Powerco
David Cunniffe
Knowledge Sharer Award Winner
According to Ruslan’s nomination, he has been
a critical contributor to the company. He has developed a continuous education program for all analysts and redesigned and redefined the entire cybersecurity program and SOC services based on
a proactive approach. With this new approach,
the organization has implemented several threat-hunting initiatives, cyberthreat intelligence, and attack/defense exercises.
Cyber Defense Operations Manager,
Rymtech Tactical CyberOps
Ruslan Osorio Guerra
Knowledge Sharer Award Winner
Sean has been a driving factor in having AT&T analysts join Capture the Flags and consistently shares webinars, certifications, or interesting finds
to help everyone on the team improve their knowledge base.
Tier 2 EDR Analyst, AT&T
Sean Merat
Best Collaborator Award Winner
According to his nomination, Carlos is a very good partner who is always willing to lend a hand—even when he is at capacity. His peers say that even though he knows a lot, he never makes anyone feel that they are less than him because of it.
N2, A2SECURE
Carlos Campillo Saez
Best Collaborator Award Winner
Chad never sleeps and is continuously concerned
for the team and ongoing detections/threats. He brought together three disparate SOC teams and merged operations and tools into one standard, sharing SOPs and helping raise the bar for the analysts. He facilitates effective collaboration on
the team and in other IT organizations.
Director of Security Operations, University of Oklahoma
Chad Miller
Best Collaborator Award Winner
Antonio is an expert in cybersecurity and provides
great support to customers and colleagues. He worked hard to contain the Log4j vulnerability by creating a tool to analyze which systems were vulnerable to the known exploit.
SOC Analyst, Exprivia SpA
Antonio Pontrelli
Best Collaborator Award Winner
Leong Kok Heng is one of the cornerstones of Ensign Info Security’s SOC. He leads data ingestion, evaluates log sources for security value, and implements use cases for all new log sources. His unique combination of collaboration skills, cloud sec ops, and threat detection has made the organization’s SOC known as a business enabler among all its SOC stakeholders.
Security Analyst, Ensign Info Security
Leong Kok Heng
Unflappable Analyst Award Winner
Javier is an incredible analyst with knowledge of different SIEM technologies for large-scale, international monitoring and alerting projects.
These projects involved dozens of countries and a multitude of different assets and technologies.
In an environment of maximum pressure, he always remains unflappable and has a smile on his face
that conveys tranquility and solvency.
SOC N2 Analyst, INETUM
Javier Buendía
Unflappable Analyst Award Winner
Kevin consistently shows a calm demeanor throughout all the chaos. He works during Corsica Technologies’ busiest times of the day and closes more alerts than any analyst in the SOC while maintaining quality work during each investigation.
He also jumps right into work on other tasks when needed. If he's ever feeling the pressure, no one
else ever knows.
Cybersecurity Analyst, Corsica Technologies
Kevin Massey
Unflappable Analyst Award Winner
Ruolan is described as a diligent person who is always researching and updating herself on matters related to security. Her peers describe her as a calm, dedicated, and knowledgeable security analyst.
Security Engineer, ComfortDelgro
Ruolan Zhang
Unflappable Analyst Award Winner
Skalk is a great team player who goes above and beyond for his co-workers and company. He has great analytical and communication skills. He wants to stay updated on the latest technology so he reads blogs and listens to technology-related podcasts. Whenever he is in a crisis, he can remain calm and level-headed. He also calms down his co-workers and gets the team to work together in solving the crisis.
SOC L2 Incident Analyst, DRS
Skalk Gerber
Honorable Mentions
Adam McLaughlin,
Cybersecurity Analyst, American
Express Global Business Travel
Amit Kumar,
IT by Design, System Administrator
Auldrey Padua,
SOC expert, Envision Digital
Blake Shaw,
SOC Analyst L2, American Express
Global Business Travel
Blanca Mansfield,
Security Analyst, Kordia SecOps
Christopher Greenway,
Cybersecurity Analyst,
Corsica Technologies
Chris van Wagner,
SOC Analyst L3, American
Express Global Business Travel
Cierra Stroman,
SOC Analyst, Zoom
Clay Weeks,
Tier 3 Analyst, AT&T
Danilo Lambak,
Coordinator, Santander
Gerard Landers,
Security Analyst,
University of Oklahoma
Harkirat Singh,
Information Security Engineer,
A2B Australia
Kurtis Cona,
Tier 2 Analyst, AT&T
Nishant Sharma,
Solutions Architect, Firstsource
Isaiah Aubson,
Tier 2 Analyst, AT&T
Ismael Rodriquez Centeno,
Consultor técnico de
ciberseguridad junior, A2SECURE
John Rameriz,
Security Analyst, Tier 1, ReliaQuest
Rob Arevalo,
Tier 3 Analyst, AT&T
Rosita Galiandro,
SOC Analyst, Exprivia SpA
Riyan Surya Pratama,
Senior Security Analyst,
Ensign Info Security
Shawn Taylor,
Tier 2 Analyst, AT&T
Siddharth Sajan,
Security Engineer, H&R Block
Siew Thiam Loong,
Senior Security Analyst,
Ensign Info Security
Steven Tam,
Cybersecurity Consultant, OwlGaze
William Valiquette,
Security Analyst, Square Enix
Yaaseen Sheikh,
Security Analyst, Square Enix
Unflappable Analyst
Award Winners
Javier Buendía
Kevin Massey
Ruolan Zhang
Skalk Gerber
Best Collaborator
Award Winners
Carlos Campillo Saez
Chad Miller
Antonio Pontrelli
Leong Kok Heng
Knowledge Sharer
Award Winners
Beth Grech
David Cunniffe
Ruslan Osorio Guerra
Sean Merat
Continuous Learner
Award Winners
Metisha Harper
Metisha Harper
Alan Morrison
Rachelle Mansilungan
Zeeshan Ansari
Unflappable Analyst Award Winner
Skalk is a great team player who goes above and beyond for his co-workers and company. He has great analytical and communication skills. He wants to stay updated on the latest technology so he reads blogs and listens to technology-related podcasts. Whenever he is in a crisis, he can remain calm and level-headed. He also calms down his co-workers and gets the team to work together in solving the crisis.
SOC L2 Incident Analyst, DRS
Skalk Gerber
Unflappable Analyst Award Winner
Ruolan is described as a diligent person who is always researching and updating herself on matters related to security. Her peers describe
her as a calm, dedicated, and knowledgeable security analyst.
Security Engineer, ComfortDelgro
Ruolan Zhang
Unflappable Analyst Award Winner
Kevin consistently shows a calm demeanor throughout all the chaos. He works during Corsica Technologies’ busiest times of the day and closes more alerts than any analyst in the SOC while maintaining quality work during each investigation. He also jumps right into work on other tasks when needed. If he's ever feeling the pressure, no one else ever knows.
Cybersecurity Analyst, Corsica Technologies
Kevin Massey
Unflappable Analyst Award Winner
Javier is an incredible analyst with knowledge of different SIEM technologies for large-scale, international monitoring and alerting projects. These projects involved dozens of countries and a multitude of different assets and technologies. In an environment of maximum pressure, he always remains unflappable and has a smile on his face that conveys tranquility and solvency.
SOC N2 Analyst, INETUM
Javier Buendía
Best Collaborator Award Winner
Leong Kok Heng is one of the cornerstones of
Ensign Info Security’s SOC. He leads data ingestion, evaluates log sources for security value, and implements use cases for all new log sources.
His unique combination of collaboration skills,
cloud sec ops, and threat detection has made
the organization’s SOC known as a business enabler among all its SOC stakeholders.
Security Analyst, Ensign Info Security
Leong Kok Heng
Best Collaborator Award Winner
Antonio is an expert in cybersecurity and provides great support to customers and colleagues. He worked hard to contain the Log4j vulnerability by creating a tool to analyze which systems were vulnerable to the known exploit.
SOC Analyst, Exprivia SpA
Antonio Pontrelli
Best Collaborator Award Winner
Chad never sleeps and is continuously concerned for the team and ongoing detections/threats. He brought together three disparate SOC teams and merged operations and tools into one standard, sharing SOPs and helping raise the bar for the analysts. He facilitates effective collaboration
on the team and in other IT organizations.
Director of Security Operations, University of Oklahoma
Chad Miller
Best Collaborator Award Winner
According to his nomination, Carlos is a very good partner who is always willing to lend a hand—even when he is at capacity. His peers say that even though he knows a lot, he never makes anyone
feel that they are less than him because of it.
N2, A2SECURE
Carlos Campillo Saez
Knowledge Sharer Award Winner
Sean has been a driving factor in having AT&T analysts join Capture the Flags and consistently shares webinars, certifications, or interesting finds
to help everyone on the team improve their knowledge base.
Tier 2 EDR Analyst, AT&T
Sean Merat
Knowledge Sharer Award Winner
According to Ruslan’s nomination, he has been
a critical contributor to the company. He has developed a continuous education program for all analysts and redesigned and redefined the entire cybersecurity program and SOC services based on a proactive approach. With this new approach, the organization has implemented several threat-hunting initiatives, cyberthreat intelligence, and attack/defense exercises.
Cyber Defense Operations Manager,
Rymtech Tactical CyberOps
Ruslan Osorio Guerra
Knowledge Sharer Award Winner
David is passionate about information security
and has built his capabilities over many years in the industry. As he's grown, he's become equally passionate about taking the time to share his knowledge with SOC analysts and security professionals who have joined the organization
and with the wider community through industry participation forums, community events, and more.
Senior Information Security Analyst, Powerco
David Cunniffe
Knowledge Sharer Award Winner
According to Beth’s nomination, she leads by example. She continuously mentors other analysts in the process of analyzing alerts and escalating potential incidents. Less experienced analysts frequently seek out her guidance. She is calm in exigent circumstances, handles monotonous tasks with enthusiasm, and is patient with coworkers and new learners.
Cybersecurity Analyst II, Centene
Beth Grech
Continuous Learner Award Winner
According to this nomination, Zeeshan is a progressive thinker with a never-ending passion
for security. You will see him pitching security ideas to people around him, talking about recent attacks, and determining what can be improved for the
next time. His continual improvement mindset makes him unique.
Security Engineer, Traveloka
Zeeshan Ansari
Continuous Learner Award Winner
Rachelle received five different nominations from her colleagues. Her peers lauded her for her ability to effortlessly juggle high-priority tasks and execute demands and daily issues unruffled. Her nominations outline how she is always willing to increase her knowledge and how she shows a passion for learning and utilizing the knowledge she obtains in her job.
IT Security Operations Engineer, Hawaii Medical Service Association
Rachelle Mansilungan
Continuous Learner Award Winner
Metisha worked her way from the airline industry
as a flight attendant to being a security engineer
at one of the industry's most well-known IT management companies—and she did it all in
just under a year. She pushed herself through a grueling six-month cybersecurity boot camp
and networked with some of the most respected industry leaders. She earned her place in the field despite challenging circumstances. According to her nominator, she’s an inspiration and she’s just getting started.
Security Engineer, Postman
Metisha Harper
Continuous Learner Award Winner
Alan is Avnet’s “self-identified MacGyver.” According to his nomination, he is the epitome of a continuous learner. When Avnet brought in a new EDR about a year ago, Alan built efficiencies and automation that decreased MTTR by nearly 300%. He also built out TheHive for ticketing and MISP for threat intel.
Security Analyst III, Avnet
Alan Morrison
