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With current world affairs, the growing reliability on computers and the inevitable rise of computer crime, essential computer security, data recovery, network protection, and forensic investigation techniques are viable assets. My goal is to provide these assets through intense education and professional experience, and to share my expertise through this blog. So who am I to do such a thing?

Sorry if this reads like a resume, but how else am I to give some validity to my blog?

I began my career in physical security and worked my way up through database administration, release engineering, and application security positions for a company that pioneered video conferencing. However, I wasn’t satisfied with the daily responsibilities of the position. I longed for something more exciting. I took an entirely new direction and enlisted in the United States Military as a Military Police Officer. I spent 8 years serving the U.S. Army achieving numerous metals, veteran status, and was honorably discharged at the end of my contract. Upon returning to civilian life, I was hired by a local police department in which I spent 3 years. Again, I was dissatisfied professionally; I wished to return to the computer industry. I needed to find a career as exciting as law enforcement, but working with computers.

Champlain College in Burlington Vermont had just created a degree program that fit my needs perfectly… Bachelors of Computer and Digital Forensics . This degree encompasses network security, malware detection, vulnerability assessment, incident response, forensic analysis techniques, requirements of law, criminal procedure, and the investigation of all types of crimes involving the use of computers. I graduated with a 3.7 GPA. I received high praise from the institution on my Senior Thesis Project which details tools and methods regarding the hardening of systems and networks, incident response to a malicious attack on a network, and appropriate infrastructure recovery procedures.

I continued my education by receiving seven Defense Security Service certifications from the United States Government: Basic Information Security, NISPOM Chapter 8 Requirements for Industry, Information Systems Security, Industrial Security Management, Protecting Secret and Confidential Documents, Marking Classified Information, and Insider Threats.

I am pursuing a Masters of Information Assurance and Security from Capella University a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAEIAE) by the National Security Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

I have since found a professional home with a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) as an Information Security Representative. My responsibilities include; providing oversight of Information System Security Officers and System Administrators; implementing and enforcing government, institutional, and individual system security policies; conducting InfoSec education and training for general users and support staff; responding to incidents, contaminations, and other security relevant issues; sanitizing and clearing sensitive media; providing Security related customer service to users and administrators; assisting in the development of Information System Security Plans and the maintenance of dynamic Configuration Management records; and conducting Information System certifications, random inspections, and document reviews on a variety of platforms and configurations. I’m also a member of Infragard , a collaborative effort between the private sector and the FBI which shares intelligence information and education supporting the protection of the United States.

I look forward to any comments you may have. Contact me at webmaster at secureputer dot com , or if you wish, send me your questions and I may post an entire piece answering it. Enjoy the blog!