Zero Day News (ZDN) Security is a passion-driven information technology & security consulting and management company. 

I founded ZDN Security with the dual purpose of (a) distributing timely & crucial security info freely and easily for comprehensions' sake, and (b) to provide enterprise level consulting to those who wouldn't afford it, nor understand what they generally need, regardless of whether they're an SMB or a neighbor.

I was hired to optimize and lead the security program for Regent and help drive the security services provided to ASCs while managing both their and Regent's internal posture. In doing so, I oversaw the Regent's information security program and the successful completion of numerous security enhancements that pushed the envelope of their services. Some duties included managing Security Operations, internal security awareness & training, risk management, HIPAA Security compliance for corporate & ASCs, PCI DSS for ASCs, and overseeing a joint-led partner SOC team of 5. In Spring of 2024, I was appointed HIPAA Security Officer.

Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. (SSR) is a Nashville-based 500+ person engineering, design, and consulting firm providing professional services to clients all over the United States and across 5 countries. SSR manages dozens of ongoing impactful projects at a time ranging from critical infrastructure work with the US Gov't., stay transportation with the DoT, to even other profit-driven centers such as Sports & Recreation or private enterprise healthcare systems.

In my tenure leading security efforts for SSR, I was hired as their first full-time dedicated security professional with the intent of growing, optimizing, and laying the foundation of their security program. In that time, I oversaw the entire cybersecurity program (many aspects highlighted below), and was proudly able to poise their cybersecurity maturity posture to a new level. Apart from standard security duties, I drove implementation on multiple security projects to reduce firm-wide risk. Some of the standard security efforts I oversaw were:

• GRC, including CMMC Level 2 compliance

  • NIST SP 800-171 audit & POA&Ms

• Security policy & plans (IR, BC, DR, SSP, Strategic, etc.)

• Managed and enhanced security applications & hardware (antivirus, SIEM, firewall, email firewall, Microsoft Defender, etc.)

• Vulnerability Management (including automating CIS hardening evaluations & remediation projects)

• Continuous Security Awareness Training & Phishing simulations

• Firewall & Email whitelist/blacklist filtering and spam optimization

• Yearly penetration test, incident response training, & TTX

• Cybersecurity audits/questionnaires & third-party vendor risk management

• Liaison with security vendors & MDR/XDR services

Daily SecOps related responsibilities included much of the below:

• DFIR/Incident Response & Malware Analysis

• Phishing email analysis, quarantine, and filtering

• Sandboxing & application testing

• Investigate events & incidents via the SIEM and other tools (e.g., Azure, Antivirus, Event Viewer, etc.)

Provided support and troubleshooting for applications and hardware, including higher tier troubleshooting and ticket queue management. This included user management (IAM) via Active Directory, Azure, and M365.

I assisted in shaping SOPs, documentation, ticketing standards, and overall optimization of service desk workflows. Worked as the primary weekend shift lead, managing and prioritizing queues, escalating incidents, training new employees, and providing prompt and appropriate resolutions during high-stress, urgent situations.

Shift/Team Lead; support and troubleshoot applications, servers, and hardware in a healthcare setting including EPIC, Soarian, and virtualization tech (VMware & Citrix), IAM using tools like Active Directory and Imprivata. Included some security focused log review using a SIEM, Active Directory, and Event Viewer to troubleshoot IAM.

Primarily using Java and Python, I developed both private and public Discord Bots that were built with intent to (a) play music, (b) perform automatic moderation tasks, or (c) allow users to play simulated text-based RPGs (with quests!). 

One of the most popular projects I worked on was a team-effort with a close friend, Amy, as we built and managed a music bot averaging ~3M global users. We hosted this via DO & OVH until hosting prices & public-use licensing for music for Discord both were drastically altered.

One of the most rewarding and enjoyable projects I created as a text-based game, delivered through the interface of a Discord Bot, designed to take a user through a fantasy dungeon and battle various monsters. During your encounters, you could perform many actions that you can in desktop games such as fighting, running, managing inventory, bartering, having conversation, buying add-ons/"DLCs" with actual money, raising pets, and completing quests for money and rewards. While it didn't grow to nearly as many users as the music bot, it still reached ~70k users primarily based in the United States and Germany who thoroughly enjoyed it!