Biography

I earned a BA in communication in 1989 followed by a MA in Journalism in 1991.

When making a living in Journalism proved difficult and I began to explore other options, my home computer because infected with a virus. Unable to afford professional repair, the only way to regain control of the machine was to erase the hard drive, reinstall Windows on my own, and recover data from backup. I had no specialized training or experience at that time, and seeing a computer start up in BIOS was a bit intimidating, but I worked my way through the installation process, including drivers and configuration.

That day, I realized I could look malicious software square in the monitor and win.

In 2015 I returned to school and earned an Associates in Network Security. My first IT job was a Security Administrator at WEDC, followed by a Help Desk roll at American Family Insurance. My current position is in Testing and Cyber Defense.

2023 Session

Ethical Hacking – How it Helps IT Security

2022 Session

Development, Security and Operations Working Together for UW Madison

2021 Session

Ransomware – How it Works and How to Stop it (with Live Q&A)

2020 Session

Development and Cybersecurity – Parts of the Same Team