Who is Ryan?
Ryan is a self-started tech professional who currently works as a security analyst and has a passion for information security. Ryan’s personal interests range from gaming to home automation and small DIY engineering projects.
Currently, Ryan spends his time helping secure his company as one in a team of four, honing his skills in an event he hosts called “CTF Fridays Tuesdays” at the hackerspace “All Hands Active”, and attending college for a degree in DFIR. Lately, Ryan has also started working with the Iowa City FabLab to help design their hackerspace which will promote cyber security learning to the community.
When not working, Ryan is usually tinkering with a project on one of his lab systems, or hammering away at a CTF. While he continues his studies in parallel with his other activities, Ryan leaves his courseload light so that he can spend time with his friends and family.
Credentials
* CompTIA A+
* CompTIA Net+
* TestOut PC and Network Pro
* Palo Alto Certified Networking Security Administrator
* GCIH
Contact
All Contact should be forwarded through one of the socials on the side. Thank you.
History
Ryan’s interest in tech started with some of his earliest memories with his dad and uncle, and continued into highschool where he was given the opportunity to earn his A and Net+ certifications. From there Ryan went on to work for AT&T as a lineman and then on to the web hosting industry as a systems analyst to get his start in Information Technology.
During his time in web hosting Ryan was able to gain much needed experience but was also exposed to many unique challenges beyond just the mundane. These included dealing with customers whose lively-hoods were supported by their online stores, training his peers who had just as little experience as he did when starting and even some security exposure as new threats came out targeting their promoted CMS platform, Magento.
Ryan’s next steps went towards systems engineering in his current company where his work moved to a more global and less customer facing position. Ryan spent his time learning new systems focused on higher performance and faster speeds. He was introduced to new technologies and new formats for bigger, and better funded operations. After spending a couple years within this position his company took a new approach to security and he was allowed to join this charge. Unfortunately, his pivot into security coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and this stifled some of the learning Ryan could get from his peers but it didn’t stop him, from learning and applying himself to the fullest.
Looking forward, Ryan plans to maintain his position or gain promotions within while working on his degree. When not working or going to school Ryan looks forward to new projects in automation coming his way and helping others in the field through his CTF Fridays Tuesdays program and other forms of community outreach.