Upcoming Courses
Profile
As a top cybersecurity expert with a strong technical background and deep knowledge of penetration testing, security architectures, intrusion detection, and computer forensics, Ismael has provided security consultancy, advice, and guidance to large government and private organizations, including major EU Institutions and US Government Agencies
Prior to his current role at BlackBerry, Ismael worked as a Senior Principal Engineer at McAfee, where he founded the Applied Countermeasures group (AC3), leading Threat Content Research and Engineering efforts for SecOps products, driving visibility, detection, and investigation efficacy for EDR/XDR, as well as MITRE ATT&CK evaluations. Before that, Ismael led the delivery of SOC, IR & Forensics services for the Foundstone Services team within Intel globally, and worked as Global IT Security Manager for iSOFT Group Ltd, one of the world's largest providers of healthcare IT solutions, managing their security operations in more than 40 countries.
Ismael holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Malaga (Spain), and is certified in business administration. Additionally, he holds many professional certifications, including the highly regarded GIAC Security Expert (GSE #132) in addition to GREM, GCFA, GCIA, GCIH, GPEN, GCUX, GCWN, GWAPT, GSNA, GMON, CISSP, ITIL, CISM, and IRCA 27001 Lead Auditor from Bureau Veritas UK. Ismael is also a faculty member of the SANS Technology Institute, an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense and multiple winner of the National Cyber League competition.
Endorsements
"He is clearly one of the best minds we have on how SOCs worked. He is an expert in network traffic analysis and has responded to countless intrusion cases over his career." - Rob Lee- SANS Fellow, DFIR Curriculum Lead and Technical Advisor to US DOJ
"He’s really a trailblazer in our industry." - Chris Young, Former CEO McAfee
Hear Ismael discuss defeating attackers with preventative security here:
ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY ISMAEL VALENZUELA:
WEBCASTS
Social Engineering Your Way to Success, July 2020
Extending Your Home Lab to include Cloud, July 2020
Building an Enterprise Grade Home Lab, May 2020
Journey to Becoming An All-Around Defender, April 2020
Architecting for Security Operations: Divide and Conquer!, February 2020
Have You Taken The "Endpoint Blue Pill"? Debunking The Endpoint Protection Myth, October 2019
Why Traditional EDR Is Not Working -- And What to Do About It, June 2019
How SOC Superheroes Win, June 2019
Defensible Security Architecture and Engineering - Part 2: Thinking Red, Acting Blue - Mindset & Actions, April 2019
Enterprise Security Weekly #70
BLOGS
You can read Ismael's personal blog here.
You can read Ismael's professional blog through McAfee here.