Ismael Valenzuela

Defined by his peers as a “passionate, experienced, and visionary individual who is always striving to improve himself,” Ismael is one of the few individuals who have done almost everything in the cybersecurity arena - from founding one of the first IT Security companies in Spain, to defending some of the largest critical infrastructure in New York City, to managing global threat research and cyber defense product innovation teams, as well as teaching for highly reputed institutions such as SANS, IANS, BSi or the Spanish National Center of Intelligence.

Prior to his current role at Arctic Wolf, Ismael worked in both offensive and defensive security roles for Foundstone, Intel, McAfee, Trellis, and BlackBerry Cylance. He has provided consultancy, advice, and guidance to large government and private organizations, including major EU Institutions and US Government Agencies. Ismael is also regularly featured in cybersecurity publications and top security conferences such as BlackHat, RSA, and SANS Security Summits.

Ismael holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Malaga (Spain) and holds a certification in business administration. Additionally, he holds many professional certifications, including the highly regarded GIAC Security Expert (GSE #132),as well as GREM, GCFA, GCIA, GCIH, GEPN, 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 3: Protect your Lunch Money - Keeping the Thieves at Bay, May 2019

Defensible Security Architecture and Engineering - Part 2: Thinking Red, Acting Blue - Mindset & Actions, April 2019

Defensible Security Architecture and Engineering - Part 1: How to become an All-Round Defender - the Secret Sauce, March 2019

Enterprise Security Weekly #70

BLOGS

You can read Ismael's personal blog here.

You can read Ismael's professional blog through McAfee here.