Episode 20

John Bambenek - Principal Threat Hunter at Netenrich

Published on: 24th February, 2022

John Bambenek - Principal Threat Hunter at Netenrich; Chief Architect of the Cyber Panopticon; Incident Handler for Internet Storm Center

About John Bambenek:

John Bambenek is an information security practitioner from Champaign, Illinois. As a graduate from the University of Illinois with a B.A. in Theoretical Astrophysics (emphasis in extragalactic astrophysics) and a minor in Mathematics, he has been employed as a project manager at Cap Gemini Ernst and Young, where he provided consulting services to numerous Fortune 500 firms. He continues to provide his expertise to the SANS Institute by authoring published course materials and exams. He also operates the charitable Tumaini Foundation, which provides funds and other needed resources to Tanzanian schools for AIDS orphans. He is also known for his current work in spyware and botnet technology, and their use concerning identity theft. He is also a volunteer as an incident handler for the Internet Storm Center, and his research has been cited in various media venues such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bambenek

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbambenek/

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About the Podcast

The CISO Diaries

The path to cybersecurity leadership is not a direct route and it's those divergent routes that create the amazing stories and histories of leaders who are driving security to keep businesses and people safe.

We’re Leah McLean and Syya Yasotornrat and we intend to give CISOs and cybersecurity professionals a place to be their authentic selves. These are the unedited stories told of how they got into cybersecurity, the real struggles they’ve persevered through, personal anecdotes that make them tick, and leadership advice based on experiences.

We aren't the kind of cybersecurity podcasts that focuses on the technologies, or recent incidents. We are the podcast that focuses on the people behind the headlines and the incredible diversity of experiences and backgrounds. (And it's not lost on us that we're two awesome female hosts)!

Let's face it: we are a cybersecurity tribe and we need all hands on deck!

We hope you enjoy our CISO diary entries.

After all, we're only human, right?

Special thanks to our sponsor, Cyber Future Foundation, a non-profit global cybersecurity executive leadership community, where leaders, thinkers, and futurists discuss and develop actionable guidance and frameworks for a trusted and safer world.

About your hosts

Syya Yasotornrat

Syya is a tenured tech sales professional with her time at SonicWALL and Hewlett Packard (HPE) with some hospitality at the Walt Disney Company and IT recruitment experience in the mix. She is currently a podcast strategist and consultant, helping others to bring out their voice and legacy through podcasting. She loves to learn and talk about anything, so feel free to reach out!

Leah McLean

Leah is Vice President, Cybersecurity Specialist at Mastercard. She is focused on implementing strategy and programs to evolve cybersecurity risk management approaches and cybersecurity awareness and training. She actively contributes in community working groups to advance cybersecurity risk management and third-party risk. Leah is also a mentor to candidates breaking into cybersecurity careers, and collaborates with employers to rethink their workforce and hiring strategies.
Leah is a co-founder at Whole Cyber Human Initiative, a non-profit focused on redefining how we identify, train, equip, advance knowledge, and build workforce development within IT and Cybersecurity. She also volunteers for Cyber Future Foundation, a non-profit driving workforce development initiatives and private and public sector collaboration.
Previously Leah held senior level roles as a cybersecurity practitioner at Armor, a cloud security company protecting data for SMB and mid-market customers, Apstra (acquired by Juniper Networks), A10 Networks and Cisco Systems. Leah serves on the Board of Advisors for Cloud Defense, Inc., a breach visibility cloud security startup and is on the board for the Cloud Security Alliance North Texas Chapter.
Leah holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, with an emphasis in International Relations from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is an active outdoor junkie always chasing adventure.