The most trusted source for computer security training, certification and research.



select a course
New Orleans, LA - November 14 - 21, 2006
Global Information Assurance Certification

Wow! It's an incident handler's Christmas morning, tools, tools, tools. Very Applicable!
-Todd Davis, Symantec

Faculty for SANS New Orleans 2006

Chris Brenton
Chris Brenton is a private consultant with over ten years of experience in the field. He is one of the founding members of the initial Honeynet Project and one of the original Internet Storm Center handlers, and he started up one of the first managed security ISP's. Over the years, he's been credited with the discovery of numerous vulnerabilities in various software products. Along with being a published author, Chris is responsible for maintaining all of the material in the SANS Perimeter Protection In-Depth course. In his spare time, Chris teaches rally and high speed off road security driving where he can be found teaching students to make their side window the front of the car.
Eric Cole, PhD
Dr. Eric Cole is an industry-recognized security expert with over 15 years of hands-on experience. Cole currently performs leading-edge security consulting and works in research and development to advance the state of the art in information systems security. Cole has experience in information technology with a focus on perimeter defense, secure network design, vulnerability discovery, penetration testing, and intrusion detection systems. Cole has a master's degree in computer science from NYIT and a PhD from Pace University with a concentration in information security. Dr. Cole is the author of several books, including Hackers Beware, Hiding in Plain Site, Network Security Bible, and Insider Threat. He is the inventor of over 20 patents and is a researcher, writer, and speaker. He is also a member of the Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th President and several executive advisory boards. Dr. Cole is also the CTO of the Americas for McAfee. Cole is actively involved with the SANS Technology Institute (STI) and SANS working with students, teaching, and maintaining and developing courseware. He is a SANS faculty fellow and course author.
Jason Fossen
Jason Fossen is a principal security consultant at Enclave Consulting LLC, a published author, and a frequent public speaker on Microsoft security issues. He is the sole author of the SANS Institute's week-long Securing Windows course (SEC505), maintains the Windows day of Security Essentials (SEC401.5), and has been involved in numerous other SANS projects since 1998. He graduated from the University of Virginia, received his master's degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and holds a number of professional certifications. He currently lives in Dallas, Texas.
Bob Hillery
Bob Hillery is a co-founder and Senior Security Analyst with InGuardians, LLC, of Washington, DC. He brings a global perspective to consultancy through Information Systems Security Management and computer network security incident handling experience in the U.S. Navy, private sector, and R&D. Bob has published a number of papers regarding threat assessment, business systems security management, including a National Institute of Justice project evaluating cyber attack and forensics tools requirements while a Senior Researcher for the Institute for Security Technology Studies at Dartmouth College. He is on the Advisory Boards of the SANS Institute, a variety of academic groups, and small businesses providing technical insights for Information Security degree programs and for corporate and legal digital forensics requirements. He also served as the Vice President of Academic Affairs & Chair of Information Systems Department for NH Community Technical College. He is a certified instructor for the SANS Institute and guest lecturer at such places as the University of New Haven.s National Security Master.s Program and Franklin Pierce Law Center. Bob has Masters degrees in both Strategic Studies and International Relations. His professional certifications include CISSP, SANS GIAC certifications, MCSE and the NSA IAM & IEM.
James Manico
Jim is the VP of Software Engineering for CodeMagi Inc., a service firm specializing in cutting edge web application development. Jim brings ten years of web-based database-driven software development and analysis experience to client engagements. CodeMagi Inc. has recently provided service for SUN Microsystems, Fox Media, the Golden State Warriors and Architecture for Humanity. In addition, Jim has expertise working with a wide variety of technologies including web-based development with J2EE, thick-client and applet-based Java applications, hybrid applications using Java, C++ and Flash, web-based PHP applications using Drupal 4.7, rich-media web applications using advanced Ajax techniques, and Database technology using Oracle, MySQL and Postgres. Jim's office is located on the beautiful island of Kauai, HI and hosts a bi-weekly call-in computer talk radio show for KKCR, Kauai's community radio station. Jim previously served as the Director of Vendor Relations with the SANS Institute. Jim often volunteers his time fixing and tuning his neighbors computers, the only cost to them is being lectured at regarding the importance of backup and security.
Mari Nichols
Mari Nichols has been in Incident Handling since 1998 with NAVCIRT and Fortune 50 corporations. She was one of the first to certify with SANS GCIH and has been on the advisory board since 2000. Ms. Nichols has been a guest speaker for the SANS-at-night series. She recently obtained her CISSP certification, so she has joined the ranks of the many SANS mentors who hold GIAC and CISSP certifications.

Ms. Nichols is the CEO and Founder of iMarSolutions, a computer security consulting firm specializing in Security Awareness Education and regulatory compliance.

Ed Skoudis

Ed Skoudis is a founder and senior security consultant with InGuardians. Ed's expertise includes hacker attacks and defenses, the information security industry, and computer privacy issues, with over fifteen years of experience in information security. Ed authored and regularly teaches the SANS courses on network penetration testing (Security 560) and incident response (Security 504), helping over three thousand information security professionals each year improve their skills and abilities to defend their networks. He has performed numerous security assessments; conducted exhaustive anti-virus, anti-spyware, Virtual Machine, and IPS research; and responded to computer attacks for clients in financial, high technology, healthcare, and other industries.

Ed conducted a demonstration of hacker techniques against financial institutions for the United States Senate and is a frequent speaker on issues associated with hacker tools and defenses. He has published numerous articles on these topics as well as the Prentice Hall best sellers Counter Hack Reloaded and Malware: Fighting Malicious Code. Ed was also awarded 2004-2009 Microsoft MVP awards for Windows Server Security and is an alumnus of the Honeynet Project. Previous to InGuardians, Ed served as a security consultant with International Network Services (INS), Global Integrity, Predictive Systems, SAIC, and Bell Communications Research (Bellcore).

James Tarala
James Tarala is a principal consultant with Enclave Security and is based out of Venice, Florida. He is a regular speaker and senior instructor with the SANS Institute as well as a courseware author and editor for many SANS auditing and security courses. As a consultant, he has spent the past few years architecting large enterprise IT security and infrastructure architectures, specifically working with many Microsoft-based directory services, e-mail, terminal services, and wireless technologies. He has also spent a large amount of time consulting with organizations to assist them in their security management, operational practices, and regulatory compliance issues, and he often times performs independent security audits and assists internal audit groups to develop their internal audit programs. James completed his undergraduate studies at Philadelphia Biblical University and his graduate work at the University of Maryland. He holds numerous professional certifications.