Instructors

From Scotland Yard to Microsoft and a multinational financial services organization, Adam Kramer has spent his entire career disrupting harm and protecting others.

Adam started out as a police detective in Scotland Yard. It was there that he became inspired to pursue a career in cybersecurity. Adam saw what he calls "the arms race between good and evil" intensifying due to our changing digital world. Paired with his unquenchable thirst for justice, lifelong interest in computers, and desire to leverage his skills for real impact, that realization led him to cybersecurity. Today, Adam heads the Europe, Middle East, and Africa cyber threat monitoring and response team for a multinational financial services organization, where he puts his investigative skills and cybersecurity prowess to work every day.

Previously, Adam served as the incident response technical lead with the Microsoft Cyber Security Global Practice, chief technologist with the UK National Cyber Crime Unit, and as a detective with the UK Police Central eCrime Unit.

Adam is a recognized expert in Microsoft Windows, including its internal structures and programming interfaces.  He has successfully reverse-engineered and resolved some of the most complex threats seen to date. He also loves the unique and exciting challenge of analyzing malware, which has been actively designed to evade detection and inspection. Adam brings this knowledge and enthusiasm to his role as a SANS instructor for FOR610: Reverse-Engineering Malware: Malware Analysis Tools and Techniques.

During his time in law enforcement, Adam was involved in a variety of complex and in-depth investigations that had malware at their core. He used the skills learned when he himself took the SANS FOR610 course to work these cases, so he knows the real-world impact of using the very tools he is teaching.

Working in a field with constant change may be a challenge for some, but it seems to engage Adam's passion, commitment, and enthusiasm even more. He is constantly pursuing knowledge and innovation, both by bringing his own ideas to work and the classroom and by encouraging students to enlighten him with their solutions.

"The most important thing my students can learn is to use their initiative, creativity, and innovation," he says. "I want to arm my students with the tools to blaze their own trails, and bring maximum impact to their work."

In his spare time, Adam enjoys writing tools. "When a new idea captures me I can't be distracted until I've seen it through to fruition," he explains.  And when he's not brushing up on cybersecurity, you'll find Adam doing his best to keep up with his toddler-aged daughter. 

Qualifications Summary

• Nine years of experience in law enforcement and corporate cybersecurity
• Challenge designer for Cyber Security Challenge UK since 2013
• Instructor for SANS FOR610: Reverse-Engineering Malware: Malware Analysis Tools and Techniques

Get to Know Adam Kramer

• Adam's SANS blog
• Adam's website

Certifications

• GIAC Reverse Engineering Malware (GREM), SANS Institute
• GIAC Exploit Researcher and Advanced Penetration Tester (GXPN), SANS Institute
• Microsoft Certified Professional, Microsoft

Student Quotes

• "Very clear teaching, good pace, good labs." - Tom Stone, QA
• "Excellent teacher." -  Giampaolo Dedola, Telecom Italia
• "Very good skills" - Yvan Evypers
• "Adam is a great instructor and very helpful." - Magni Sigurdsson, Cyren
• "He is excellent." -  Witold Lawacz, Pepsi Co.