Ryan McAlister

Ryan McAlister has a diverse work experience in the field of security operations. Ryan started their career as a Security Operator at GBprotect in January 2018 and later became a Security Analyst. Ryan was recognized for their exemplary performance and was selected to develop training materials and update standard operating procedures and incident response playbooks.

After that, Ryan transitioned to Brooksource as a SOC Analyst II from September 2018 to May 2019. There, they gained valuable experience in monitoring and analyzing security incidents.

In May 2019, Ryan joined Aegon as a Senior Security Operations Center Analyst. Ryan became a subject matter expert in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and was responsible for managing and responding to security incidents for thousands of customers. Ryan utilized various tools and software platforms to monitor and document incidents.

From there, Ryan progressed to the role of Lead Security Operations Analyst at Aegon, starting in March 2022 and continuing until January 2023. In this role, they took charge of global incident response, instructing a team of analysts in identifying and responding to high-risk attacks. Ryan also collaborated with consulting staff to enhance offensive capabilities and establish attack tooling and rules of engagement.

Currently, Ryan serves as the Principal of Global Security Operations at Aegon, leading a team of over 30 analysts in the global security operations center. Ryan is responsible for training and leading personnel, creating new procedures, and updating incident response playbooks and policies. Additionally, Ryan built a custom threat hunting application known as the HERO (Hunting Extension Risk Objects) for investigations and risk-based alerting enrichment.

Throughout their work experience, Ryan has demonstrated expertise in advanced threat hunting and the use of tools like CrowdStrike Falcon and Splunk to identify anomalies, threat actors, and track malicious activities. Ryan has also fostered collaboration with incident response teams to ensure swift and effective remediation of identified threats, enhancing organizational security posture.

Ryan McAlister completed an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Integrated Studies from Central New Mexico Community College in 2014. Later, they pursued a second AAS degree in Network Administration, Systems Administration, and Cloud Technology from the same institution, which they completed in 2015. Ryan then attended New Mexico State University where they earned a Bachelor's degree in Information and Communication Technology (BICT) in 2017.

In addition to their formal education, Ryan has obtained several certifications including GIAC Defending Advanced Threats (GDAT) from GIAC Certifications in September 2020, GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH) from GIAC Certifications in April 2019, and System Security Certified Professional from (ISC)² in July 2018. Ryan also received a certification as a Palo Alto Accredited Configuration Engineer from Palo Alto Networks, although the specific details are not provided.