Chris Cochran

Chris Cochran has extensive work experience in the cybersecurity and technology industry. Chris is currently an Advisor at Hacker Valley Media, a creative agency that shares diverse and inspirational stories within the industry through podcasts and video shows. Chris previously held roles as the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, as well as the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Hacker Valley Media.

Chris is also the VP and Head of Marketing at AKA Identity, where they are responsible for creating the Data & Intelligence Layer for IAM. AKA Identity replaces manual and inefficient identity and access management decisions with visibility, intelligence, and action. Chris also served as a Marketing Advisor at the same company before their current role.

Additionally, Chris has been a Member of the Board of Governors at The Podcast Academy since 2023 and a Responsible Technology Award Judge at The Anthem Awards, presented by IADAS. Chris is an Executive Committee Member at the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

In terms of advisory roles, Chris serves on the Advisory Board for Threat Intelligence Summits at the SANS Institute and is a Visiting Fellow at the National Security Institute (NSI). Chris also holds the position of Advisory CISO and Chief Evangelist/Senior Director of Marketing at Huntress, a company specializing in advanced threat detection and response.

Prior to their current positions, Chris was the Creative Marketing Director at Axonius and the Director of Engineering - Security Operations at Marqeta, Inc.

Overall, Chris Cochran's work experience demonstrates their expertise and influence in the cybersecurity and technology industry, with a focus on creative storytelling, marketing, and strategic leadership.

Chris Cochran attended Valdosta State University from 2003 to 2006, where they did not obtain a degree or specify a field of study. Chris later pursued a Graduate Certificate in Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking at SANS Technology Institute from 2017 to 2018. Chris then studied Humanities with a minor in Cybersecurity at the University of Maryland University College from 2013 to 2017, focusing on Humanities/Humanistic Studies. Prior to higher education, Chris attended Lithonia High School and Salem High School, but no specific dates or degrees were provided for those periods. In terms of certifications, Chris obtained several, including Introduction to EASY Framework for Threat Intelligence from AttackIQ in 2020 and CompTIA Security Analytics Specialist from CompTIA in 2017. Other certifications include GCIH: GIAC Certified Incident Handler, Cybersecurity Analyst+, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Network+, and Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).