Umar Faruk has a diverse work experience in the field of IT and security. Umar started their career in 2013 as a Computer Engineer at the National Board for Technology Incubation, where they developed a custom document management system and assisted in implementing TCP/IP. Umar then progressed to the role of Senior Information Technology Engineer, overseeing server infrastructure and providing solutions for networking and systems issues. In 2016, Umar joined the Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT) as a Security Operations Center Analyst. Here, they conducted threat and vulnerability analyses, led mentoring and training programs, and conducted research into incident activities. In 2023, Umar worked as a Technical Support Engineer at Advanced and later joined Woven by Toyota as a Security Operations Engineer.
Umar Faruk obtained their Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering from the University of East London, which they attended from 2008 to 2011. After that, they pursued a Master's degree in Business Informations Systems from the same institution, graduating in 2013.
In terms of additional certifications, Umar obtained the following:
- In November 2019, they received the Alien Vault OSSIM certification from Cybrary.
- In August 2019, they completed the Monitoring Network Traffic with SIEM course at Cybrary.
- Umar participated in CyberCrime Investigation Training conducted by the Office of the National Security Adviser, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The specific month and year of their participation are not provided.
- Umar obtained their Certificate of Network Cyber Threat Hunting Training L1 in January 2020 from Active Countermeasures.
- In November 2020, Umar completed the Cyber-Enabled & Dark Web Investigation program offered by the U.S. Department of Justice.
- Umar attained the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification from EC-Council in December 2020.
- Umar also acquired the Certified Network Defense Architect (CNDA) certification from EC-Council in December 2020.
- Most recently, in March 2021, they became a Professional Member of the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN).
These additional certifications highlight Umar Faruk's dedication to enhancing their skills and expertise in the field of cybersecurity.
July, 2023 - present