Our Team
At PEN Consultants, our testing consultants are experts in the field. When you hire PEN Consultants for your security needs, you can be confident in your selection, knowing you are getting the best security value for your dollar.
Previous Employers:
Robert Neel
Founder, PEN Consultants
Robert.Neel@PENConsultants.comQualifications:
- Over 25 years experience in cybersecurity – 7 years government sector, 18+ years private sector.
- Graduate of NSA’s 3-year CNODP training program.
- National Security Agency GNEVA (Global Network Exploitation Vulnerability Analyst).
- Established and led the Red Team at USAA.
- Worked on the SBIRS program at Lockheed Martin.
- Resume
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- Master’s degree, Computer Science, University of Texas (Arlington)
- Bachelor’s degree, Church Ministries, Southwestern Assemblies of God University
- GCIH, GPEN, GWAPT, etc. certifications
- 15 years experience as a system/network administrator and security consultant/engineer/security analyst in the private sector (small and fortune-100 sized corporations)
- 7 years experience in the government sector performing vulnerability analysis and exploitation for the NSA (National Security Agency)
- Conducting security assessments (red teamer, pentester, vuln/exploitation analyst, etc.) since 2006
- 1,700+ hours of computer security training beyond masters degree:
- Suite of classes attended: Foundstone’s Ultimate Hacking, AoE/cybrscore.io, EC-Council, ANRC, GlobalKnowledge, Linchpin Labs
- Several SANS tracks, vendor training (Cisco, Red Hat, Mandiant, etc)
- Experience with 28 programming languages; written complex programs for both offense and defense in 17 of them – assembly, c#, Go, java, c, c++, Objective-C, R, Swift, python, VBA, VB, powershell, perl, ruby, AppleScript, php, html, js, asp, CSS, bash, bat, basic, awk, flex, sed, Mathematica, MATLAB, etc.
- Created thousands of signatures/rules (snort, yara, openIOC, etc.), behavior based detections/IOAs, custom detection frameworks, etc.
- Four patents issued, one pending:
- Systems and methods for detecting keyboard characteristics
- Systems and methods of detecting malicious PowerShell scripts
- Detection failure monitoring system
- Identifying sensitive data on computer networks
- Details: https://patents.justia.com/inventor/robert-jason-neel
- Presenter: at HackWest, BSides SATX, Executive Women’s Forum, BSides Austin, and to NSA director ADM Mike Rogers, Commander Army Cyber Command LTG Ed Cardon, and Deputy Commander Army Cyber Command GEN Paul Nakasone
- Duties have included:
- SysAdmin, NetAdmin, support technician
- network and system hardening
- configuring firewalls
- writing IDS signatures, behavior based detections for endpoints, against log, netflow, and capture data
- incident response, system and network forensics, malware analysis
- performing audits, vulnerability assessments, pentests and app tests
- creating/leading red teams and CTFs
- source code analysis
- traffic and protocol analysis
- pioneering “hacking back”
- recovering (by breaching badguy infrastructure over 30 times) and reporting over 17 million stolen credentials through various intel channels and directly with businesses
- establishing and leading weekly training sessions, creating training documentation and demos, mentoring
- physical security and surveillance
James Cameron
Technical Service Manager/Security Consultant
James.Cameron@PENConsultants.comQualifications:
- External, Internal, and Web App Penetration testing, red teaming, wireless assessments, OSInt, etc.
- Over 10 years of experience in Networking / Cybersecurity.
- 6 years experience as a Cryptologic Network Warfare Specialist / Cyber Operations Specialist.
- Graduated with honors from the Joint Cyber Analysis course.
- Graduated the Computer Network Operations Qualification course.
- Certified as a core exploitation analyst and computer network operator.
- Programming experience in C, C++, Python, JS, etc.
Diego Manrique
Security Consultant
Diego.Manrique@PENConsultants.comQualifications:
- Over 10 years of experience providing application security services in critical areas such as penetration testing, cloud application security, DevSecOps, and the evaluation, selection, implementation, and integration of application security products at the organizational level.
- Master’s in Cybersecurity and Bachelor’s in Computer Information Systems from the University of Houston.
- Certifications: CISSP, AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate, eMAPT, GMOB, CEH, Security+, Cloud+, Azure Fundamentals.
Nat Shere
Security Consultant
Nat.Shere@PENConsultants.comQualifications:
- Over 10 years of experience in penetration testing, source code review, scripting, and secure application development.
- Master’s degree, Cyber Security, Columbia University – New York City.
- Bachelor’s degree, Mathematics, Yeshiva University – New York City.
- Certified Web App Penetration Tester.
- Actually enjoys reporting and explaining the results of engagements.
Gabe Rust
Security Consultant
Gabe.Rust@PENConsultants.comQualifications:
- 2 years of experience in penetration testing, including source code review, web applications, thick clients, internal and external networks, host reviews and mobile applications.
- 8 years of experience in software development in several languages for multiple domains including task automation, web applications, desktop applications, and firmware.
- PNPT certified.
Chris Hubbard
Security Consultant
Chris.Hubbard@PENConsultants.comQualifications:
- Over 14 years of experience in IT Support / System Administration / Database Management / Cybersecurity.
- 3 years experience as a Cryptologic Network Warfare Specialist / Cyber Operations NCO.
- Graduated from the Joint Cyber Analysis Course.
- Programming experience in Python, JS, C++, Scripting, etc.
Patrick Egan
Chief Operating Officer & Client Service Manager
Patrick.Egan@PENConsultants.comQualifications:
- Over 29 years of experience in System Administration/Network Security.
- Experienced in Novell and Windows Directory Services design and management.
- Experienced in design and management of Cisco networks.
- PNPT, Network+, Novell CNE.
- Enjoys helping clients ensure their networks and infrastructure are as secure as possible.
Michael Bliss
Marketing & Graphic Design
Michael.Bliss@PENConsultants.comQualifications:
- Over 18 years owning and operating several successful businesses.
- Experienced in leading an IT department in the corporate environment.
- Mentoring, team building, training and personal development events.
- Active in the local community and helping others who are in recovery.
Rebecca Neel
Business Administrator
Rebecca@PENConsultants.comQualifications:
- Pretext author, marketing and graphics design coordinator, communications, content review, strategic planning, social media, maintains workplace professionalism, etc.
- Master’s degree, Educational Leadership, University of Texas (Arlington).
- Bachelor’s degree, Education, Southwestern Assemblies of God University.
- During the day, Rebecca teaches reading and writing to middle schoolers, and then she goes home and attempts to teach Robert.