Deb Wigley is the Director of Kindness and Generosity for Black Hills Information Security (BHIS). She joined the team in 2019 after celebrating 20 years of working in customer engagement and satisfaction in the Automotive Industry. She brings her passion for helping and serving people to the work she does at BHIS. The part of her role she enjoys the most is interacting with the community through our webcasts and educational content, our Discord servers, and conferences. She loves being a mom to her four kiddos and in her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, frequently entertaining a beach day, and being whisked away on rewilding adventures with her husband of 20+ years as much as possible.

Jason Blanchard has been happily adopted into the hacker community at Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) since 2019, even though he “works in marketing.” He’s had every dream job imaginable: teaching filmmaking, owning the world’s most famous comic book store, and fostering the infosec community efforts for SANS. While some at BHIS call him the “Director of Excitement,” he is formally known as the Excitement Co-Creator. In his day-to-day work of “sucking at capitalism,” Jason enjoys helping others, sharing his knowledge, and giving away lots of free stuff. When he’s not working, Jason spends time with his wife and daughter, hosts a semiweekly job-hunting Twitch stream, and enjoys writing short stories and performing stand-up comedy.

Andrew Krug is a Security Geek specializing in Cloud and Identity and Access Management. Andrew brings 15 years experience at the intersection of security, education, and systems administration. As a fierce advocate for Open Source and founder of ThreatResponse tool suite, Andrew has helped inspire the landscape around forensics and incident response in the Cloud. Andrew has been a presenter at a variety of conferences, publishing papers with BlackHat USA, DerbyCon, and many more.

Brian Fehrman is a long-time BHIS Security Researcher and Consultant with extensive academic credentials and industry certifications who specializes in AI, hardware hacking, and red teaming, and outside of work is an avid Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, big-game hunter, and home-improvement enthusiast.

Bronwen Aker is a BHIS Technical Editor who joined full-time in 2022 after years of contract work, bringing decades of web development and technical training experience to her roles in editing pentest reports, enhancing QA/QC processes, and improving public websites, and who enjoys sci-fi/fantasy, Animal Crossing, and dogs outside of work.

Carrie Roberts is a programmer, turned pentester, turned red teamer, turned blueish purple. She is currently on the Red Team at Walmart. She loves to learn and give back to the community. She is one of the primary Atomic Red Team project maintainers and developers and has developed many of her own open-source tools. She holds master’s Degrees in both Computer Science and Information Security Engineering.

CJ Cox is the Chief Operating Officer for Black Hills Information Security (BHIS). He joined the team in 2016 and is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations and business capture of BHIS. CJ has over 25 years of experience in the IT industry as a systems administrator as well as an information system security officer, manager, and engineer. CJ feels that this is his dream job and that his favorite parts are the people he gets to work with and making security better. He is a retired Marine reservist and father of 4 who enjoys skiing, camping, golfing, and playing chess in his free time.

Dan Rearden, known in the community as HaircutFish, is an experienced SOC Analyst who transitioned into cybersecurity following a career-changing injury in 2020. Driven by a passion for solving complex puzzles and an exploratory mindset, he evolved from hardware repair into a dedicated Blue Team professional. In his current role, Dan triages high-level security tickets while actively contributing to the community through technical discourse. Dan is dedicated to refining his skills at detection engineering and advancing the field of defensive security.

Derek is a BHIS Security Consultant, Penetration Tester, and Red Teamer with advanced degrees, industry certifications, and broad experience across forensics, incident response, monitoring, and offensive security, who enjoys learning from colleagues, helping clients improve their security, and spending his free time with family, fitness, and playing bass guitar.

Doc Blackburn is a seasoned (old) cybersecurity instructor with decades of experience in IT, security, and compliance. Over his career, he has worked in many areas of IT, including systems administration, programming, network design, cloud services, web development, and risk management, bringing a broad technical foundation to his teaching. For more than 13 years, Doc has trained students and professionals to understand, implement, and maintain effective security practices, drawing on real-world consulting experience in compliance frameworks such as NIST SP 800-171, CIS Critical Controls, and MITRE ATT&CK. Known for making complex concepts accessible to all audiences, he blends technical depth with practical insights, preparing learners to address today’s evolving cyber threats.

Eric Kuehn is a principal security consultant at Secure Ideas, as well as an IANS faculty member. He leverages his extensive experience with Microsoft infrastructures and Active Directory to perform penetration tests and offer guidance on system security and architecture. He also is the author of the “Red Team Fundamentals for Active Directory” course, where he explains the concepts, techniques, and best practices for exploiting and defending AD environments. Eric has been working with Active Directory since its release and was the technical leader and architect of one of the largest and most complex AD implementations out there. He holds the CISSP certification and is passionate about sharing his knowledge and skills with others. Eric has delivered talks on Active Directory security and other topics at various conferences, events, and webcasts, and via Antisyphon Training.

I’m a security researcher focused on the intersection of threat hunting and agentic AI. I do research at Active Countermeasures and instruct at AntiSyphon, teaching threat hunting and offensive security tooling. I’m also currently building aionsec.ai, an open-source platform to make elite threat hunting accessible to everyone.

A cyber security professional with over a decade of experience specializing in digital forensics, incident response, and threat intelligence. After a decade in law enforcement, transitioned into the private sector working in large enterprise and consulting. During my tenure in cyber security, I have been fortunate enough to work on complex digital investigations as well as develop training and enablement programs for cyber security defenders all over the world.

Hayden Covington joined Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) in the Summer of 2022 as a SOC Analyst. He chose BHIS after hearing many great things over the years and seeing the quality of work, as well as finding people who have the same passion for the field as he does. His favorite part of the job so far has been the community. Previously, Hayden worked in a SOC for a Naval contractor, where he also served as their SOAR project manager and SME, as well as insider threat lead. When he’s not working, Hayden can be found doing anything athletic (like triathlons!), as well as enjoying video gaming and Formula 1.

James McQuiggan brings over 20 years of cybersecurity expertise as Security Awareness Advocate at KnowBe4, where he specializes in Human Risk Management and strategic thought leadership. Through industry conferences, webinars, and media engagement, he translates complex security concepts into actionable insights for diverse audiences. His extensive background includes senior cybersecurity roles at Siemens Energy and Wind Divisions, with expertise spanning cybersecurity standards, incident response, and industrial control system security. McQuiggan also serves as part-time faculty at Full Sail University, teaching Cyber Threat Intelligence. A dedicated community leader, McQuiggan volunteers with ISC2 as Co-chair of the North American Region Advisory Council and Chair of the Southeast Chapter Regional Management Committee, following eight years as President of the (ISC)² Central Florida Chapter.

Jennifer is a Senior Security Consultant with Secure Ideas with a background in malware analysis, penetration testing, and teaching. She graduated with honors from Florida State College at Jacksonville’s networking program. An avid computer geek for most of her life, she began her journey in cybersecurity as a SOC Analyst where she showed an aptitude for both penetration testing and malware analysis. She was quickly promoted into a role that capitalized on her abilities.

Jordan Drysdale has been with the Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) tribe since December 2015. He is a Security Analyst, as well as a member of the systems administration team. Jordan came to BHIS with a strong background, including many years in networking tech support and engineering for HP, UNi, and Managed Services — he never stops learning and sharpening his skills.

Kent started his Information Technology career working for an Internet Service Provider supporting the MidWest’s broadband initiatives of the early 2000s. His interest in technology and business operations drove his career into working for multiple Fortune 500 companies and equipping their organizational leadership with business analytical data that would support their technology initiatives. With an understanding of Information Technology, System Administration, Accounting, and Business Law, Kent has helped businesses leverage technology for competitive advantage while balancing the risks associated with today’s dynamic network environments. Kent has been with Black Hills Information Security for three years in security and administration roles.

Kevin Klingbile has been working for Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) as a Security Consultant since 2020. Previously, Kevin spent most of his career performing both red and blue team roles in the energy utilities sector. Kevin is a contributor to the IT security community as an advisor on the CIS top 20 controls panel. He also teaches security courses at Western Dakota Tech as an adjunct professor. He holds an MBA in Information Technology Management and a BS in Information Technology. Outside of work, Kevin enjoys backyard farming, grilling, and chasing his kids around the yard.

Mishaal is a highly respected figure in cybersecurity, with expertise in ethical hacking, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), social engineering, and privacy. Mishaal’s engaging approach involves live demos, making cybersecurity accessible and enjoyable, while his strength lies in rapidly enhancing organizations’ security posture, saving time and budget.

Patterson Cake joined the Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) pirate ship in June of 2023 as a Security Consultant focusing primarily on detection engineering and digital forensics and incident response. He chose BHIS because, to paraphrase, “doing cool stuff with cool people” and “making the world a better/safer place” is exactly how he wants to spend his professional time and energy. It also helps that he has a bit of history with a couple of awesome folks that have been with BHIS for many moons. Prior to joining the team, Patterson helped build and lead a DFIR practice for an MSSP, worked as a senior security engineer for AWS Managed Services, and spent several years in enterprise cybersecurity, often healthcare related, focusing on intermingling offensive security and incident response in technical and leadership roles. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family, which often involves motorcycles, outdoor sports, movies, and music.