Question

The year was 2012 and I took a big leap in my own career to move across the country. I filled a role to lead a three‐person team providing information technology and security training to Department of Defense personnel. This leadership role was new to me having worked for the past eight years in the intelligence and information security world for the most part as a trainer. While building out the team in the fall of 2012, I interviewed a wonderful candidate from Louisiana named Nadean Tanner. She was full of personality, charisma, knowledge, and most importantly, she had the ability to train. She proved this as part of her training demonstration in the interview process. I knew she was the right candidate and hired her almost immediately. Hiring Nadean is still one of the best decisions I made, and she is one of the greatest trainers I know. My philosophy is that a great trainer does not simply regurgitate what they know. Rather, they have the ability to explain a topic in different ways so that each learner can comprehend. Nadean embodies this philosophy.

Nadean has trained thousands of learners on topics from hardware to advanced security. In each class, she takes the time and effort to ensure every learner gets what they need. Whether learning a product for performing their job, building out their professional development, or advancing their career with a certification, Nadean covers it all. If you had the opportunity to attend one of her training classes, consider yourself blessed by a great trainer. If you have not, you picked up this book, which is the next best thing. I am glad to see her move to authorship, allowing everyone to experience her ability to explain complicated topics in simple ways.

In the world of cybersecurity we are constantly bombarded with new products, new tools, and new attack techniques. We are pulled daily in multiple directions on what to secure and how to secure it. In this book, Nadean will break down fundamental tools available to you. This includes general IT tools used for troubleshooting, but ones that can also help the security team understand the environment. She will cover tools attackers use, but also empower you and your team to use them to be proactive in your security. Specifically, you as the reader get to enjoy not only Nadean's ability to impart knowledge but her uncanny ability to explain why. Rather than being technical documentation focusing on the how, Nadean will delve into why use the tools and the specific use cases. For many users fresh to the cybersecurity world, this should be considered a getting started guide. For those in the middle of or more senior in their careers, this book will serve as a reference guide you want to have on your desk. It is not a book that makes it to your shelf and collects dust.

Throughout the years I have been Nadean's manager, colleague, peer, and most importantly dear friend. We have shared stories about how we learned, what we learned, and how we passed the information along to our learners. As the owner of this book, you are well on your way to enjoying Nadean's simple yet thorough explanations of advanced security topics. Rather than spending more of your time on reading this foreword, jump into the book to learn, refresh, or hone your cybersecurity skills.

1. Ryan Hendricks, CISSP

   Training Manager, CarbonBlack