In my previous role, I identified a zero-day vulnerability in our web application that could have exposed sensitive customer data. I immediately escalated the issue to the development team and worked closely with them to patch the vulnerability within 24 hours. Additionally, I implemented a temporary workaround to prevent exploitation while the patch was being developed. This experience reinforced the importance of proactive monitoring and rapid response in maintaining robust security.

I stay updated by regularly attending industry conferences, participating in online courses, and subscribing to leading cybersecurity blogs and newsletters. I also engage in professional communities on platforms like LinkedIn and GitHub to discuss emerging threats and solutions. Additionally, I conduct regular threat modeling exercises and security audits to ensure our practices remain current and effective.

I have extensive experience with SIEM systems like Splunk and QRadar, where I've configured and optimized dashboards to detect and respond to security incidents in real-time. For IDS/IPS, I've deployed and tuned tools like Snort and Suricata to identify and block malicious traffic. In terms of firewalls, I've managed both hardware and software solutions, ensuring they are properly configured to enforce security policies and protect critical assets.

I approach security assessments by first understanding the business context and identifying critical assets. I then conduct a thorough risk analysis to prioritize areas for testing. During penetration testing, I use a combination of automated tools and manual techniques to identify vulnerabilities. Post-assessment, I provide detailed reports with actionable recommendations and work with stakeholders to implement necessary fixes.

In my previous role, I led the incident response team during a ransomware attack. We quickly contained the breach, isolated affected systems, and restored operations from backups. I also played a key role in updating our disaster recovery plan to include lessons learned from the incident. This experience underscored the importance of having a well-defined incident response plan and regularly testing it to ensure readiness.