About the Authors

Brian Sak, CCIE #14441 (Security), is a 20-year information security veteran who currently works as a technical solutions architect for Cisco Systems. At Cisco Systems, he is engaged in solution development, and he consults with Cisco partners to help them build and improve their processes and services in the areas of big data analytics and digitization. Prior to joining Cisco Systems, Brian performed security consulting, penetration testing, and security assessment services for large financial institutions, US government agencies, and enterprises in the Fortune 500. In addition to numerous security and industry certifications, he has a bachelor's of science degree in information technology, with an emphasis on information security, and a master's of science degree in information security and assurance. He is also a contributor to The Center for Internet Security and other publications by Packt and Cisco Press.

I would like to thank my amazing wife, Cindy, and children, Caden and Maya, for all the love and support that enabled me to take the time to make this book a reality. Thank you for allowing me to pursue yet another "special project" that eats into our already limited family time. I would also like to thank the fine folks at Packt Publishing for taking the chance and allowing your technical reviewer to step up and author the remaining content of this book. I know it was a risk to ask your pit crew, "Is there anyone out there who wants to go fast?" and for that, I am extremely grateful.

Jilumudi Raghu Ram is a security analyst with over 5 years of experience in the information security domain, with a strong knowledge of incident response, digital forensics, network security, infrastructure penetration testing, and Secure configuration audits. He has conducted security audits for more than 70 networks, both internal and external, re-audits, secure configuration reviews, and server audits (Linux and Windows) for various organizations. One of his major clients has been the Government of India, where his team was responsible for conducting penetration testing assignments for various government bodies, as well as preparing vulnerability assessment and penetration testing reports, and supporting the clients to fix those vulnerabilities.

Raghu Ram's areas of expertise include incident response, digital forensics, threat research, penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, dynamic malware analysis, intrusion detection systems, and security operations monitoring.

Raghu Ram has written various articles related to information security in the Hindu Group magazine Frontline. He also maintains his own website dedicated to Penetration Testing - www.wirelesspentest.com

I am greatly indebted to my mother, Bhuvaneswari, and brother, Yuva Kishore Reddy, for bringing me up and giving me the freedom to follow my passions. I would also like to thank UshaSree and my uncles Karunananda Reddy, Ganapathi Reddy, and Pratap Kumar Reddy for helping me to continue my studies.