Our Team

Alex is an Information Systems Security Graduate and knew he would end up in a penetration testing or Red Team role ever since the concepts were introduced to him. He has experience with a variety of assessments and adversary scenarios. When he isn’t in someone else’s network, he enjoys learning and preparing for the next engagement by researching the latest and greatest techniques and loves nothing more than a practical attack that he can put to good use. Outside of security, he enjoys traveling and restoring old cars.

Nick is an enthusiastic sales professional with over 15 years of customer service experience. Nick came to Lares after spending the past 6 years facilitating the development and implementation of standard sales and customer service practices for one of the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturers, where he was named the #1 customer experience specialist in North America for multiple years. Nick specializes in administrative technology and is responsible for educating other employees on using progressive systems and applications, including mass communication software and organizational apps.

Nick is a powerful force in the workplace and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to exceed customer expectations and provide excellent service. He is passionate about developing and maintaining strong relationships centered on trust with each client.
Outside of work, Nick enjoys traveling with his wife, hanging out with family and friends, and being a beach bum.

Tim started his IT career in desktop support in the late 90s and worked his way into systems and network administration. In the early 2000s, he rode the wave of internet worms into security, primarily performing incident response and forensics. His degrees are in electronics/chemistry and an MS in digital forensics. Defense paid the bills but he enjoyed offensive more, so he joined Lares® in 2016. He’s been involved with DEFCON since 2002 and competed in the main CTF, organized the wireless contests, and led teams for the conference. In his free time, Tim enjoys taking things apart to figure out how they work and fix them, whether it’s electronics, machines, or cars.

For the past 20 yrs, Rick has been involved in Web Application security penetration testing and mentoring colleagues. His extensive experience in general network design, implementation, and maintenance, along with his testing within the financial and healthcare sectors has proved to be valuable to our clients.

In his free time, Rick enjoys taking his kids to NHL hockey games.

Brendan got his beginning in desktop support before making the move over to security, first as defense before switching sides for offensive security. His current focus is malware development and payload delivery, as well as scouring enterprise networks for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and loot. Brendan has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, as well as CISSP, OSCP, and OSCE certifications. He has presented at DefCon416, BsidesTO, and has participated in C3X. In his spare time, Brendan enjoys practicing a variety of martial arts, reading comic books, playing video games, and gardening

Lee started in IT and security world in 2010 in Toronto, Canada. When Lee isn’t tip-toeing through enterprise’s Active Directory environments he’s running the DerbyCon Toronto Community Chapter, the Canadian Collegiate Cyber Exercise (C3X), and as an instructor teaching Canadian offensive and defensive professionals ways to up their game. Lee has spoken at multiple events and conferences such as BSides and SecTor. In his spare time, Lee is an executive chef at a restaurant in his mind.

Will has a passion for information security. His career started from pulling data cable to working in network defense and IT management. It is through these experiences, Will strives for bringing a real-world perspective to his offensive security engagements. Will holds a plethora of certifications.

During his free time, he enjoys participating in capture the flag competitions and attending information security conferences. Away from the keyboard, Will spends his time with his family and nerding over brewing coffee.

Daralyn joined Lares in August of 2020 after working in Oil & Gas since 2004. Her work experience includes laboratory R&D, engineering design & capital equipment project management for large construction projects. While she is new to the Information Security industry, she has been adjacent to the hacker community since the late 90s and has been a DEF CON Goon off and on since DC14. She has worn many hats and enjoys being a client-facing resource and a general force multiplier.

Chris has been with Lares® since 2016 where his work centers on application security, with occasional work on process control and radio security. Outside of work his hobbies include building combat robots, metalworking, and reading.

Thomas delicately slices open mobile apps like a fine cheese. When he’s not experimenting with cloud orchestration and web frameworks, he’s running marathons and riding the wakeboard.

Lomar has garnered experience in threat modeling, social engineering, malware analysis, reverse engineering, wireless infrastructure exploitation, network, web, and mobile application penetration testing, and vulnerability assessment. He is a former Software Engineer with experience in languages such as Python, Java, C#, PHP, JavaScript, frameworks such as Git, Node, Angular, React, Selenium, and database technologies such as Firebase, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and MongoDB. Lomar is passionate about the work he is doing and enjoys giving clients peace of mind through his expertise.

Eric has been doing consultative selling and account management for 22 years, with 12 of those years in the information
technology sector. He is experienced in data center managed services, internet service, managed security services, and IT security audit services and creating sound business continuity and resilience strategies for mid-market and small businesses.

He is also experienced in compliance frameworks, network testing, policy and procedure oversight, pillars of security program development, and security risk management. Eric’s Early background includes account management, inside sales support, help desk support, scheduling/service coordination, analyst and project management, product/services management, and quality assurance.

Eric holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Environmental Management Systems from Louisiana State University.

Josh is a software engineer turned hacker who enjoys spending time dissecting web applications and making them bend to his will. He holds multiple certificates from Offensive Security and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from UC Berkeley. In his free time, he can be found playing video games, riding skateboards, or hanging out at the beach with his family.

Andy is a hacker at heart, a penetration tester, and consultant who has always been interested in taking things apart and sometimes even putting them together again (in-fact he spent a good few years in computer repair and data recovery). With a passion for offensive security, he specializes in red teaming and simulated attacks. He also is striving to further defensive technologies to better assist clients with their technological and strategic issues. Andy has a bachelor’s degree in Digital Security, Forensics, and Ethical hacking as well as CRTO, OSCP, and Crest Certified Tester Infrastructure (CCT Inf) certifications. He also helps out at DEF CON as a SOC Goon too each year (since DC25) assisting the SOC with operations and people flow.

Ben got his start in computer repair before working his way into IT Support and Network Administration. He spent roughly eight years working in the retail, energy, and healthcare sectors before discovering the world of offensive security. Ben jumped in with both feet aggressively pursuing and achieving the OSCP and never looked back.

Ben has 6 years of collective penetration testing experience with a focus on external and internal engagements. His current interests have been learning more about testing cloud infrastructure. In his free time, Ben enjoys spending time with his family, hitting the gym, and pursuing his plethora of geeky hobbies such as tabletop gaming, miniature painting, etc.

Paul began his career in 2005 as a Windows system administrator in the public sector. then moved to the private sector a short time later. Various security issues grew into real problems over the decade and led him to self-learning a path to information security with a view to attacking infrastructure and web applications and gaining OSCP and OSWP. For the last 5 years, Paul has focussed on a wide range of security disciplines but more notably web and mobile application security. In his spare time, he enjoys playing golf and winning competitions.

Amanda has been a senior executive at oil and gas companies for the last 18 years before transitioning into cybersecurity. She started her career in Calgary, Canada, and has worked throughout North America, the Middle East, and North Africa. During her career, she has been a founding member of numerous oil and gas companies specializing in finance and operations. She is a great paper pusher, mother of two fur babies, and a crazy Canadian who has traveled and worked around the world.

Connor is a Computer Engineering Technology graduate and has worked in Information Technology since the mid-2000s. He started his information security career in 2010 and instantly had a taste for the offensive side of security. While not to be confused with an efficient coder, Connor enjoys writing payloads and trying to find offensive applications to everyday information technology solutions. When Connor isn’t living in memory (hopefully), he is probably entertaining his two Samoyed pups who are constantly reminding him that they are the number one priority and not hacking.

Mark Arnold has a 15+ cybersecurity career, serving 8 of those years in leadership roles. As a transformational leader, Mark has built security teams and programs, authored maturity model blueprints to optimize risk management processes, and implemented security domain practices at large enterprises and service providers. Mark’s areas of interest include cloud security, threat intelligence, and vulnerability research, nation-state attack methods and related activities (e.g. information operations and disinformation campaigns) and their collective impact on nations and society. Mark recently completed an executive education cohort on the intersection of cybersecurity and technology at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Mark also commits time to the security community as an OWASP chapter and InfoSecWorld board member, among others. He holds industry certifications and has satisfied his intellectual curiosity with earned degrees from Stanford (BSEE), Princeton Seminary (Mdiv), and Harvard University (AM, Ph.D.). He is a former competitive gymnast and an ordained minister but, most importantly, cherishes his role as a husband and dad who thrives on hugs.

Jessica Archer has 22 years of combined experience working in telecommunications and technology, including 18 years working within the information security industry. Jessica helped create the National Collegiate Cyber Defense competition, holds several advisory and board positions including BSides Las Vegas Conference and ISC2 NAAC, and is an avid volunteer both inside and outside the information security community. In her spare time, Jessica enjoys hanging out with her family, outdoor adventures, and tabletop or video games.

Luke considers himself a generalist hacker and loves to get involved with anything related to breaking security controls. Over the years, he has experienced a wide range of scenarios that have led to tearing apart different technologies and finding their flaws. If he had to pick one area of particular interest, it would be AppSec. Luke has a bachelor’s degree in Ethical Hacking, as well as certifications from the likes of CREST, AWS, and Offensive Security. He also likes to give time to the infosec community and provides free educational content on YouTube. Outside of security, he likes to partake in running events and drink a lot of coffee.

Felipe’s core skills involve web application, API, infrastructure, compiled application, and hardware/IoT penetration testing, with a good understanding of cryptography, electronics, and “the binary world”. He has a BSc in Computer Science, and an MSc in Cyber Security and Forensics, as well as OSCP and OSCE, among others. He enjoys finding creative and sometimes overly engineered solutions to challenging problems.

Albert joined the Lares team in February 2021 after spending the first 6 years of his career in analyst roles with a focus on accounting, business process, and software implementation. His work experience includes multiple industries – including supply chain and logistics, real estate development and construction, and SaaS. In each role, there was always a gravitational pull that connected Albert to optimizing systems and processes. In his free time, he can be found in the outdoors or with loved ones.

Teresa joined Lares in February 2018, as a certified project manager and brings with her more than 12 years’ experience in the IT/IS and healthcare industries.

She excels in establishing excellent working relationships with clients, employees, vendors, and contractors. Teresa is highly adaptable and focused on results, with a proven record of achieving successful projects that meet budget, schedule, and scope.

A big believer in giving back to the community, she volunteers for Whiz Kids Tutoring, Denver Rescue Mission, and Cornerstone Church.

Chris has worked in a range of industries, most notably Critical National Infrastructure and leading-edge design & manufacturing. This has given Chris a varied array of knowledge, from designing secure Industrial Control System networks, to penetration testing robot vacuum cleaners.

He has been dedicated to a wide range of penetration testing for the last 8 years, specializing in social engineering and industrial control systems. His most notable “break-ins” have been airports, casinos, and critical national infrastructure (CNI).

Samuel’s background is in systems and network administration though he’s always focused on security. Due to a wide range of security consulting roles, Samuel has experience working with stakeholders in a variety of industries. His primary focus is on offensive security and penetration testing. Samuel has experience conducting penetration tests against internal and external networks and services, as well as web and mobile applications. Samuel has a MS degree in information assurance and computer security. In his free time, Samuel enjoys hanging out with his family.

Darryl has over 20 years of experience in the IT security sector, having been responsible for developing, managing, and assessing information security programs for all levels of enterprise and government-level organizations.

He has spoken at multiple conferences such as Security BSides St.John’s and GoSec. He also sits on the Board of Directors for AtlSecCon and is the former lead organizer for Security BSides Cape Breton.

Ian is an Information Systems Security graduate with an advantageous enthusiasm for security. He holds multiple certificates with Offensive Security and is currently working towards others. His professional career has spanned different industries, but his focus has always been fixated on security and breaking things. Ian is known to enjoy breaking both physical and digital security implementations, working previously as a metal fabricator and CNC programmer. This has created a passion for cracking locks and popping shells. These days, if he does not have his hood up and a ski mask on sitting in front of a terminal, you will find him riding his motorcycles or playing with his wife and dog.