Faculty Directory
Ismael Valenzuela
Ismael Valenzuela
Ismael Valenzuela is coauthor of the Cyber Defense and Blue Team Operations course, SANS SEC530: Defensible Security Architecture and Engineering. Ismael is Vice President Threat Research & Intelligence at BlackBerry Cylance, where he leads threat
research, intelligence, and defensive innovation. Ismael Valenzuela has participated as a security professional in numerous projects across the globe for over 20+ years, which included being the founder of one of the first IT Security consultancies
in Spain.
As a top cybersecurity expert with a strong technical background and deep knowledge of penetration testing, security architectures, intrusion detection, and computer forensics, Ismael has provided security consultancy, advice, and guidance to large government and private organizations, including major EU Institutions and US Government Agencies.
Brian Ventura
Brian Ventura
Brian has experience with Fortune 100 companies, SMB and government which helps right-size solutions and focus for each customer and project.
John Visneski
John Visneski
John Visneski leads information security for MGM Studios. In this capacity, he and his team are responsible for security operations, engineering, GRC and data protection across the business. He also leads content security efforts for the full
development lifecycle and supply chain of film and television production at the studio.
Prior to joining MGM, John was the CISO at Accolade, a publicly traded personalized healthcare company. In this capacity he led post-IPO compliance efforts, as well as leading security integration efforts for two major acquisitions. John also
built the security and privacy programs at The Pokémon Company International. During his time with the organization, he was responsible for the protection of corporate information technology systems, customer facing platforms, applications,
and products. He also developed the company data privacy strategy to meet the demands of emerging global privacy regulations.
John started his career serving over ten years in the United States Air Force as a cyberspace operations officer. His responsibilities while in the Air Force spanned various leadership and management positions, including leading strategic engagements for the Air Force CIO; writing policy and guidance for Air Force requirements and acquisition; directing operations for a worldwide network within the intelligence community; and directing communications and information technology in deployed environments. John served multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, the most recent of which was as the joint communications director for the NATO Rule of Law Field Force Afghanistan. His time in the Air Force culminated in a position as the cybersecurity advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff of the Air Force, located at the Pentagon, Washington D.C. He currently resides in Seattle, WA with his wife Althea and their dog Ben.