Kevin Cupid Makiwa
Carlow,County Carlow
Summary
With over 10 years in the Cyber Security sphere and a keen focus in Digital forensics & Incident Response, I deliver actionable insights and a lot of experience and skill owing to the various complex environments I have worked on. I am skilled in uncovering digital evidence and analysing complex data to support investigations, through advanced forensic techniques and comprehensive analysis.
I have a strong background in incident detection, response, and threat mitigation across cloud and on-premise environments. To that end I have worked with SIEM & EDR solutions such Carbon Black, Splunk, Sentinel One, Alien Vault, McAfee ESM. I have constituted part of team responsible for designing incident response workflows and mitigation of cloud-based threats within AWS, Azure and the Google Cloud.
I am certified in the following; Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) (EC Council); Certified Incident Handler (CIH); PCI-DSS Certified Core PFI (Payment Card Forensic Investigator);EnCe certified (Encase Digital Forensic Examiner) through Guidance Software. Additionally, I hold a Masters in Science (MSc.) Computing, Cyber Security from the Atlantic Technical University (ATU), Ireland.
Overview
26
26
years of professional experience
Work History
Digital Forensic & Incident Response (DFIR) Analyst
Foregenix Cyber Security
Sandton, South Africa; England
11.2017 - Current
- Incident Response, acquisition of digital evidence from various platforms most of which are ecommerce environments.
- Detailed examination of network logs for detection of malicious activity and potential breaches
- Malware identification and analysis
- Liaising with and advising merchants on identified breaches and causes.
- Recommending industry standard containment and remediation strategies
- Extensive research on modern cyber security trends, exploits and mitigation methodologies.
- Conducting PCI-DSS assessments and identifying gaps
- Maintenance of up-to-date knowledge on emerging technologies, improving the effectiveness of forensic investigations
- Presented comprehensive reports on forensic findings to merchants, acquirers and Card brands e.g VISA, Mastercard
Snr. Cyber Security Analyst
PwC, South Africa
Pretoria, South Africa
05.2015 - 10.2017
- Roles & Responsibilities: Conducted incident response and digital forensic analysis for various middle to large scale organisations
- Performed ASV scans both for compliance and security purposes
- Performed mobile application security reviews for both Android and IOS devices
- Performed cyber security awareness training.
Computer Forensic Analyst
CYANRE the Computer Forensic Lab
Centurion, South Africa
06.2012 - 04.2015
- Managed complex digital forensics investigations, ensuring reliable and accurate results.
- Roles & Responsibilities: Forensic imaging of digital media including USB media, laptops, desktops, mobile devices and servers
- Incident response and forensic analysis
- Sandboxing of identified malware for analysis purposes
- Registry and RAM Analysis for malware, network and user activity profiling
- Conducting data recovery on both damaged media such as hard drives and USBs
- Conducted vulnerability assessments to determine client site’s security posture
- Conducted thorough digital forensic investigations, leading to swift resolution of complex cases.
Junior Security Analyst
Extra IT Academy
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
01.2011 - 01.2012
- Roles and responsibilities: Employment of security measures to protect the system infrastructure
- Reviewed clients’ firewall and IDS configurations and advised on appropriate security measures to be employed
- Documented suspected security breaches and investigation of such incidents
- Conducted vulnerability scans to determine system vulnerabilities and make necessary recommendations
- Conducted extensive research on security technologies and trends.
Operations & Systems Administrator
Profam HealthCare
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
01.2009 - 01.2011
- Roles & Responsibilities: User account setup and maintenance in Windows
- Policy setup for users and user groups
- System maintenance including patching, anti-virus deployment and software installation and updates
- Firewall & IDS monitoring
- Escalation of adverse security incidents
- Application and network devices logs review
- Network monitoring.
Assistant System Administrator
PSI Botswana
Francistown, Botswana
01.2006 - 01.2009
- Roles & Responsibilities: User account setup and maintenance in Windows
- Policy setup for users and user groups
- System maintenance including patching, anti-virus deployment and software installation and updates
- Firewall & IDS monitoring
- Escalation of adverse security incidents
- Application and network devices logs review
- Network monitoring.
- Administered user accounts for increased data security.
Regional Officer
PSI
Harare / Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
01.2002 - 01.2006
- Roles & Responsibilities: Installation and configuration of computer systems
- Troubleshooting hardware and software faults
- Maintenance of computer systems and networks
- General first line desktop support.
Junior IT support Technician
Victoria foods (Pvt) Limited
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
01.1999 - 01.2002
- Installation and configuration of computer systems
- Troubleshooting hardware and software faults
- Maintenance of computer systems and networks
- General first line desktop support.
Education
Certification - Certified Incident Handler
EC Council
USA 05/2016 - 06/2016
Certification in Ethical Hacker (CEH) - Pentesting
EC-Council
USA 04/2012 - 05/2012
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) - CISCO Networking
Cisco Networking Academy – NUST University
Zimbabwe 03/2011 - 06/2011
Diploma - Linux System Administration
Extra IT Academy
Zimbabwe 01/2008 - 06/2008
Masters in Science (MSc.) - Computing, Cyber Security
Atlantic Technical University (ATU)
Ireland 09/2020 - 09/2022
EnCase - Digital Forensics
Guidance Software
USA 03/2016 - 05/2016
Cellebrite Mobile Investigations - Mobile Device Forensics
Specialist Digital Investigations
South Africa 11/2013 - 11/2013
Digital Forensics in FTK (Forensic Tool Kit) - FTK
Specialist Digital Investigations
South Africa 04/2013 - 04/2013
Windows Forensic Analysis - Digital Forensics
Specialist Digital Investigations
Johannesburg 11/2013 - 11/2013
N+; S+ - Networking & Security
National University of Science & Technology (NUST)
Zimbabwe 03/2011 - 12/2011
Skills
- Forensic imaging of digital media including USB media, laptops, desktops, mobile devices, and on-premise servers eg remote acquisition of Linux and Windows environments via SSH, FTK Imager, EnCase, Paladin, Helix, Raptor, Volatility
- Incident response and analysis of events from AWS CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, GCP Logging
- Analyzing memory snapshots in cloud environments
- Packet capture and traffic analysis via Wireshark, BurpSuite
- Analyzing memory dumps for malware and suspicious activity through Volatility, YARA rules, Cuckoo Sandbox and various open-source and OSINT
- Incident response and forensic analysis through Sleuthkit, SIFT workstation, Magnet Axiom, Autopsy etc, Carbon Black, SentinelOne, Splunk, Mcafee, AlienVault
- Registry and RAM Analysis for malware activity and user activity profiling
- Investigating file systems, partitions, and disk images; Network traffic analysis packet capture (PCAP) files
- Using Cellebrite, Oxygen and XRY for mobile data acquisition and analysis
Affiliations
- Martial Artist (Taekwondo; Karate)
- Bass guitar player; Listening to music
- Avid reader; Cyber Security Researcher
- Chess
- Going to church
- Rugby; cricket enthusiast
- Athletics, Swimming
- Attending gym
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Digital Forensic & Incident Response (DFIR) Analyst
Foregenix Cyber Security
11.2017 - Current
Snr. Cyber Security Analyst
PwC, South Africa
05.2015 - 10.2017
Computer Forensic Analyst
CYANRE the Computer Forensic Lab
06.2012 - 04.2015
Junior Security Analyst
Extra IT Academy
01.2011 - 01.2012
Operations & Systems Administrator
Profam HealthCare
01.2009 - 01.2011
Assistant System Administrator
PSI Botswana
01.2006 - 01.2009
Regional Officer
PSI
01.2002 - 01.2006
Junior IT support Technician
Victoria foods (Pvt) Limited
01.1999 - 01.2002
Certification - Certified Incident Handler
EC Council
05/2016 - 06/2016
Certification in Ethical Hacker (CEH) - Pentesting
EC-Council
04/2012 - 05/2012
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) - CISCO Networking
Cisco Networking Academy – NUST University
03/2011 - 06/2011
Diploma - Linux System Administration
Extra IT Academy
01/2008 - 06/2008
Masters in Science (MSc.) - Computing, Cyber Security
Atlantic Technical University (ATU)
09/2020 - 09/2022
EnCase - Digital Forensics
Guidance Software
03/2016 - 05/2016
Cellebrite Mobile Investigations - Mobile Device Forensics
Specialist Digital Investigations
11/2013 - 11/2013
Digital Forensics in FTK (Forensic Tool Kit) - FTK
Specialist Digital Investigations
04/2013 - 04/2013
Windows Forensic Analysis - Digital Forensics
Specialist Digital Investigations
11/2013 - 11/2013
N+; S+ - Networking & Security
National University of Science & Technology (NUST)
03/2011 - 12/2011
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