SANS Instructor and ICS Expert Monta Elkins Named Cyber Security Professional of the Year by EnergySec

BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SANS Institute, the global leader in cyber security training, today announced that SANS instructor Monta Elkins has been named the recipient of EnergySec's Cyber Security Professional of the Year Award for 2018. Elkins was recognized by the Industrial Control System (ICS) community and staff at EnergySec for his exceptional contributions to ICS security.

Elkins played a significant role in preparing a proposal with the Department of Energy and outlining a system to provide patch information related to ICS field devices. This project was so successful that it became a commercial product for FoxGuard Solutions. While at FoxGuard Solutions Elkins also received a patent with others for scanning industrial control system equipment. He regularly shares his knowledge while teaching the SANS ICS410: ICS/SCADA Security Essentials course.

"I'm fortunate to get to work, learn, and teach in the most interesting and important cyber security field, Industrial Control System cyber security," said Monta Elkins. "Recognition in your field of endeavor is encouragement to continue what is sometimes a long arduous task.  Thanks EnergySec!"

Elkins is "Hacker-in-Chief" for FoxGuard Solutions, an ICS patch provider. A security researcher and consultant, he was formerly Security Architect for Rackspace and the first ISO for Radford University.  He has been a speaker at DEFCON, BSides, Homeland Security's ICSJWG (Industrial Control Systems Joint Working Group), EnergySec's Security Summit, VASCAN, GE Digital Energy's Annual Software Summit, Educause Security Professionals Conference, Toshiba's Industrial Control Systems Conference, NERC's GridSecCon, ICS CyberSecurity by Security Week, UTC Telecom, and other security conferences. 

Elkins is the author of hands-on, hacker tools and techniques classes and an instructor with SANS. He is also a guest lecturer for Virginia Tech and teaches rapid prototyping and Arduino classes with Let's Code Blacksburg.

For a schedule of upcoming SANS ICS410: ICS/SCADA Security Essentials courses being taught by Elkins, visit:
www.sans.org/u/HRw

About EnergySec
The Energy Sector Security Consortium, Inc. (EnergySec) is a United States 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation formed to support energy sector organizations with the security of their critical technology infrastructures. Through our membership program, we support collaborative initiatives and projects that help enhance the cybersecurity resiliency of these organizations.

About SANS Institute
The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cybersecurity training and certification to professionals at governments and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach over 50 different courses at more than 200 live cybersecurity training events as well as online. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates employee qualifications via 30 hands-on, technical certifications in information security. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's degrees in cyber security. SANS offers a myriad of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system—the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to help the entire information security community. (www.SANS.org)

SOURCE SANS Institute

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