SARASOTA, Fla. (Dec. 10, 2015) Doug Logan, CEO and Principle Consultant for Sarasota-based Cyber Ninjas, has been named a winner of the prestigious SANS 2015 Difference Makers Award, to be presented during the organization’s Cyber Defense Initiative Dec. 15 in Washington, D.C.

“I am grateful and humbled by this award,” Logan said. “It reflects the level of innovation at Cyber Ninjas, plus our commitment to training the next generation of cyber security experts on a national level.”

The SANS 2015 Difference Makers Award recognizes and celebrates those individuals whose innovation, skill and effort have driven real advances in information security. “While there is no shortage of publicity around failures in security, there are thousands of security practitioners out there who are quietly succeeding and making breakthroughs in advancing security,” the organization said, announcing the award.

Logan was honored for his continued work with the non-profit, U.S. Cyber Challenge, whose mission is to identify, attract, recruit and place the next generation of cyber security professionals to fill the gap within the cyber security workforce. “The USCC is doing great things”, Logan said, “We’re grateful to be able to be a part of it at Cyber Ninjas.”

This past year, Logan put more than 300 hours into working with a few other individuals in the USCC to create a competitive game that teaches and tests cyber security related concepts. It’s referred to as a CTF, or “Capture The Flag,” because competitors must solve challenges to uncover the answers to questions (the flags), boosting a team’s score. Many of the flags they must first capture involve taking advantage of a security vulnerability in order to compromise a system, and all of the challenges were designed to teach security concepts.

“Every year there are a number of CTF events put on at security conferences across the country”, Logan said, “What was different about our CTF is that it was designed to teach real world security concepts and techniques. CTF’s in general have historically been aimed at testing capabilities rather than teaching, and many of them are simply a collection of eclectic puzzles with little real-world application. We chose to break this mold with our CTF”.

Logan said he operates Cyber Ninjas^® under some specific goals.

“I want to bring new people into the security field to start solving the real problems,” he said. “And I want to educate those I work with to build knowledge and capabilities within the organizations.”

He said that too many security companies do not train but create a system so their clients can’t do anything on their own, and hence they “need” the consultant. “My attitude is if we solve complex challenges and teach others to do the same, there will always be more complex challenges to solve,” he said. He believes that helping out with the USCC is a great, tangible way, to accomplish these goals, while giving back to the community to create a more secure tomorrow.

“At Cyber Ninjas, it is our business to make the world more secure,” Logan said. “As a Christian company, we also believe we have a responsibility to serve, as Christ served. Helping the USCC is a great way to be a blessing to others, while helping combat evil hackers.”

Logan, who moved Cyber Ninjas^® to Sarasota from Indiana in early 2014, has more than 15 years of experience across a wide area of IT, and a passion for teaching. He both understands the intricacies of the technology, people, and processes and how to communicate the challenges and solutions in a way that management can understand and use.

SANS is the cyber security industry leader and the largest source forinformation security trainingin the world.The organization offers computer security courses developed by industry leaders in cyber security training, network security, forensics, audit, security leadership, and application security.

For more information on Cyber Ninjas, visit cyberninjas.github.io.

SARASOTA, Fla. (Sept. 23, 2015) “” We’ve all read the stories of major corporate data breaches such as the Office of Personnel Management, Anthem Insurance, Target, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Harvard University, Army National Guard and more. But less well-known is that 60 percent of small businesses go out of business within one year of a cyber breach, and even large businesses can be crippled.

In response to this growing threat, Doug Logan, CEO and Principle Consultant for Sarasota-based Cyber Ninjas, will give a presentation on “Cyber Security” Securing Your Company’s Future” at the Suncoast Technology Forum’s Techbyte Luncheon, Oct. 20 at the Polo Grill and Bar, 10670 Boardwalk Loop, Lakewood Ranch.

“With data breeches, ransomware and cyber espionage on the rise, the success of a company now is directly linked to its cyber strategy,” Logan said. “Failure to account for the growing risks can mean major financials losses and company failure.”

Among Cyber Ninjas’ guarded list of clients is the federal government in Washington, D.C. Founder Doug Logan is an acknowledged expert in operating on the leading edge of cyber strategy and is known nationally for his teaching on the subject.

During the luncheon presentation, Logan will review the current cyber security threat landscape,  modern cyber adversaries, why they may be interested in your organization, common ways and terminology associated with how they might get in, and what you can do in your organization to mitigate these risks, regardless of your size.

“Every company needs to have a strong presence on the Internet and most conduct business over it,” Logan said. “This opens a portal to criminals and hackers. Everyone is a target.”

Doug Logan has more than 15 years of experience across a wide area of IT, and a passion for teaching. He both understands the intricacies of the technology, people, and processes and how to communicate the challenges and solutions in a way that management can understand and implement.

For more information or to register for the event, please click here.

SARASOTA – Cyber-security consulting and software firm Cyber Ninjas^® is moving from Bloomington, Indiana to Sarasota in May with plans to add 8-10 employees after two years.

“Sarasota is a great place to live, which will help us attract and retain top employees,” said Doug Logan, CEO and Principal Consultant for Cyber Ninjas. “Its proximity to both the Sarasota and Tampa airports will also allow our consultants to spend less time traveling, and more time in paradise.”

Cyber Ninjas^® helps companies build cyber security throughout their organizations with education, tools, policy and process development. In addition, Cyber Ninjas^® offers ethical hacking where they simulate what an attacker would do to an application in order to discover security issues before they become a problem. Most of the company’s work involves building capabilities within an organization to allow them to create secure software.

“Nothing teaches security better than a real, live, example of a security vulnerability within an application that the individual is intimately knowledgeable about,” Logan says.

Cyber Ninjas^® offers live classes and one-on-one cyber mentoring to teach the skills necessary to test digital, online security and will be rolling out several computer-based classes for a more self-paced study.

Doug Logan has extensive experience in the full-range of cyber security issues. He opened the Bloomington office of Cigital, the world’s largest software security firm, and in one year grew from 3 people to more than 20, and from 10 assessments a month to more than 250.

Logan also is deeply involved with the U.S. Cyber Challenge (USCC), a program of the Council on CyberSecurity, designed to locate and train cyber security talent to significantly reduce the shortage in our country’s cyber security workforce. Originally identified by the program after he was a high scorer on a USCC-sponsored competition, Logan has continued his commitment to the workforce development cause by volunteering as an instructor for the USCC Cyber Camps for the last two years.

The Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County has been assisting Cyber Ninjas^® with their decision to relocate.

“Certainly we are all very aware of how important it is to make our use of technology safer and more secure,” Mark Huey, CEO and President of the EDC. “Cyber Ninjas^® will be a valuable addition to the growing hi-tech industry in the County.”

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