[NIX]

Hi, I'm Alan Nix

Profile

I'm a computer security expert, developer, father, husband, and nerd.

Alan Nix

About Me

I've had an interest in computers since I was a child. Growing up, my father taught me how to make my first QBASIC program when I was in elementary school, and I've never looked back. I studied Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, and have gone on to have a successful career in the computer security industry. I love doing web development in my free time, and have built several websites and applications for family and friends. In my professional life, I've built and contributed to projects like the Lacework Python SDK, the Lacework XSOAR Plugin, the Lacework Ansible Role, and many different Terraform modules.

The design for this site was shamelessly copied from Pascal van Gemert - I loved his design so much, that I replicated it with a few tweaks.

Details

Name:
Alan Nix
Age:
years
Location:
Atlanta, GA

Experience

Education

Georgia Institue of Technology

Aug 2003 - May 2007

Bachelor - Computer Engineering Overall course content included both hardware and software design. I also enrolled in multiple networking courses and specialized in network security. Atlanta, GA | Georgia Tech

Career

Wiz

March 2023 - Present

Principal Systems Engineer

Wiz's Principal SE team is responsible for collaborating with internal product and engineering teams to influence product direction and roadmap, and assist in creating new bleeding-edge features and capabilities which extend the Wiz platform.

Atlanta, GA | Wiz

Lacework

May 2020 - March 2023

Field CTO

In August 2021, I joined Lacework's Field CTO team.

Lacework's Field CTO team is responsible for supporting strategic sales opportunities with account teams, closely following industry trends and direction to shape engineering and product priorities, and regularly evangelizing Lacework's solutions and roadmaps at industry conferences, tradeshows, and with industry press and analysts.

Sr. Systems Engineer
Lacework is a completely SaaS-based cloud security platform built to help companies adopt secure cloud architectures and deploy applications quickly and safely. We currently provide our customers with DevOps-friendly security in four key areas: cloud configuration assessments, cloud audit log analysis, cloud workload protection, and vulnerability management. Atlanta, GA | Lacework

Cisco (formerly Lancope)

January 2015 - May 2020

Consulting Systems Engineer - Security
As of December 2015, Lancope has been acquired by Cisco Systems.

 As a Consulting Systems Engineer for Cisco, I was responsible for supporting the entire Cisco security product portfolio for our Atlanta area customers. Products that I supported included Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW), Stealtwatch, Identity Services Engine, OpenDNS (Umbrella), Advanced Malware Protection (AMP), and Email/Web Filtering. I guided customers and prospects through the evaluation process, developing success criteria, and demonstrating the value of our products. I also assisted customers with design and deployment of solutions to meet their needs and use cases. Through my career in information security, I've also built and implemented integrations with products from Palo Alto Networks, Checkpoint, Juniper, Gigamon, IXIA, HP, IBM, LogRhythm, Splunk, and McAfee. Atlanta, GA | Cisco Security

McAfee / Intel Security (now Trellix)

May 2014 - December 2014

Systems Engineer
As a Systems Engineer for the Enterprise segment at Intel Security, formerly McAfee, I was assigned to work with our largest customers in the Southeast territory. Product expertise included Next Generation Firewall, Network and Host Intrusion Prevention, Email Filtering, Web Filtering, Host and Network Data Loss Prevention, Advanced Malware Detection, SIEM, Anti-virus and Anti-malware, Application Control, and Change Control. Atlanta, GA | Trellix

NetMotion Software

May 2011 - May 2014

Systems Engineer
As a Systems Engineer for NetMotion, my responsibilities included pre-sales design and implementation of Mobile VPN and Enterprise Mobility Management products for the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic territories. I gained extensive experience with public-key cryptography, single sign-on, PKI, and multi-factor authentication protocols, as well as solutions from various mobile device management vendors. Atlanta, GA | NetMotion Software

IBM Security

May 2007 - May 2011

Software Advanced Technology Engineer
As an Advanced Technology Engineer for IBM ISS, I was tasked with being a subject matter expert (SME) for more than a dozen different product lines within the company’s security portfolio. These products included Firewall, Host and Network Intrusion Prevention, Vulnerability Assessment, Anomaly Detection, Data Loss Prevention, Content Filtering (Web/Email), and Anti-malware/Anti-virus solutions. Atlanta, GA | IBM Security

Interests

I love golfing, skiing, and grilling.

Golf

Over the past couple of years, I've become a huge golf fan - which really just means that I'm getting old... When I was a kid I played baseball for about ten years, so it's taken me a few years to train baseball out of my golf swing, but I've finally started to become consistent and have recently been shooting in the 80s. Since I've been taking my golf game more seriously, I've become a fan of TaylorMade clubs - you can see what I carry in my bag below. Currently, my favorite professional golfers are Jason Day and Rickie Fowler.

What's In The Bag?

TaylorMade R15 Driver

TaylorMade RocketBallz Fairway Wood (3W)

TaylorMade RocketBallz Hybrids (3-4)

TaylorMade RocketBallz Irons (5-A)

TaylorMade ATV Wedge (56 Degree)

TaylorMade Daddy Long Legs 2.0

Skiing

When I was in High School my family took a vacation to go skiing in West Virginia, and since then I've been hooked. I was fortunate enough to get sent to Switzerland for work in February of 2009, and was able to go skiing at Engelberg on Mt. Titlus. Prior to that trip, I had thought I was a pretty good skier, but my experience in the Swiss Alps was very humbling. Since then, I've been able to enjoy Keystone, Breckenridge, Park City, Deer Valley, and Vail. My wife bought me a GoPro for Christmas prior to my last trip to Keystone - here's a little video that I put together using footage I gathered.

What's On My Feet?

Rossignol Experience 84

Grilling

I've always loved grilling, but when my wife hooked me up with a Big Green Egg it took things to another level - you can smoke or roast meat with the grill, and I've tried Boston Butts, Ribs, Steaks, Whole Chicken, but my favorite has been Chicken Wings. I put a rub on the wings (recipe below) and smoke them for about an hour with a dome temp at about 300 degrees, then toss them onto my Weber gas grill for about 5 minutes to crisp up the skin.

I've also been going through recipes from a cookbook that my wife got me by Eric Mitchell called Smoke It Like A Pro - so far everything that I've tried has turned out great!

What's In The Rub?

  • 2 teaspoons - Kosher Salt
  • 2 teaspoons - Paprika
  • 1 teaspoon - Black Pepper (freshly ground)
  • 1 teaspoon - Garlic Powder
  • 1 teaspoon - Onion Powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon - Cayenne Pepper
Big Green Egg

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