Current Handlers
Volunteer incident handlers donate their valuable time to analyze detects and anomalies, and post a daily
diary of their analysis and thoughts on the Storm Center website. Below you will find Handler details
including personal pages, additional scripts or papers, or whatever the respective handler is interested in
offering. All content is owned by the respective handler.
Interested in becoming a handler? A roadmap is available to learn how.
John Bambenek
Guy Bruneau
Jim Clausing
Brad Duncan
Scott Fendley
Jan Kopriva
Jesse La Grew
Renato Marinho
Russ McRee
Xavier Mertens
Manuel Humberto Santander Pelaez
Didier Stevens
Yee Ching Tok
Johannes Ullrich
Rob VandenBrink
Rick Wanner
Tom Webb
Bojan Zdrnja
John Bambenek

John Bambenek is President of Bambenek Labs, a threat intelligence and digital investigations firm. He has spent 20 years in the industry helping research emerging threats and leading large-scale intelligence sharing communities to engage in targeted disruption of criminal activities online. He has developed a variety of techniques to conduct digital surveillance that is used to monitor domain generation algorithms and malware configurations which are used by thousands of organizations world-wide. In addition, he tracks financial transactions of various neonazi and supremacist individuals and organizations. He has spoken at conferences around the world, has published two books in addition to several book chapters and articles, and he once appears on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Twitter: | @bambenek |
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Recent Diaries:
- Writing Yara Rules for Fun and Profit: Notes from the FireEye Breach Countermeasures
- Hunting for SigRed Exploitation
- VMWare Security Advisory on DoS Vulnerability in ESXi
- MSFT July 2019 Patch Tuesday
- Solving the WHOIS and Privacy Problem: A Draft of Implementing WHOIS in DNS
Guy Bruneau

Guy has a B.A. (IT) from University of Quebec and holds the prestigious GIAC Security Expert (GSE) certification as well as the GIAC GSEC(G), GCIA(G), GCIH(G), GCUX(G), GCFA, GPEN certifications.
Twitter: | @guybruneau |
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Click to View Handler Created Tools
Recent Diaries:
- DShield Sensor JSON Log to Elasticsearch
- DShield Sensor JSON Log Analysis
- DShield Sensor Setup in Azure
- Exchange OWASSRF Exploited for Remote Code Execution
- Infostealer Malware with Double Extension
Jim Clausing

Twitter: | @jclausing |
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Mastodon: | @clausing@infosec.exchange |
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Recent Diaries:
- Check out a couple of my older posts
- Wireshark 4.0.2 and 3.6.10 released
- Is this traffic bAD?
- Update: mac-robber.py
- Strange goings on with port 37
Upcoming Courses:
SANS Secure Japan 2023 - Live Online, Online | Japan Standard Time
February 27, 2023 - March 04, 2023
Reverse-Engineering Malware: Malware Analysis Tools and Techniques
SANS Baltimore Spring 2023, Baltimore
March 13, 2023 - March 18, 2023
Reverse-Engineering Malware: Malware Analysis Tools and Techniques
Brad Duncan

Twitter: | @malware_traffic |
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Recent Diaries:
- Malicious Google Ad --> Fake Notepad++ Page --> Aurora Stealer malware
- More Brazil malspam pushing Astaroth (Guildma) in January 2023
- Google ad traffic leads to stealer packages based on free software
- Google ads lead to fake software pages pushing IcedID (Bokbot)
- obama224 distribution Qakbot tries .vhd (virtual hard disk) images
Scott Fendley

Twitter: | @itsecuritygeek |
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Recent Diaries:
- Warranty Repairs and Non-Removable Storage Risks
- Apple May 2021 Security Updates
- Critical Vuln in vCenter vmdir (CVE-2020-3952)
- Oracle Critical Patch Update Release
- Gate to Fiesta exploit kit on 94.242.216.69
Jan Kopriva

Twitter: | @jk0pr |
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Mastodon: | @jkopriva@infosec.exchange |
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Recent Diaries:
- SPF and DMARC use on 100k most popular domains
- Passive detection of internet-connected systems affected by vulnerabilities from the CISA KEV catalog
- SPF and DMARC use on GOV domains in different ccTLDs
- TLP 2.0 is here
- EternalBlue 5 years after WannaCry and NotPetya
Jesse La Grew

Jesse La Grew has been an IT professional within higher education for over 20 years. He holds a variety of GIAC certifications including the GDSA, GCCC, GCFA, GCFE, GCIA, GPYC, GSOC, GCIH, GSEC, GISF, GCTI and GSTRT and is also a CISSP. He recently received his Bachelor's Degree at SANS Technology Institute and is progressing through his Master's program at the same institution. Jesse's background in IT started in a desktop support role. This transitioned into a cyber security focus when becoming involved in building and supporting environments meeting PCI and FISMA compliance standards. He currently works a Security Architect at Madison College.
Twitter: | @stealthcrane |
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Mastodon: | @stealthcrane@infosec.exchange |
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Recent Diaries:
- Rotating Packet Captures with pfSense
- DShield Honeypot Setup with pfSense
- Opening the Door for a Knock: Creating a Custom DShield Listener
- Extracting 'HTTP CONNECT' Requests with Python
Renato Marinho

Renato Marinho is Chief Research Officer at Morphus Labs. His journey in the area began in 2001, when he created Nettion, one of the first firewalls to use the contemporary UTM (Unified Threat Management) concept. Experienced in cyber security, Marinho was internationally recognized in 2016 by his research that unveiled Mamba, the first full disk encryption ransomware. At Morphus Labs, he oversees research, innovation and development of new products. Master and PhD candidate in Applied Informatics, he is also professor at University of Fortaleza teaching Computer Forensics in the post-graduate course. He is also a speaker having presented at Ignite Cybersecurity Conference, BSides Delaware, BSides Vienna, WSKS Portugal and Brazilian CSIRTs Forum.
Twitter: | @renato_marinho |
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Mastodon: | @renatomarinho@infosec.exchange |
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Recent Diaries:
- Microsoft January 2023 Patch Tuesday
- Microsoft December 2022 Patch Tuesday
- Log4Shell campaigns are using Nashorn to get reverse shell on victim's machines
- Microsoft November 2022 Patch Tuesday
- Microsoft September 2022 Patch Tuesday
Russ McRee

Twitter: | @holisticinfosec |
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Click to View Handler Created Tools
Recent Diaries:
- Prowler v3: AWS & Azure security assessments
- Chainsaw: Hunt, search, and extract event log records
- EPSScall: An Exploit Prediction Scoring System App
- Log4j 2 Security Vulnerabilities Update Guide
- LotL Classifier tests for shells, exfil, and miners
Xavier Mertens

Xavier Mertens is a freelance security consultant based in Belgium. Xavier's own company (https://xameco.be) offers services like incident handling, forensic, SOC activities, and pentesting. He holds GCIA, GFCE, GCFA, GXPN, GREM, GDAT, GNFA, GCTI, GPYC SANS certifications but also CISSP, and CISA. Xavier is a SANS Certified Instructor (FOR610 - Malware Analysis and Reverse Engineering). His blog about security is https://blog.rootshell.be and he is co-organizer of the BruCON security conference (http://www.brucon.org).
Twitter: | @xme |
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Mastodon: | @xme@infosec.exchange |
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Recent Diaries:
- A First Malicious OneNote Document
- Who's Resolving This Domain?
- AutoIT Remains Popular in the Malware Landscape
- NetworkMiner 2.8 Released
- Linux File System Monitoring & Actions
Upcoming Courses:
SANS Munich February 2023, Online | Central European Time
February 13, 2023 - February 18, 2023
Reverse-Engineering Malware: Malware Analysis Tools and Techniques
SANS Paris March 2023, Paris
March 13, 2023 - March 18, 2023
Reverse-Engineering Malware: Malware Analysis Tools and Techniques
Manuel Humberto Santander Pelaez

Mr. Santander Pelaez currently serves as the Chief Information Security Officer of Puntos Colombia S.A.S. . in Medellin,Colombia. His areas of interest are Intrusion Detection, Computer Forensics, Incident Response, SCADA Security, Network Design and cyberwarfare.
Twitter: | @manuelsantander |
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Recent Diaries:
- More packet fu with zeek
- Creating patched binaries for pentesting purposes
- Performing deception to OS Fingerprint (Part 1: nmap)
- SNMP service: still opened to the public and still queried by attackers
- Enumerating office365 users
Didier Stevens

Didier Stevens (Microsoft MVP Consumer Security) holds many certifications from SANS, Microsoft, Cisco, ... He is a Senior Analyst (NVISO https://www.nviso.be). Didier started his own company in 2012 to provide IT security training services (http://DidierStevensLabs.com). You can find his open source security tools on his IT security related blog at https://blog.DidierStevens.com.
Twitter: | @DidierStevens |
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Recent Diaries:
- Detecting (Malicious) OneNote Files
- Wireshark 4.0.3 Released
- YARA v4.3.0-rc1 --skip-larger
- YARA v4.3.0-rc1 --print-xor-key
- CyberChef & Entropy
Yee Ching Tok

Yee Ching is currently a Ph.D. student at ASSET (Automated Systems SEcuriTy) Research Group in the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) under the Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD) Pillar. He was a recipient of the SG: Digital (SG:D) Postgraduate Scholarship program from Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), and won the Cybersecurity Awards in 2019 under the Professional category for his contributions to the Singapore information security industry. Yee Ching is a SANS Lethal Forensicator and also serves as a Committee Member in the Association of Information Security Professionals (AiSP). For more information, please visit https://poppopretn.com/aboutme/.
Twitter: | @poppopretn |
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Mastodon: | @poppopretn@infosec.exchange |
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Recent Diaries:
- An Analysis of a Discerning Phishing Website
- ctx Python Library Updated with "Extra" Features
- Phishing Direct Messages via Discord
- Revisiting BrakTooth: Two Months Later
- Multiple Apple Patches for October 2021
Johannes Ullrich

Dr. Johannes Ullrich is the Dean of Research and a faculty member of the SANS Technology Institute. In November of 2000, Johannes started the DShield.org project, which he later integrated into the Internet Storm Center. His work with the Internet Storm Center has been widely recognized. In 2004, Network World named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the networking industry. Secure Computing Magazine named him in 2005 one of the Top 5 influential IT security thinkers. His research interests include IPv6, Network Traffic Analysis and Secure Software Development. Johannes is regularly invited to speak at conferences and has been interviewed by major publications, radio as well as TV stations. He is a member of the SANS Technology Institute's Faculty and Administration as well as Curriculum and Long Range Planning Committee. As chief research officer for the SANS Institute, Johannes is currently responsible for the GIAC Gold program. Prior to working for SANS, Johannes worked as a lead support engineer for a Web development company and as a research physicist. Johannes holds a PhD in Physics from SUNY Albany and is located in Jacksonville, Florida. More Details: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johannesullrich
Twitter: | @johullrich |
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Mastodon: | @jullrich@infosec.exchange |
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Recent Diaries:
- Decoding DNS over HTTP(s) Requests
- Apple Updates (almost) Everything: Patch Overview
- PSA: Why you must run an ad blocker when using Google
- Elon Musk Themed Crypto Scams Flooding YouTube Today
- New year, old tricks: Hunting for CircleCI configuration files
Upcoming Courses:
SANS Cloud Defender Dallas 2023 - Live Online, Online | US Central
February 20, 2023 - February 25, 2023
Application Security: Securing Web Apps, APIs, and Microservices
Rob VandenBrink

Twitter: | @rvandenbrink |
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Click to View Handler Created Tools
Recent Diaries:
- Finding that one GPO Setting in a Pool of Hundreds of GPOs
- Update to RTRBK - Diff and File Dates in PowerShell
- Playing with Powershell and JSON (and Amazon and Firewalls)
- Port Scanning in Powershell Redux: Speeding Up the Results (challenge accepted!)
- Finding Gaps in Syslog - How to find when nothing happened
Rick Wanner

Twitter: | @namedeplume |
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Mastodon: | @namedeplume@infosec.exchange |
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Recent Diaries:
- New Windows Print Spooler Vulnerability - CVE-2021-34481
- Mitre CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
- Quick and dirty Python: nmap
- Quick and dirty Python: masscan
- Important Apple Updates
Tom Webb

Twitter: | @twsecblog |
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Mastodon: | @tom_webb@infosec.exchange |
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Recent Diaries:
- Live Linux IR with UAC
- Supersizing your DUO and 365 Integration
- Preventing ISO Malware
- Xmount for Disk Images
- Elastalert with Sigma
Bojan Zdrnja

Twitter: | @bojanz |
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Mastodon: | @bojanz@infosec.exchange |
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Click to View Handler Created Tools
Recent Diaries:
- Importance of signing in Windows environments
- Critical vulnerability in Splunk Enterprise?s deployment server functionality
- Local privilege escalation vulnerability in polkit's pkexec (CVE-2021-4034)
- RCE in log4j, Log4Shell, or how things can get bad quickly
- Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS - PKI) domain admin vulnerability
Upcoming Courses:
SANS Offensive Operations London 2023, London
February 06, 2023 - February 11, 2023
Web App Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking
SANS Cybersecurity Leadership NOVA 2023 - Live Online, Online | US Eastern
February 06, 2023 - February 11, 2023
Web App Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking
SANS Paris March 2023, Paris
March 13, 2023 - March 18, 2023
Web App Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking