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Christian is an eccentric, self-made technology & cybersecurity leader who is extremely enthusiastic about spreading security awareness.
Christian initially matriculated from the domain of software development and then moved into network & systems engineering before finally settling into cybersecurity by performing penetration testing & building security programs for numerous Fortune 1000 companies. In his free time, Christian enjoys teaching & mentoring others in the areas of cybersecurity, business development, and leadership. His curiosity and sheer tenacity pushes him to continuously learn and tinker with technology. Currently, Christian serves as COO & CISO at Gotham Security. Gotham Security is a boutique cybersecurity firm based out of Manhattan, focused on providing high-quality penetration testing, malicious adversary simulation, threat intelligence services, cybersecurity strategy & compliance assessment services. Christian also runs Enclave Regenerous, a cybersecurity and leadership knowledge collective with his business partner Blake Shalem.
“I love investing my time and abilities to help others and make the world a better place. I am almost purely driven by the ethos that "One should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret." I consider myself a bit of an artist and I really enjoy bringing happiness to people's lives by making things: 3D Printing, Wood/Metal Working, Cooking, Building IOT Devices, Programming, Graphics Design and Comedy. I guess Cybersecurity was always a natural fit for me given my technical expertise, creativity, and mischievous sense of humor.” 😅
- Travis DeForge - Security Engineering Manager at Gotham Security I am originally from a fairly rural area in southern Vermont and went to University of Vermont for undergraduate where I graduated with a BA in Mandarin Chinese and commissioned as an active duty military intelligence officer in the US Army. I spent most of my time in service in Germany and Eastern Europe. Over the course of several years I worked in various forms of intelligence collection and analysis (Open Source ((OSINT), Signals (SIGINT), Geospatial (GEOINT), Electronic (ELINT), and Human (HUMINT); though my focus mostly was electronic warfare and information operations. Following the military I joined GoVanguard Security as an information security associate (Intern) and progressed in the organization as I built technical skills related to penetration testing. Currently, I am the Security Engineering Manager for the organization and focus primarily on leading internal and external network penetration tests, social engineering, white-box network and cloud risk assessments, and purple teaming engagements. I am married, with a 2 year old daughter who can often be seen frantically running behind me in video calls. I also live in North Dakota, but reassess that every time it gets colder than -40 degrees. Feel free to connect on LinkedIn (99+) Travis DeForge | LinkedIn.