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Hi, I'm Dave

Dave Johnson

Threat Intelligence Advisor at Feedly

As a former FBI analyst, I’ve tracked botnets, briefed government officials, and collaborated with international partners to combat cyber crime. Over the past 14 years, I performed incident response and built a successful cyber threat intelligence program. My most recent efforts have focused on applying machine learning techniques to solve problems in the security industry. In my spare time, I run a small app business called Junbi, which makes AI-powered apps in the productivity and education space.

GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA)
GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH)
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Innovation
Critical Thinking
Hard Working
Leadership
Team Work
Communication

Projects

Crucible
Crucible
Creator January 2022 - Present

A mobile study app that creates flashcards automatically given scanned notes or copies of files. Includes automatic spaced repetition scheduling for more efficient studying.

SigmaGen
SigmaGen
Creator October 2023 - Present

An experimental web app that allows users to extract MITRE ATT&CK procedures from intel reports and generate Sigma rules automatically.

Momento
Momento
Creator TBD

A mobile app that transcribes and formats notes from voice memos using a compressed and locally-hosted AI model to keep your data completely private.

YouMuse
YouMuse
Creator March 2024 - Present

A web app that allows you to create your own personalized podcast, as a natural conversation between two AI hosts.

Experiences

1
Feedly

May 2022 - March 2023

Redwood City, CA

Feedly is an AI-powered news aggregator application for various web browsers and mobile devices running iOS and Android. It is also available as a cloud-based service. It compiles news feeds from a variety of online sources for the user to customize and share with others.

Threat Intelligence Advisor

May 2022 - March 2023

Responsibilities:
  • Partner with customers in leading cyber security teams to better leverage Feedly for open-source intelligence (OSINT) collection
  • Strengthen the feedback loop between customers and the product team to capture needs and create new features for Feedly for Threat Intelligence
  • Conduct API workshops with customers to help them build custom integrations

RSM US LLP

Oct 2016 - March 2023

Minneapolis, MN

RSM US LLP is an audit, tax, and consulting firm focused on the middle market in the United States and Canada and is a member of the global accounting network RSM International. It is the fifth-largest accounting firm in the United States.

Cyber Incident Response Manager

May 2022 - March 2023

Responsibilities:
  • Led incident response (IR) investigations across the enterprise and collaborated with all levels of leadership
  • Developed a proactive threat hunting program based on threat intelligence and the MITRE ATT&CK framework
  • Defined enterprise-level requirements and implemented digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) capabilities from scratch
Cyber Threat Intelligence Manager

Apr 2020 - May 2022

Responsibilities:
  • Established an automated threat hunting process to retrieve artificats extracted from malware samples found in the wild
  • Created a web application in React and Flask to summarize intelligence from news sources with the BERT transformer model
  • Created a production application using natural language processing (NLP) to identify and triage malicious emails reported by users
  • Used machine learning algorithms, including k-means clustering and DBSCAN, to find patterns in malicious emails for improving security defenses automatically
Senior Cyber Intelligence Researcher

Oct 2016 - Apr 2020

Responsibilities:
  • Created a web application with Node.js and MongoDB to facilitate cyber tabletop exercises
  • Established a successful cyber intelligence program based on all steps of the intelligence cycle
  • Used data science skills to automate intelligence collection and data processing
  • Created finished intelligence on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis
2

3

Milwaukee, WI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. An agency of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence.

Intelligence Analyst (Cyber Crimes Taskforce)

Jul 2009 - Oct 2016

Responsibilities:
  • Authored threat analysis reports based on all-source intelligence
  • Provided threat briefings and assessments to senior government officials
  • Collaborated with special agents to provide operational case support and tactical intelligence
  • Assisted in cyber crime and national security investigations, performed takedowns, and engaged with threat actors

Skills

Education

Master's degree, Science and Technology Intelligence
Thesis:
Evaluating Botnet Takedowns – Points of Failure
Bachelor of Science, Psychology and Legal Studies
Extracurricular Activities:
  • UW Men’s Rowing Team
Certificates:
Criminal Justice