Dameon Welch-Abernathy

Dameon D. Welch-Abernathy, widely known as “PhoneBoy”, is a Cyber Security Evangelist for Check Point Software Technologies. He is the public face of CheckMates, the Check Point cyber security community. A recognized industry security veteran, with more than two decades of experience, Welch-Abernathy is best known for his creation of the PhoneBoy FireWall-1 FAQ in the mid-1990s. It was used by Check Point and thousands of its customers worldwide. He is also the author of Essential Check Point FireWall-1 NG: An Installation, Configuration, and Troubleshooting Guide. In past roles at Check Point, Welch-Abernathy led security architecture reviews and developed high level security architecture proposals for customers. Prior to joining Check Point in 2009 through the acquisition of Nokia’s security appliance business, he worked in Product Line Support where he supported customers using a variety of security solutions developed by Nokia, Check Point, and Sourcefire. He has also worked as a systems administrator for several small companies. Welch-Abernathy holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Santa Clara University and is a current Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).