Content

Influencer – Sergio Caltagirone

Category: Influencer

Name: Sergio Caltagirone      

Title: Director of Threat Intelligence 

Company: Dragos, Inc.

Why nominated: Sergio Caltagirone strongly believes in the positive force technology can have on society and has dedicated his life to stopping those who harm the Internet.

Profile: Over the course of his career, Sergio Caltagirone has worked with some of the leading cybesecurity companies and developed the landmark Diamond Model of Intrusion Analysis that has since influenced cyber threat intelligence analysis and incident response around the world.

The Diamond Model presents a novel concept of intrusion analysis that creates the foundational elements of any intrusion activity and establishes the basis of cyber activity, taxonomies, cyberthreat intelligence sharing protocols and knowledge management. Caltagirone's model has been widely touted as the first of its kind that successfully establishes a formal method to apply scientific principles to intrusion detection.

At the start of his career in the federal governments, Caltagirone was recognized as one of the best, if not the best technical strategists for tracking and stopping sophisticated hackers. After developing the Diamond Model for Intrusion Analysis, he created coursework and taught it to young military and government analysts. Eventually, his efforts were expanded and the Diamond Model was incorporated into “cyber-analyst” training taught across the government. It's also taught at public seminars run by the SANS Institute.

After nine years with the federal government, Caltagirone worked at Microsoft where he was a catalyst for cultural change. Through his influence, silos built around teams and individual product data were torn down, systems capable of correlating and analyzing telemetry from arguably the world's largest install base of products were architected. His team also developed a new product based in threat intelligence, Advanced Threat Analytics, which offers affordable protection against advanced attackers.

Today at Dragos Inc., Caltagirone works on the underserved but critical area of industrial control system security. Joining a small start-up team at Dragos, he's building security systems that protect critical infrastructure such as power grids, sewage systems, dams and oil rigs. 

What colleagues say: “Sergio Caltagirone wakes up in the morning to hunt evil. He leverages data analytics, traditional intelligence analysis techniques and his ability to train and inspire others to join his cause to hunt. He started targeting hackers, but his hunt has expanded to include human traffickers. Sergio has influenced thousands of defenders and intelligence analysts through his methodology and trainings, enhanced the security of billions through his leadership and innovation and stands ready to protect civilization itself and break down the crime systems that enslave millions. There are few about whom such a statement can be written without indulging in some hyperbole.”

-  Andy Pendergast, vice president of product, ThreatConnect

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