# James Ray **Worcester, Mass 01609 [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) [LinkedIn Profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-ray-61098a187/)** ## Professional Experience: ### Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF) [Link](https://www.socom.mil/st/Pages/JATF.aspx) **Tampa, FL Rapid Prototyping Mechanical Engineer/Lab Manager May 2025-July 2025** - Provided Tier 2 and Tier 3 support for Ubiquity Enterprise network. Setup ISP fail-over to maintain network up-time, install and troubleshoot networking appliances including switches, routers, and firewalls - Collaborated with Special Operations Forces units to design, prototype, and test emerging unmanned systems - Led and managed the Rapid Prototyping Lab consisting of 3 distinct lab spaces - Managed calendars and schedules for lab spaces and reservations for engineering tasks - Compile documentation for engineering tasks and aid in organizing resources - Acquired and maintained inventory for 3D printers, fasteners, flat stock and more in an environment with rapidly changing needs ### ThreatLocker [Link](https://www.threatlocker.com/) **Orlando, FL Cybersecurity Analyst Jan 2025-April 2025** - Analyzed endpoint security logs from SIEM software and triaged cybersecurity incidents - Performed root-cause analysis of application behavior, and clearly documented findings while working with customers through to resolution. ### DigitalCM LLC [Link](https://www.digitalcm.com/) **Tampa, FL Cybersecurity Analyst June 2023-August 2024** - Research, develop and lead classes to professional audiences on; network infrastructure, proper network configuration, as well as common vulnerabilities and how to exploit them - Develop and demonstrate live demos of malware in isolated, virtualized testing environments. From these demos, I would teach about what Indicators of Compromise (IOC’s) we can gather from observing malware operate, and what we can do to prevent it in the real world - Provided Tier 2 and Tier 3 support as a Cisco Meraki and Proxmox administrator to improve network speed, reliability, and security. - Worked with a variety of tools including; bettercap, kismet, docker, virtualbox, the kali linux suite of tools and more. ### USF Institute of Applied Engineering (USF IAE) [Link](https://www.usf.edu/engineering/iae/) **Tampa, FL Research Support Intern May 2022–Dec. 2022** - Assisted in maintaining 3D printers and lab management duties at the JATF. - Pursued Wi-Fi WPA2 pen-testing projects. ### University of South Florida Oceanography Department [Link](https://www.usf.edu/marine-science/research/chemical-oceanography.aspx) **St. Petersburg, FL Research Support Intern Jan. 2019-May 2019** - Developed Key Performance Indicators for testing and evaluating pH and salinity sensors for monitoring effects of climate change in the Tampa Bay ## Education and credentials: ### Top Secret Clearance - **Acquired during position at NexTech Solutions** ### University of South Florida - **BS, Business Analytics** - **Tampa, FL** - **Dec. 2022-Dec.2024** ### Florida Polytechnic University - **AS** - **Lakeland, FL** - **Aug. 2019-May 2022** ## Extracurriculars: ### Volunteer for The Lioness Instincts. [Link](https://www.thelionessinstincts.com/) - *"The Lioness Instincts sits at the intersection of digital and physical safety, empowering women to protect themselves wherever they are."* - I worked with Yesenia Yser, the founder of Lioness Instincts to build and present webinars to educate women on better digital privacy practices for dating, travel, browsing, and more. - This was an incredibly rewarding role where I could use my knowledge and make a real difference for people who need it. - Yesenia and I continue to work together to learn about emerging cyber threats in our world and develop solutions for people who are at-risk. The webinars we made together are available below: - [Don't let your cookies crumble](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6imoui6ah_c) - [Privacy vs. Personalization, the role of Advertising ID in Digital Ads](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B18mbSYO5ew) - [Safe Travel, Protect your body, mind, and peace of mind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHB44OSevjw) ### Member of Whitehatters Computer Security Club at USF. [Link](https://wcsc.notion.site/homepage) - The Whitehatters is a student run cybersecurity club where more experienced students teach about cybersecurity concepts - In this club I practiced Blue Team skills: - SIEM log reading and investigation - The [Mitre Att&Ck](https://attack.mitre.org/) framework to understand the attack workflow from the defender side - Virtualization in Virtualbox to run Kali safely, as well as running vulnerable VM's from [VulnHub](https://www.vulnhub.com/) to attack - Practiced hands on Red Team skills: - Scanning and enumerating with Nmap - Fuzzing and directory busting with Dirbuster - Exploitation with reverse shells - Pass the hash to exploit Windows AD ### Lead of Manufacturing section of Purple Fire Robotics at Florida Polytechnic University. [Link](https://www.youtube.com/@purplefirerobotics) - Spearheaded a new section of the combat robotics team to help mechanical engineering students advance manufacturing skills and improve robot designs. - Teaching students with a hands-on approach how to manufacture what they have designed, out of various materials including metal, plastic, and wood. ### Electrical Lead for Team 79 Krunch Robotics at East Lake High School. [Link](https://www.team79krunch.com/) - Competing in FIRST Robotics Competition, we designed, prototyped, and built a functional competition robot in 6 weeks weighing in at 120 pounds. - As leader of the electrical team we designed and built a functioning electrical system that was easy to access and repair during competition. ## Skills: - Linux proficiency in server administration and virtualization. Specifically in Debian, Fedora and Windows Server 2019 - [[Microsoft Active Directory Lab|Microsoft Active Directory]] experience - Computer network design, troubleshooting, and network security. In depth knowledge of the OSI model as well as protocols including TCP/IP, HTTPS and SSL certificate management. - Proficiency with Virtualbox, Docker, [[Home Lab-Technical Details#Server OS|Proxmox]], KVM, [[Home Lab-Technical Details#Network Diagram|VLAN’s]] and more. - Over 3 years of experience in college and workplace training in cybersecurity and computer networking as well as server administration. - Own and operate a homelab running Proxmox Virtual Environment, with TrueNAS for automatic backups, VLAN segmentation for security, and Tailscale Mesh Wireguard VPN to share resources with friends and family. - Wireless and wired penetration testing and security hardening against network based attacks - Teaching with a focus on hands-on education - Organizing/Documenting work clearly. Proficient in markdown based documentation.