Category: Threat Seeker

Name: Marc Laliberte

Title: Senior Security Analyst

Company: WatchGuard Technologies

Why Nominated: For someone who just seven years ago was a level-1 technician at WatchGuard Technologies, Marc Laliberte has moved quickly through the ranks to become a valued senior security analyst on WatchGuard’s Threat Research Team who serves as manager and mentor to the company’s junior analysts.

Profile: As the co-author of the company’s quarterly Internet Security Report and author of involved technical analyses of major security threats, Laliberte has lent his knowledge and expertise to analysis of the Mirai botnet, the KRACK Wi-Fi vulnerability, the LinkedIn password breach data dump, WannaCry ransomware, the Meltdown and Specter vulnerabilities, the CIA Vault 7 hacking tools leak and several major password database dumps.

Laliberte is a member of the WatchGuard Threat Lab project, where he has identified and responsibly disclosed several vulnerabilities in consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

He has particularly distinguished himself in the area of cryptocurrency, developing a tool that tracks payments into Bitcoin wallets associated with ransomware campaigns. That allows investigators to better follow the money flow around attacks.

What Colleagues Say: “He’s a smart, curious and relentless researcher – all hallmarks of a great researcher… With a keen intellect and drive to educate, Marc excels… at finding new vulnerabilities… Marc has really excelled over the past year, taking over many of WatchGuard’s most important research initiatives and activities. He manages a team of junior analysts, oversees the maintenance and analysis of the Threat Lab’s SSH and Telnet honeypots, conducts primary research and hunts for new vulnerabilities through penetration testing… His security expertise and threat research is impressive to say the least, but his willingness to go above and beyond his primary role to provide cybersecurity education to others outside the company is what truly sets Marc apart.”

Corey Nachreiner, CTO, WatchGuard Technologies