Chris Sanders is an information security consultant, author, and researcher originally from Mayfield, Kentucky. That's thirty miles southwest of a little town called Possum Trot, forty miles southeast of a hole in the wall named Monkey's Eyebrow, and just north of a bend in the road that really is named Podunk.

Chris Sanders is the Threat Intel Operations Lead at Mandiant, a division of FireEye, where he leads a small group tasked with effectively using network threat intelligence to catch adversaries. He has as extensive experience supporting multiple government and military agencies, as well as several Fortune 500 companies. In multiple roles with the US Department of Defense, Chris significantly helped to further to role of the Computer Network Defense Service Provider (CNDSP) model, and helped to create several NSM and intelligence tools currently being used to defend the interests of the nation.

Chris has authored several books and articles, including the international best seller "Practical Packet Analysis" form No Starch Press, currently in its second edition, and "Applied Network Security Monitoring" from Syngress. Chris currently holds several industry certifications, including the SANS GSE and CISSP distinctions.

In 2008, Chris founded the Rural Technology Fund. The RTF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization designed to provide scholarship opportunities to students form rural areas pursuing careers in computer technology. The organization also promotes technology advocacy in rural areas through various support programs. The RTF has provided thousands of dollars in scholarships and support to rural students.

When Chris isn't buried knee-deep in packets, he enjoys watching University of Kentucky Wildcat basketball, being a BBQ Pitmaster, amateur drone building, and spending time at the beach. Chris currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina with his wife Ellen.

Chris blogs at http://www.appliednsm.com and http://www.chrissanders.org. He is on Twitter as @chrissanders88.