Maril Vernon

Maril Vernon, “SheWhoHacks,” is an IT security expert specializing in pentesting who has helped people start new careers in cyber security from a long tenure in a non-technical industry. After entering cyber security for the National Guard in 2018, in just over 1 year Maril has achieved 7 certifications in pentesting and security in unprecedented time including: Metasploit Pro Certified Specialist, AppSpider Pro Certified Specialist, AWS Cloud Certified Practitioner, Atomic Purple Teaming, and Security+. Maril’s expertise will be featured as a contributing editor of the CIS AWS Foundation Benchmark v1.3 and CSFI. Closing the gap between enterprise risk and IT security, Maril discovered a need for a new kind of expert who could speak to non-technical audiences. Drawing on her multiple degrees from UCSD and other universities, and a family of technical engineers and developers, Maril is uniquely qualified to demystify the terminology, testing, compliance, and tools of cyber security.