After having "served in the trenches" as a system admin defending against attacks on a daily basis for more than a decade, he took an interest in network security from the attacker's perspective.  He has since spent the last several years cultivating offensive security skills and honing his understanding of the hacker's mindset to bring an indepth awareness of cutting edge and realistic patterns of attack into every engagement.  He currently holds CISSP, CEH, MCSE among several other industry certifications too numerous to list.