Topic: Red Team Realities: Ethical Hacking for Modern Defenses
Abstract: In the current threat landscape, proactive security has become the need of the hour. Understanding how attackers think is essential to building resilient defenses, and ethical hacking and penetration testing offer such capabilities to security teams of sizes. The current webinar offers a hands-on walkthrough of the ethical hacking lifecycle, from reconnaissance to exploitation, and explores how these tactics intersect with modern security controls. The webinar will also discuss tools, techniques, and phases of ethical hacking, including OSINT gathering, network scanning, system exploitation, and web application attacks. The session also covers defensive countermeasures, such as IDS/IPS evasion and cryptographic fundamentals, helping security professionals strengthen their blue team strategies.
Key Takeaways:
- Ethical hacking phases: Reconnaissance to Persistence
- Legal and ethical boundaries: Red teaming and responsible disclosure
- OSINT & scanning tools: WHOIS, DNS, Nmap, enumeration techniques
- Exploitation tactics: password cracking, privilege escalation, malware types
- Web & app vulnerabilities: OWASP Top 10, SQL injection deep dive
- Network & wireless attacks: DDoS, evil twin, Aircrack-ng
- Defensive strategies: IDS/IPS evasion, cryptography basics, TLS/SSL
Speaker:
Bennie Cleveland, AVP, Cyber Incident Management
Bio: Bennie Cleveland is a seasoned cybersecurity executive, auditor, and enterprise risk strategist with more than 20 years of experience leading security, compliance, and incident response programs across industries including financial services, healthcare, life sciences, SaaS, higher education, and government.
In his current role as AVP of Cyber Incident Management – Response & Resolution, he directs enterprise-wide incident response and remediation, ensuring swift containment, resilient recovery, and clear communication to executive leadership. Previously, Bennie served as a vCISO, auditor, and senior advisor, helping organizations achieve readiness for HIPAA, NIST, ISO 27001, SOC 2, HITRUST, and GDPR compliance frameworks.
He holds a portfolio of credentials—CCISO, CISM, CISA, CRISC, PMP, EDRP, AAIA, and AIGP—that reflect his breadth across governance, risk, incident response, and emerging AI audit practices. Known for translating technical risks into business impact, Bennie has advanced security maturity and organizational resilience at scale.
His driving mission is to help organizations see cybersecurity not merely as a regulatory necessity but as a strategic advantage that supports innovation and business growth.
