Md Ali

Md Ali

Cybersecurity Consultant

Burwood Group, Inc.

Biography

I am a dedicated Cybersecurity Consultant at Burwood Group Inc., with a primary focus on conducting penetration testing engagements across diverse sectors, including healthcare, education, and financial institutions. Specializing in offensive security techniques and defensive operations, I thrive on uncovering vulnerabilities within systems and networks to fortify our clients' defenses against cyber threats.

In addition to my expertise in penetration testing, I am deeply committed to implementing Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) practices. By integrating GRC principles into our security strategies, I ensure that our clients not only identify vulnerabilities but also establish robust governance frameworks to mitigate risks effectively and maintain compliance with regulatory standards and industry best practices.

Beyond my professional role, I am passionate about sharing my cybersecurity expertise. As a part-time instructor at ThriveDX, I have the privilege of imparting knowledge to others, helping them navigate the evolving landscape of cybersecurity. Additionally, serving as an adjunct professor at both Illinois Institute of Technology and Saint Louis University has deepened my understanding of technology while mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.

Education has been a cornerstone of my journey. I hold dual Master’s degrees from the Illinois Institute of Technology, one in Computer Science and the other in Applied Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics. My academic pursuits were guided by esteemed mentors, shaping my understanding of cybersecurity intricacies. Prior to this, I earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics and Applied Mathematics from Texas State University, where I honed my analytical skills under the guidance of respected professors.

My diverse educational background, coupled with extensive hands-on experience in cybersecurity, positions me as a valuable asset to any organization. I am driven by a constant pursuit of knowledge and am currently undertaking PhD endeavors to deepen my expertise further.

Outside of the professional realm, I am an avid language learner and musician. Fluent in English, Russian, and Bengali, I am currently expanding my linguistic horizons by studying Chinese and Tagalog. Music is my sanctuary, with over a decade of experience playing the violin, six years mastering the bass guitar, and exploring the intricacies of piano.

Download my resume.

Interests
  • Operating Systems
  • Systems Security
  • Theoretical Physics
  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • Quantum Computing
Education
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science, Pursuing

    Capitol Technology University

  • Master of Applied Science in Computer Science, 2022

    Illinois Insititute of Technology

  • Master of Science in Applied Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, 2020

    Illinois Institute of Technology

  • Bachelor of Science in Physics and Applied Mathematics, 2019

    Texas State University

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Adjuct Professor
Jan 2024 – May 2024 Saint Louis, Missouri
As an adjunct professor at the School for Professional Studies, my focus is on teaching a range of courses within the Computer Information Systems curriculum, with a particular emphasis on Cybersecurity. My students come from all corners of the world, including the greater Saint Louis Area, and all instruction is delivered virtually.
 
 
 
 
 
Adjunct Professor
Aug 2023 – Present Chicago, Illinois
As an adjunct professor in the Department of Computer Science, my primary responsibility is to design and teach undergraduate and graduate courses that enhance students' programming skills. I leverage my expertise in computer science to develop comprehensive curricula that engage students in a variety of programming languages and techniques. In addition to classroom instruction, I also provide one-on-one mentorship and guidance to students, helping them to identify and overcome challenges in their coursework. Overall, I am committed to fostering a collaborative and supportive learning environment that equips students with the technical skills and critical thinking abilities they need to succeed in their future careers.
 
 
 
 
 
Cybersecurity Instructor
Nov 2022 – Present Chicago, Illinois
Highly interactive teaching environment regarding security techniques andinformation systems controls to secure an enterprise infrastructure. This role required to be knowledgeable with basic cyber security principles. Remote cybersecurity instructor with varying courses such as ethical hacking, game theory, network security, python course, linux security, cloud security, and digital forensics incident response. Familiar with common security measures such as network access control, device control, whitening solutions, mail relay, endpoint protection solutions, IR/DR, and social engineering.
 
 
 
 
 
Cybersecurity Consultant
Aug 2022 – Present Chicago, Illinois
As a dedicated Cybersecurity Consultant specializing in penetration testing, I serve a diverse client base across healthcare, education, and finance sectors. My expertise centers on conducting detailed penetration tests across servers, machines, and various devices, including external, internal, and web applications. This proactive approach helps uncover vulnerabilities, ensuring robust security solutions are in place. In addition to my pen-testing focus, I guide organizations in adhering to GRC policies, crafting standards and frameworks based on NIST, HIPAA, and PCI to safeguard privacy and security. I oversee annual Security Risk Assessments (SRAs) to mitigate potential risks and maintain the highest level of protection. My role involves consulting on, operating, and integrating cybersecurity measures, ensuring the safety and security of our clients' domains, thus allowing them to focus on their core business with peace of mind.
 
 
 
 
 
Research Aide
May 2022 – Aug 2022 Lemont, Illinois
Worked under Dr. Yuri Alexeev to find a optimal tensor contraction on Argonne-developed tensor network quantum simulator QTensor. This invovles in developing a parallel optimizer written in Julia to find an optimal tensor contraction sequenes for large problems requiring running on Polaris and Aurora supercomputers. The overall goal is to find the optimal tensor contraction sequences for quantum supremacy Sycamore and QAOA quantum circuits to demonstrate quantum advantage.
 
 
 
 
 
Math and Science Instructor
Jan 2021 – Mar 2022 Northfield, Illinois
Mathematics & Science instructor ranging from 6th – 12th grade in a variety of classes. All classes were taught at an accredited academy in a private one-on-one setting. This also included writing reports on each student and making sure they were pacing on schedule in each topic with excellent understanding of the subject being instructed. Courses were taught in-person and remotely. The course technology was completed through google meets and offered private tutoring in a one-on-one settings. The courses that were instructed are Algebra I, Algebra II, Honors Geometry, Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus, Environmental Science, Biology, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics.
 
 
 
 
 
Research Assistant
Aug 2020 – Aug 2022 Chicago, Illinois
Researched in the HExSA labs at Illinois Institute of Technology under the advisement of Dr. Kyle Hale. In the HExSA lab, the various reserach projects that I am invovled in are in regards to distributed computing, operating systems, and programming languages. I also work under Dr. Stefan Muller, where we utilized WCET (Worst Case Execution Time) such as OTAWA and RAML that analyzed ARM binaries with OCaml programs that effectively generates an approximation of code execution timing in higher level languages such as Python, C++, etc. This provides a cost effective way of looking at higher level lanuage’s computation times without having to actually run them or have possible errors that may arise to be looked at manually that may end up saving costs. In addition, this included verfication of sequential and concurrent programs. This automation are comparable to manually checking each case inside OCaml programs and we are currently working on explaing this work for various programs. I am also running simulations using the Sniper platform for dynamic enivornments with remote cores as well as in edge computing cases where I am currently leveraging programming language techniques and using custom made virtual machines as a test bay to simulate a highly dynamic network. This consits of utilizing a custom interpreter with a stack machine to be able to calculate the cost in a real world scenario.
 
 
 
 
 
Student Researcher
Aug 2019 – Jul 2020 Chicago, Illinois
Researched cyber crimes regarding human trafficking and child predators analyzing their methods of encryption and steganography techniques to conduct their criminal activities under the advisement of Mr. Louis McHugh IV. Conducted a mini research project into supply chain attacks, where he conducted a case study into the various methodology that make a supply chain attack successful. This required analyzing a number of major cyber breaches from Equifax, Target, and various ATMs in Eastern Europe.
 
 
 
 
 
Teaching Assisstant
Aug 2019 – May 2020 Chicago, Illinois
Teaching assistant for “Enterprise Server Admin” that involved grading, evaluating, and lecturing during the Spring of 2020. This role required him to be knowledgeable in Windows 2012/R2 servers. This included on how to set up, implementation, and troubleshoot the server. Taught the course when professor was unavailable, grade and evaluate student knowledge on different topics in the course, and overall offered services to ensure that each students succeed and understood each topic. Teaching assistant for, “Data Networks and the Internet” that involved grading, evaluating, and lecturing during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2020. This role required to be technically proficient in network design, theory, and implementation. This included an in depth knowledge of various network topologies, TCP/UDP ports, and the OSI model. Proctor exams and make
 
 
 
 
 
Undergraduate Researcher
Aug 2018 – May 2019 San Marcos, TX
Mini research project utilizing C++ to theoretically calculate and model the decay of cube satellites in the atmosphere. This resulted in constructing a GUI interface to make the program user friendly. This included having weekly meetings to discuss about the project and current astrophysics phenomenons that may have any affect on the cube satellites.
 
 
 
 
 
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Aug 2016 – Aug 2018
Published a research paper regarding general relativist invariants of black holes, worm holes and the Alcubierre metric. Computer programming and direct mathematical analysis is applied. Utilize C++, Python, and analyzed FORTRAN code to complete our paper. Hand calculated tensors to make sure the computer code was giving the correct values. Utilized R to investigate the theory of negative probability and quasi-distributions.

Publications

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Curvature Invariants for the Alcubierre and Natário Warp Drives
Curvature Invariants for the Accelerating Natário Warp Drive
Curvature Invariants for Lorentzian Traversable Wormholes

Awards

Mathematics Excellence Award
Physics Honor Society Member

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