iDefense

Mr. Melnick leads the global threat intelligence group that focuses on cyber threats around the world, from nation states and hacker groups to new technologies. His "Weekly Threat Report" on cyber threats, which he founded and edits for iDefense/VeriSign, was dubbed by Business Week in 2005 as including "some of the most incisive analysis in the business." Prior to joining iDefense, Mr. Melnick served with distinction as a civilian analyst for more than 16 years in the U.S. Army and the Defense Intelligence Agency. During this period, Mr. Melnick served in a variety of roles, including intelligence, psychological operations, international warning issues, information operations and Russian affairs, including some of the major events of the Cold War. Mr. Melnick has been published in numerous military and foreign affairs journals, and has received numerous military and related awards, including a Presidential Commission medal for his work on the Y2K problem in support of the National Intelligence Council. He also recently retired from the U.S. Army Reserves as a Colonel in Military Intelligence. His last military assignment was with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration. Mr. Melnick has a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College, a Master of Arts in Russian studies from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Political Science from Westminster College.

Mr. Howard is responsible for the day-to-day intelligence gathering and distribution efforts at iDefense and is charged with developing strategic and tactical plans for the department. He is an experienced computer security professional with proven success in the utilization of network intelligence for network defense. Prior to joining iDefense, Mr. Howard lead the intelligence gathering activities at Counterpane Internet Security and ran Counterpane's global network of Security Operations Centers (SOCs). Mr. Howard served in the US Army for 23 years in various command and staff positions involving information technology and security and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2004. He spent the last two years of his career as the US Army's Computer Emergency Response Team Chief where he coordinated Network Defense, Network Intelligence and Network Attack operations for the Army's global network. Mr. Howard holds a Masters of Science in Computer Science from the Naval Postgraduate School and an Engineering degree from the United States Military Academy where he also taught computer science later in his military career.

Since 1980, Mr. Scholnick has been in the forefront during the evolution of the Internet and was a principal innovator for projects including the US Government's automated global digital video infrastructure, the first US Government certified EC/EDI VAN, AOL's internet email gateway and core search engines, high-speed secure satellite communication technology, and real-time telephony management tools. His diverse background and extensive experience with computer, communication, and network security gives Mr. Scholnick a solid grasp on today's technology and a wide spectrum of computer security issues. Mr. Scholnick, as the Manager of the VeriSign iDefense Research Labs, supervises a highly experienced team of research engineers in the discovery, acquisition and verification of software and firmware vulnerabilities. This expert team provides advance notification of problems and potential mitigations to product vendors, iDefense subscribers, and the general public in accordance with the iDefense policy for Responsible Disclosure.

Mr. Doyle retired as a police Sergeant in 2000, after serving for 20 years as an officer and investigator for his department. Mr. Doyle is also a 22-year veteran of the computer industry with extensive knowledge and technical expertise in the software, hardware, networking and security industries. As Criminal Investigations Section supervisor, Mr. Doyle used his unique blend of investigative and computer skills to investigate and prosecute several computer-related criminal and civil cases, including the first computer forensic case in Onondaga County, New York. Mr. Doyle began with iDefense in May 2003, and before his assignment as the Manager of the iDefense Research Labs, Mr. Doyle was a member of the iDefense Malicious Code and Rapid Response teams. Mr. Doyle is credentialed by (ISC)2 as a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP), and a GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH), and GIAC Reverse Engineering of Malware (GREM) specialist by SANS.

Mr. Jean brings more than seven years of technical experience in the software, telecommunications and security industries. Early in his career, Mr. Jean worked at several start-up companies as a Network Engineer. Prior to joining iDefense, Mr. Jean worked for SAIC, where he served as a security analyst for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mr. Jean heads the VeriSign iDefense Vulnerability Aggregation Team (VAT), which is responsible for the analysis and documentation of public vulnerabilities and exploits, and for ensuring that iDefense customers are properly notified of these issues. Mr. Jean remains an active alumnus of Virginia Tech, where he earned his bachelor's degree.