Thomas Z. Stevens
Westminster,MD
Summary
Forward-leaning cybersecurity leader with 20+ years of experience driving large-scale threat detection, incident response, and cyber defense operations. Skilled in leading cross-functional teams to build and secure enterprise environments, modernize cyber tooling, and reduce time-to-containment in high-threat environments. Adept at applying frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK and NIST to guide detection and automation strategies. Passionate about innovation, collaboration, and building resilient, cloud-secure organizations that scale.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Work History
Defensive Cyberspace Weapons Officer
United States Marines Corps
05.2022 - Current
- Delivered success as Cyber Hunt Operations Lead during national-level missions, directing threat hunting efforts across foreign partner networks and uncovering the first-ever detection of Living-Off-the-Land (LOLT) techniques during a CNMF operation, enhancing DoD-wide AI-enhanced detection signatures and automation playbooks
- Directed cross-functional teams of 40+ military, civilian, and contractor personnel, raising operational efficiency and team readiness through hands-on training, live-fire exercises, and continuous skills development
- Streamlined APT mitigation by refining adversary TTP identification workflows and enabling AI-driven detection logic improvements, reducing analyst workload and improving response time
- Fully modernized $6M+ in cyber defense systems, managing seamless migration to the next-generation Defensive Cyberspace Weapons System (DCWS) with zero mission downtime
Cyberspace Operations Chief
United States Marines Corps
05.2020 - 05.2022
- Designed and executed the first live-fire cyber effects training using AI-enhanced simulation environments, including virtualized networks and cellular infrastructure, resulting in improved technical confidence and operational preparedness
- Designed and delivered the first large-scale AI-driven live-fire cyber effects training, impacting thousands of cyber operators across the force by simulating real-world scenarios using production-grade toolkits in closed-loop environments
- Integrated cutting-edge training ranges and platforms in partnership with national stakeholders, significantly enhancing operational realism, tool interoperability, and mission readiness across multiple service branches
- Provided direct incident response support to 15+ globally dispersed units during a major cyber threat campaign, accelerating containment and recovery with advanced detection and mitigation playbooks
- Contributed to force-wide cyber readiness standards, aligning training doctrine and interoperability for a distributed cyber workforce spanning 5+ organizations
Cyberspace Operations Chief
United States Marines Corps
12.2016 - 05.2020
- Led strategic-level cyber operations across distributed Incident Response and Hunt Teams, coordinating remote and on-site mission elements across three concurrent operations to deliver actionable threat insights and response actions
- Designed and deployed the Fly Away Toolkit and DMSS 2.0, overseeing full-stack system buildouts and documentation—reducing deployment time and increasing platform flexibility in austere environments
- Directed vulnerability detection operations that collected over 40TB of threat data and uncovered 2M+ critical vulnerability paths, significantly advancing data-driven defense efforts
- Integrated real-time threat intelligence and IOCs into operational planning by collaborating with internal and external partners, enhancing adversary detection across multiple cyber missions
Education
Bachelor of Science - Computer Networks and Cybersecurity
University of Maryland Global Campus
Adelphi, Maryland06.2023
Skills
- Cybersecurity Operations
- Threat Hunting
- Incident Response
- Security Automation
- APT Mitigation
- Cloud Security (Hybrid/Deployed Environments)
- AI-Driven Detection & Analysis
- Vulnerability Management MITRE ATT&CK
- IOC/TTP Development
- Security Platform Integration
- Defensive Tool Deployment
- Cross-Functional Team Leadership
- Joint Network Operations
- Tactical Data Collection
- Red/Blue Team Exercises
- Secure System Modernization
- Security Operations Center (SOC) Oversight
- Threat Intelligence Integration
- Real-World Simulation Environments
- Tactical Deployment
- Mainframe
- Digital Transformation
- Delivery Management
- Data Migration
- DevOps
- Executive Management
- Product Management
Clearance
Top Secret/SCI/ CI Poly Clearance
Certifications Training
- CompTIA SecurityX, 2019
- CompTIA Security+, 2015
- CompTIA Network+, 2015
- Cyber Network Operator Course, 2016
- Cybersecurity Technician Course, 2016
- Cyber Protection Team Core Course, 2017
- SANS Forensics 500, 2018
- Tanium Core Course, 2018
- Cyber Threat Emulation Methodology Course, 2018
- Common Cyber Technical Core Course, 2017
- USMC Red Team Operators Course, 2018
- DOD Joint Cyberspace/Operational Planners Course, 2021
- Cyberspace Operations Planners Course, 2023
- SANS Incident Response, Introduction to Hacking 504, 2023
Timeline
Defensive Cyberspace Weapons Officer
United States Marines Corps
05.2022 - Current
Cyberspace Operations Chief
United States Marines Corps
05.2020 - 05.2022
Cyberspace Operations Chief
United States Marines Corps
12.2016 - 05.2020
Bachelor of Science - Computer Networks and Cybersecurity
University of Maryland Global Campus
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