David Venable


David "Dave" Venable is a former intelligence officer with the United States National Security Agency, and current cyber security professional and businessman. He is an author and speaker on the topics of cyber security, cyberwarfare, and international security; has developed security-related internet protocols; and has been named as one of the most influential people in security.

Early life and education

Dave Venable grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, Arkansas and later attended the University of Arkansas, majoring in mathematics. After college, Venable joined the United States Air Force and studied Korean at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, a Department of Defense educational and research institution which provides linguistic and cultural instruction to the DoD and other Federal Agencies. Venable has also pursued graduate education in mathematics at the University of Texas, and international relations at Harvard University.

Career

Until 2005 Venable served in several intelligence roles with the National Security Agency, including Computer Network Exploitation, Cyberwarfare, Information Operations, and Digital Network Intelligence in support of global anti-terrorism operations. He has also taught about these subjects while serving as adjunct faculty at the National Cryptologic School, a school within the National Security Agency that provides training to members of the United States Intelligence Community.
After leaving federal service Venable founded and served as CEO of Vanda Security, a Dallas-based security consultancy, which ultimately became the security professional services practice of Masergy Communications where Venable currently serves as Vice President of Cyber Security. Venable regularly speaks at industry and government conferences including Black Hat Briefings and the Warsaw Security Forum, serves as a cyber security expert with think tanks and policy research institutes, serves on The Colony, Texas technology board, and is a cybersecurity expert and speaker with the United States Department of State.