Aaron Castro

Cybersecurity & Network Architect

I am a passionate, performance-driven CyberSecurity professional with 19+ years of industry experience who specialized in aligning Security Strategies & Programs with organizations ensuring information technology assets are properly protected. With a strong technical acumen & extensive experience in CyberSecurity Engineering, Architecture and Management. I am also well versed in Networking Engineering, Architecture and Management with proven experience in the field while deploying the most advanced networking technologies in the most harsh and remote environments.

Focused team-player & motivated to lead and follow. Strong communication skills and great attention to detail, time-management and ability to multitask.

Please, if you want to email me, encrypt your message. Noone should care what we talk about. Here you can find my public key: 0x9E5563CFBA20B1C1

Expertise

LAN/WAN/WLAN Design & Implementation

Sofware Defined Networking (SDN)

Remote IT Operations

Critical IoT & Industrial CyberSecurity

End-to-End CyberSecurity Solutions

NAC & Identity Services

HA Data Center Design and Technologies

Disaster Recovery and Business Cotinuity Plans

Skills

Operating Systems
  • Linux
  • Windows
  • Mac OSX
  • Unix/BSD
Automation & Orchestration
  • Ansible
  • Python
  • NetConf
Cloud Platforms
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Microsoft Azure
  • OpenStack
Networking Platforms
  • Cisco
  • Juniper
  • Palo Alto
  • Checkpoint
  • Fortinet
  • Motorola
  • Aruba
  • Ruckus
Firewall Platforms
  • Cisco ASA, ASAx, ASAv
  • Juniper SRX, vSRX, cSRX
  • Palo Alto PA, VM, K2 Series
  • Checkpoint NGF, SGA
  • Fortinet NGFW
IPS Platforms
  • Cisco Firepower IPS
  • Snort
  • Suricata
Network Design
  • SD-WAN
  • SD-LAN
  • WLC
  • Data Center
  • Storage Networking
  • Campus Networking
  • Industrial IoT Networking
Network Technologies
  • LAN
  • WLAN
  • WAN
  • MPLS
  • ATM, DSL
  • iSCSI
  • Fiber Channel
Security
  • Nessus
  • Snort
  • Nmap
  • Kali Linux
  • Metasploit
Routing Protocols
  • RIP, RIPNG
  • EIGRP
  • OSPF, OSPFv3
  • BGP
  • IS-IS
Methodologies
  • DevOps, DevSecOps
  • PMI
  • NIST
  • ISO27000
  • CSF
  • COBIT
  • ITILv3
Monitoring
  • Solarwinds
  • NetBrain
  • Nagios
  • Cacti
  • NetFlow
  • SNMP, SNMPv3
Protocols
  • TCP/IP
  • PPTP
  • IPsec
  • VPN
  • CNLS
Remote Access
  • RDP
  • AnyDesk
  • TeamViewer
  • VPN
  • VPN
Server Administration
  • Windows Server 2003-2016/R2
  • RedHat
Storage
  • NAS
  • SAN
Containerization
  • Docker
Programming Languages
  • C++, ASM
  • Python
  • PHP
  • XML
  • Shell Scripting
  • Java
  • SQL
Backup & Restore
  • Symantec Backup Exec
  • Veeam Backup
Virtualization
  • VMware
  • KVM
  • Hyper-V
Web Technologies
  • Python
  • PHP
  • HTML5
  • CSS3
Web Servers
  • IIS
  • Apache

Experience

Aug 2020 - Present

Cybersecurity & Network Engineer

Solera Holdings LLC.

Seville, Spain

Jan 2020 - July 2020

Principal Security Engineer

eir Business Ltd.

County Dublin, Ireland

2013 - 2019

Cybersecurity & Network Engineer

Kinross Gold Corp.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

2007 - 2013

Network & Systems Engineer

Sinergia de 3 SLU.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

2005 - 2007

Network Engineer

Cemesa TLC

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

2003 - Present

Principal Consultant

Network Bits

Canary Islands, Spain

1997 - 2003

Network & Systems Administrator

Spain Military

Asturias & Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

Certifications

Cisco Certified Network Professional Enterprise (CCNPE) 2020

Cisco Certified Network Professional Security (CCNPS) 2010

Cisco Certified Specialist - Enterprise Advanced Infrastructure Implementation (CCSEAII) 2018

Cisco Certified Specialist - Enterprise Core (CCSEC) 2018

Cisco Certified Specialist - Network Security Firepower (CCSNSF) 2018

Cisco Certified Specialist - Network Security VPN Implementation(CCSNSVI) 2018

Cisco Certified Specialist - Security Identity Management Implementation (CCSSIMI) 2018

Cisco Certified Specialist - Web Content Security(CCSWCS) 2018

Cisco Certified Specialist - Security Core (CCSSC) 2018

Cisco Certified Network CyberOps Associate (CCCA) 2018

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) 2009

Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Administrator (PCNSA) GOAL

Juniper Networks Certified Internet Associate (JNCIA-JUNOS) 2020

Wireshark Certified Network Analyst (WCNA) 2019

IPv6 Gold Certified Security Engineer (CSEG) 2019

NSA/Infosec 4013 Information Systems Security Engineer (NSA4013) 2010

NSA/Infosec 4011 Information Systems Security Professional (NSA4011) 2009

Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Associate (PCCSA) 2020

Fortinet NSE 3 Network Security Associate (NSE3) 2020

Fortinet NSE 2 Network Security Associate (NSE2) 2020

Fortinet NSE 1 Network Security Associate (NSE1) 2020

LPI Certified Linux Administrator (LPIC-1) 2020

Cisco Certified Network Professional Routing and Switching (CCNP R&S) 2020 Active/To be retired

Cisco Certified Network Associate Routing and Switching (CCNA R&S) 2009 Active/To be retired

Cisco Certified Network Associate Security (CCNA Security) 2009 Active/To be retired

Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP) 2010 Retired

Cisco Certified ASA Specialist (CCASAS) 2010 Retired

Cisco Certified Firewall Security Specialist (CCFSS) 2011 Retired

Cisco Certified IOS Security Specialist (CCIOSSS) 2011 Retired

Cisco Certified VPN Security Specialist (CCVPNSS) 2011 Retired

Cisco Certified IPS Specialist (CCIPSS) 2010 Retired

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) GOAL

Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE) GOAL

Fortinet NSE 4 Network Security Professional (NSE4) GOAL

Juniper Networks Certified Security Associate (JNCIA-SEC) GOAL

CCNP EnterpriseCCNP SecurityCC CyberOps AssociateCC Network AssociateCC SpecialistPCNSAJNCIA-JunOSWireshark Certified Network AnalystIPV6 Gold Certified Security EngineerNSA / CNSS 4013 & 4011 RecognitionPCCSANSE 3NSE 2NSE 1LPIC-1CCNP SecurityCCNP Routing & SwitchingCCSP SecurityCCSP ASA & IPS & IOS Security & VPN Security & Firewall Security SpecialistCCNA Cyber OpsCCNA SecurityCCNA Routing & Switching

TRAINING

Troubleshooting Cisco Application Centric InfrastructureDCACIT v5.2) 2023

Understanding Cisco Data Center FoundationsDCFNDU v1.1) 2023

Palo Alto Introduction to Cybersecurity (EDU-010) 2019

Understanding Cisco Cybersecurity Fundamentals (SECFND) 2018

Implementing Cisco Cybersecurity Operations (SECOPS) 2018

Computer Science and Programming using Python (MITx-6.00.1x) 2017

ISC2 CISSP (CISSP-CoC) 2015

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (WS2K8) 2009

GFI Mailessentials 2010 2010

Linux LPIC-1 (Linux) 2009

Internetworking CCNA 2008

Lab

My Home Lab has been rebuilt many times in the past, always to reflect and provide the latest technologies at a small scale that allow me at any time to develop, reinforce and build the required skillset while gaining the required hands-on experience

What it is built on:

  • Gigabit networking -fiber & copper, for both VM and NFS storage traffic.
  • 4x Supermicro XEON 8-core 2.2GHz + 64GB RAM.
  • Synology DiskStation 1517+ 5x4TB HDD
  • Some more NAS, Firewall, Access Points and devices not depicted. For a full inventory, please DM me.

There is still room to improve and I would like to do the following on it:

  • Make it hyperconvergent by unifying the same switches for regular VM networking and storage -all-fiber.
  • Get dual stacked or VSSed switches for that task.
  • Add a second Synology DiskStation and configure HA on both.

Of course, many more upgrades will come!

2007

Early version

2010

Some upgrades later

2013

Keep upgrading

2018

Latest version

Affiliations

Cisco DevNet (DevNet)

The Linux Foundation (TLF)

Education

M.S. Information & Communication Technology Security

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Barcelona, Spain

Goal

B.S. Telecommunication Technologies & Services Engineering

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Barcelona, Spain

B.S. Computer Engineering

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Barcelona, Spain

H.N.C. Computer Systems Administration

C.I.F.P César Manrique

Tenerife, Spain