A dynamic and experienced technology authority, Hal Pomeranz is the Founder and Technical Lead of Deer Run Associates, a consulting company focusing on Computer Forensic Investigations and Information Security. He has spent more than twenty years providing pragmatic Information Technology and Security solutions for some of the world's largest commercial, government, and academic institutions. An expert in the investigation of Linux/Unix systems, Hal has provided Computer Forensic investigative support for several high-profile cases to both law enforcement and commercial clients.
Hal is a Faculty Fellow of the SANS Institute, and it's longest-tenured instructor. He is the track author and primary instructor for their Linux/Unix Security certification track (GCUX). He is also a GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA) and an instructor in the SANS Computer Forensics curriculum. Hal frequently contributes to the SANS Computer Forensics blog and is a co-author with fellow SANS instructor Ed Skoudis and Tim Medin of the weekly on-line Command Line Kung Fu column.
A leader in the community, Hal has served on the Board of Directors for USENIX, BayLISA, and BackBayLISA. He is a co-founder of the IT Professionals Forum. He is a frequent presenter at national and local technical gatherings, and the author of numerous books and articles on subjects ranging from Computer Forensics to Information Security to System and Network Management to Perl Programming. Hal also served as the Technical Editor for Sys Admin Magazine during its last four years of publication. He is a recipient of the SAGE Outstanding Achievement award for his teaching and leadership in the field of System Administration.
Prior to founding his consulting company, Hal's career included a variety of roles from System and Network Operations, to Network and Security Architecture, and even Software Development. He has worked for an equally diverse set of employers including AT&T Bell Laboratories, NASA, the University of Pennsylvania, TRW Financial Systems, and even an Internet start-up, NetMarket, which was the first company to conduct a secure financial transaction on the World-Wide Web. As a consultant for Deer Run Associates, Hal's client list includes Cisco, Microsoft, eBay, the FBI and several other government agencies.
Laura LeHew is the president and CFO of Deer Run Associates, and has been active in the high tech industry for over twenty years. She is currently a member of the Board for the Oregon Arts Alliance and the Oregon State Poetry Association and has previously served on the Board of Directors for several professional organizations.
Prior to Deer Run Associates, Laura has held a variety of positions for companies in the Bay Area such as Ascend Communications, Esker Inc., Netopia (formerly Farallon Computing), and Sybase. Additionally, she was a principal at Plus Five Computer Services.
Laura holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the California College of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from Holy Names College. She also holds a Certificate of Human Resources Management from the University of California, Berkeley.