Kwadwo Darfour
Alexandria
Summary
Dynamic Senior Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst with over 5 years of experience in monitoring and managing cybersecurity threats. Proficient in utilizing SIEM platforms like Splunk and Microsoft Sentinel for incident detection and threat response. Successfully led incident handling strategies during high-impact cyber breaches, enhancing the organization's threat mitigation strategies. Adept at documenting incident timelines for thorough analysis and developing disaster recovery processes. Ready to deliver exceptional security insights and solutions that address the evolving threats faced by any leading organization.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst
Walmart Global Security Operations Center (GSOC)
Bentonville
06.2020 - Current
- Monitor servers, network devices, and applications in a large-scale SOC environment
- Utilize SIEM platforms (Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel) for threat detection, incident identification, and automated remediation
- Analyze network and host-based security appliance logs (firewalls, NIDS, HIDS, syslog's) to determine the correct remediation actions and escalation paths
- Conduct email phishing analysis and block unwanted senders after evaluating the impact of malware and malicious links
- Provide incident response and ownership based on escalation protocols
- Actively participate in high-impact cyber breaches, managing response workflows and remediation actions
- Deploy monthly Windows security patches across the company-wide network to ensure compliance
- Document and track incident timelines for postmortem and root cause analysis
- Lead and participate in incident handling, ensuring efficient threat detection, response, and remediation
- Conduct security control and risk assessments on organization systems, following security best practices and guidelines
- Collaborated with CarbonBlack to monitor user activities and restrict access to services after assessing vulnerabilities
- Develop processes and procedures for disaster recovery, providing monthly testing and training for accurate real-life scenario responses
- Extract and analyze daily reports through NORSE SIEM and Netcool monitoring tools to detect potential threats
SOC Analyst Mid-level
INOVA
Alexandria
07.2018 - 05.2019
- Provided intermediate event analysis, incident detection, and escalation to Level 3 analysts
- Remained current on cybersecurity trends and intelligence to guide the SOC team's detection capabilities
- Coordinated the response, triage, and escalation of security events affecting the company's information assets with the Incident Response team
- Collaborated with the Forensics Team for malware analysis, IOCs extraction, and preventive measures
- Worked with security teams to build proactive detection and prevention controls
- Conducted network monitoring and intrusion detection analysis using defense tools (IDS/IPS, firewalls, HIDS)
- Used SIEM platforms to correlate events and identify indicators of threat activity
- Conducted log-based and endpoint-based threat detection, correlating network, cloud, and endpoint activity across environments to identify attacks
- Assisted in providing incident response support, including mitigation actions to contain activity
- Maintained awareness of emerging threats, attack methodologies, and detection techniques through intelligence and threat-hunting efforts
Education
Bachelor of Science - Cybersecurity Engineering
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA05.2025
Associate of Applied Science - Computer Science
Northern Virginia Community College
Annandale, VA11.2021
Skills
- Windows
- Incident response
- Threat detection
- Cyber threat analysis
- Problem-solving abilities
- Wireshark usage
- Linux
- MacOS
- TCP/IP
- LANs
- VPNs
- Routers
- Firewalls
- Splunk
- RSA Archer
- Microsoft Sentinel
- Proofpoint
- SentinelOne
- Wireshark
- Nmap
- Symantec
- Anti-Virus Tools
- VirusTotal
- IPVOID
- MXToolbox
- URLVOID
- AbuseIP
- Hybrid Analysis
- AnyRun
- URLScan
- ServiceNow
- Remedy
Certification
CompTIA Security plus
Additional Information
Cybersecurity Awareness Advocate for Local Schools, Regularly attends webinars and conferences related to cybersecurity and incident response.
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Senior Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst
Walmart Global Security Operations Center (GSOC)
06.2020 - Current
SOC Analyst Mid-level
INOVA
07.2018 - 05.2019
Bachelor of Science - Cybersecurity Engineering
George Mason University
Associate of Applied Science - Computer Science
Northern Virginia Community College
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