Sam Almur
Houston,TX
Summary
Detail-oriented Cybersecurity Professional with over 5 years of experience in security operations, incident response, and vulnerability management. Skilled in NIST-aligned programs, continuous monitoring, and security assessments. Effectively collaborates with stakeholders to enhance security posture, facilitate audits, and ensure compliance with cybersecurity frameworks.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Cybersecurity administrator
Logistec
Houston, Texas
01.2026 - 05.2026
- Supported security operations for 500+ users, 800+ endpoints, and 25+ servers by investigating incidents across endpoint, identity, email, network, and cloud environments.
- Served as first point of contact for security incident alerts, investigated suspicious login activity and possible exploits to identify root causes, and collaborated with SOC team to resolve issues and prevent future incidents.
- Investigated an average of 20+ EDR security incidents monthly while maintaining incident response times between 5–15 minutes through SIEM, EDR, and security monitoring platforms
- Reduced high and critical vulnerabilities by more than 90% by conducting weekly Qualys assessments, prioritizing remediation efforts, and coordinating corrective actions with infrastructure teams.
- Increased Qualys vulnerability-scanning coverage to approximately 90% of enterprise endpoints and servers, improving visibility into organizational security risks and remediation efforts.
- Increased Microsoft Secure Score from 55% to 72% by implementing security recommendations and strengthening Microsoft security controls.
- Enhanced detection quality by identifying false positives, tuning security alerts, and recommending SIEM and EDR monitoring improvements based on security best practices.
- Delivered phishing-awareness and cybersecurity training through Terranova Security campaigns and Abnormal Security initiatives to improve employee security awareness and reduce phishing risk.
- Supported successful NIST audit activities by maintaining security documentation, validating controls, participating in audit preparation activities, and assisting with remediation efforts.
- Strengthened identity security governance by developing and standardizing Microsoft Entra ID security procedures and access-management documentation
- Created investigation reports, remediation recommendations, and executive-ready security summaries to ensure consistent incident response and effective stakeholder communication.
Lead IT & Cybersecurity Professional
AARC Consultants
Houston, Texas
04.2025 - 01.2026
- Conducted cybersecurity assessments for 10+ client organizations within critical infrastructure and water utility environments by evaluating OT and IT security controls against industry security frameworks
- Performed vulnerability assessments, remediation tracking, and risk analysis using Tenable and Microsoft security technologies to strengthen client security posture
- Performed risk assessments and vulnerability reviews using Tenable and Microsoft security technologies to support continuous monitoring activities.
- Coordinated incident response activities with clients, vendors, MSSP partners, and internal stakeholders, enhancing timely investigation and remediation of security incidents.
- Facilitated tabletop exercises, threat simulations, and incident response planning, strengthening organizational preparedness and response capabilities.
- Improved client risk visibility by identifying security gaps, documenting findings, and developing remediation recommendations for executive leadership and operational teams
- Tracked remediation efforts and documented corrective actions, collaborating with stakeholders to effectively resolve identified security findings.
- Collected security evidence, maintained assessment documentation, and supported audit preparation and compliance reviews.
- Supported audit preparation and remediation activities resulting in successful compliance reviews and closure of major audit findings
- Conducted security control assessments and documented remediation activities aligned with NIST cybersecurity frameworks.
- Assisted in development and review of security policies, contingency planning documentation, incident response procedures, and governance processes aligned with NIST guidance.
- Developed security policies, governance processes, and risk-management practices aligned with NIST security principles and industry best practices.
IT Security Analyst II
Parker Wellbore
Houston, Texas
04.2024 - 04.2025
- Supported enterprise security operations for 1,000+ users and 1,400+ Microsoft Defender-managed endpoints by investigating incidents across endpoint, identity, email, and network environments
- Investigated an average of 20+ security alerts weekly, including EDR incidents and email-security threats, using Microsoft Defender, SIEM, MDR, and threat-intelligence sources
- Validated exploitability and coordinated remediation for 50+ high and critical vulnerabilities in collaboration with infrastructure, cloud, and operations teams, enhancing overall security posture.
- Enhanced detection quality by identifying recurring alert patterns and recommending security-control improvements, significantly reducing false positives through weekly security reviews.
- Strengthened endpoint and identity security controls through Microsoft Defender, Intune, DLP, Conditional Access, and security-hardening initiatives.
- Applied MITRE ATT&CK methodologies, IOC analysis, and threat intelligence during incident response and threat-hunting activities
- Reviewed vulnerability findings and coordinated remediation efforts with infrastructure, cloud, and operations teams, effectively minimizing organizational risk.
- Investigated security incident alerts and suspicious login activity to determine root causes.
- Supported successful NIST and SOC 2 audit activities through evidence collection, documentation maintenance, security-control validation, and audit preparation.
IT Support Specialist
AARC Environmental
Houston, Texas
10.2019 - 04.2024
- Improved endpoint security coverage by deploying and administering Microsoft Intune, endpoint-protection technologies, and device-compliance controls
- Conducted vulnerability assessments and tracked remediation using Microsoft Defender, Qualys, and Nessus to mitigate organizational security risk.
- Enhanced Microsoft 365 security posture through implementation of DLP, MFA, access controls, and compliance-focused security configurations
- Delivered cybersecurity onboarding and security-awareness training programs to promote secure-use practices across the organization
- Supported security investigations through SIEM, EDR, endpoint, identity, and network-security alert analysis
- Strengthened Active Directory and Windows Server security through hardening initiatives, privilege restrictions, and security best practices.
- Conducted cybersecurity risk assessments for critical infrastructure and water utility organizations using NIST-aligned methodologies.
- Evaluated security controls, documented compliance gaps, and developed remediation recommendations to strengthen cybersecurity posture.
- Facilitated tabletop exercises and cyber incident simulations to improve crisis response preparedness.
Cybersecurity Analyst
Alert Logic
Houston, Texas
04.2019 - 07.2019
- Accelerated incident investigations involving malware, brute-force attacks, reconnaissance activity, and web application threats
- Improved threat-detection by monitoring Alert Logic SIEM and AWS GuardDuty security events
- Analyzed logs and Snort IDS alerts to identify and respond to malicious activity.
- Conducted investigations into unauthorized access, modifications, and malware infections to mitigate risks.
- Drafted incident response reports and coordinated escalations to ensure timely resolution.
Cybersecurity Analyst (Trainee)
Exchange Hub - Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
12.2018 - 03.2019
- Investigated anomalies in Splunk and network traffic logs to identify potential security threats.
- Supported vulnerability assessments and ensured compliance alignment with NIST frameworks to enhance security posture.
- Completed CompTIA CySA+ training and hands-on labs in SIEM, threat analysis, and vulnerability scanning.
Education
Master of Engineering - Communication And Computer Engineering
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
Bachelor of Engineering - Electronic Engineering
Mehran University of Engineering & Technology
Skills
- Endpoint Security: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Cisco AMP, Microsoft Intune
- SIEM, MDR & Threat Monitoring: Alert Logic SIEM, Arctic Wolf MDR, FortiAnalyzer, Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel
- Threat Hunting & Log Analysis: Microsoft Advanced Hunting, AWS GuardDuty, Fortinet Analyzer, event correlation, log review
- Vulnerability & Patch Management: Qualys, Nessus, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Arctic Wolf Patch Management
- Email Security & Phishing Defense: Abnormal AI, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Microsoft DLP, Terranova Security
- Identity & Access Management: Microsoft Entra ID, AD, Conditional Access, Microsoft Defender for Identity
- Network & Infrastructure Security: Cisco Umbrella, Fortinet ZTNA, Forescout, UniFi Security Gateway, Fortinet Firewalls
- Governance, Risk & Compliance: NIST, ISO 27001, SOC 2, familiarity with PCI DSS and HIPAA, security playbooks, security policy development, phishing simulation, and security awareness training
- Application & API Security foundation: OWASP API Security Top 10, API risk awareness, authentication/authorization risks, broken object-level authorization and security misconfiguration
- Ticketing & Collaboration: Jira, ServiceNow, Zendesk, IT/DevOps to support secure deployment practices
- Incident response
Certification
- EC-Council Certified Incident Handler (ECIH) - Dec 2024
- CompTIA CySA+ - Dec 2022 | CompTIA Security+ - Jul 2021 | CSAP - Dec 2022
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals - Jul 2021 | Azure Administrator - Jul 2021
- Microsoft Certified: Information Protection Administrator - Nov 2022 | Identity & Access Administrator - Oct 2022
- APISEC University: OWASP API Security Top 10 and Beyond!
- Fortinet Certified Associate in Cybersecurity - Jan 2025
TRAINING
- AI Security
- Training OWASP API Security
- CCNA Routing & Switching (200-125)
- IBM Enterprise Security in Practice
- EC-Council: ISO/IEC 27001:2022
- Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC)
Timeline
Cybersecurity administrator
Logistec
01.2026 - 05.2026
Lead IT & Cybersecurity Professional
AARC Consultants
04.2025 - 01.2026
IT Security Analyst II
Parker Wellbore
04.2024 - 04.2025
IT Support Specialist
AARC Environmental
10.2019 - 04.2024
Cybersecurity Analyst
Alert Logic
04.2019 - 07.2019
Cybersecurity Analyst (Trainee)
Exchange Hub - Atlanta, Georgia
12.2018 - 03.2019
Master of Engineering - Communication And Computer Engineering
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
Bachelor of Engineering - Electronic Engineering
Mehran University of Engineering & Technology