Threat Detection Security Analyst

Can relocate to anywhere in US

Damodhar Pai

San Francisco, CA **************@*****.*** 857-***-**** LinkedIn GitHub TryHackMe HackTheBox PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Cybersecurity Engineer with 5+ years of experience in Security Operations and 3 years in Detection Engineering. Proficient in building threat detection mechanisms using Splunk ES, automation with Palo Alto Cortex XSOAR, and performing proactive threat hunting. Skilled in Python-based automation, cloud technologies (AWS), and leveraging tools like YARA/SIGMA rules and MITRE ATT&CK. Experienced with firewalls, EDR, intrusion detection systems, and authentication technologies. Strong analytical skills with a proven ability to enhance security posture and reduce incident response times. WORK EXPERIENCE

Boston University

Graduate Research Assistant May 2024 – Dec 2024

• Improved ML-based threat detection accuracy by training CNN classifiers on adversarial datasets (+2.62%).

• Developed YARA/SIGMA rules for spear phishing detection, reducing false positives by 6%.

• Conducted proactive threat hunting using endpoint logs and network telemetry to identify anomalous behaviors.

• Under Prof. Shengzi Zhang mentored 35 students in CS695: Cybersecurity, guiding labs on malware analysis, SIEM tools, and IR playbooks to bridge theoretical and practical skills. Micron Technology

Associate Security Analyst/Engineer Dec 2021 – Feb 2023

• Developed and optimized over 20 custom detection rules in Splunk, reducing false positives by 30% and improving threat detection accuracy.

• Automated compliance workflows with Palo Alto Cortex XSOAR, reducing policy violation response time by 4%.

• Developed Python scripts to streamline audit evidence collection, saving over 10 hours per month.

• Created custom SOAR playbooks for automated threat containment, reducing false positives by 3%.

• Collaborated with Threat Intelligence team to analyze TTPs (MITRE ATT&CK) and deploy IOCs into detection systems.

Cognizant Technology Solutions

Programmer Analyst Trainee - Infosec Jul 2021 – Nov 2021

• Developed playbooks to automate threat containment (e.g., brute-force attacks), reducing response time by 3%.

• Deployed Splunk dashboards for anomaly detection and automated incident response, improving visibility by 3%.

• Integrated AWS CloudWatch logs with SIEM workflows, reducing critical alert response time by 5%. Cognovative Technologies and Solutions

Network Security Intern Mar 2021 – Jul 2021

• Performed initial investigation on the alerts and escalate the incident to higher group where ever needed.

• Triaging all kind of alerts through SIEM console in customer environment which reduced the false positive by 2%. Nuclear Power Corporation (Nuclear Power Plant) Dec 2019 – Mar 2021 Security Analyst

• Perform investigation of suspicious emails reported by users and escalate for any True Positive incidents.

• Act as a Point of contact throughout the Incident Life cycle (Provide additional evidences as requested by stakeholders).

• Co-ordinating with various teams (Security Engineering) and support groups for malware containment and remediation. EDUCATION

Boston University Master’s degree - Cybersecurity (GPA:3.78) 2023 – 2025 KLE Technological University Bachelor’s degree - Electronics and Communication 2017 - 2021 INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS

DefensorAI: ML Based Phishing detection System Python, BERT, BiLSTM, XGBoost [Github]

• Developed a phishing email classifier achieving 95% accuracy using BERT-based NLP models.

• Built a hybrid BiLSTM-XGBoost model for phishing URL detection with an accuracy of 94%. ACHIEVEMENTS AND CERTIFICATIONS

• Certified CompTIA Security+ JNCIA -Junos (Juniper Networks) Blue Team Analyst (Security Blue Teams).

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