Meet the Team

The Black Hills Information Security Active SOC delivers around-the-clock defensive operations for our clients. Our team of Defensive Analysts, Operators, and Specialists investigates threats, conducts digital forensics and incident response, and proactively hunts for adversary activity across client environments. Backed by a dedicated Security Engineering team, we build and maintain the automation, detection logic, and infrastructure that keep our operations fast, accurate, and scalable.

Ashwin Balasubramanya

Defensive Operator

Ashwin Balasubramanya joined the team at Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) in Summer 2022 as a SOC Operator. In this position, he investigates potential incidents and protects the organization against cyberattacks. He chose BHIS because “out in the market, there is no other company which provides the opportunities and trains their employees with the required knowledge to move forward in this field.” Previously, Ashwin worked as a solution engineer at Diligent building GRC solutions using Terraform, as well as a QA at MediaMonks. When he’s not working, he enjoys playing chess, reading books, and taking long drives.

Brian Ireland

Security Engineer

Brian Ireland joined Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) in July 2022 as an Elastic Engineer. He is responsible for supporting the SOC around the SIEM operations. Brian previously spent 12 yrs as a security analyst in the regulated and non-regulated utility space. He chose BHIS because of the opportunity to explore new technology and work with a motivated team. He says the best part is the freedom to challenge himself to come up with creative and effective security measures. When he’s not working, Brian enjoys camping and hitting the trails in the Black Hills, and working on personal projects.

Danielle Sheninger

SOC Project Manager

Danielle Sheninger is the SOC Project Manager at Black Hills Information Security. Since joining BHIS in June 2026, she has focused on building the processes and workflows that move projects from idea to completion, ensuring work is tracked, prioritized, and consistently moving forward. Working across the entire Security Operations Center, she collaborates with analysts, detection engineers, and leadership to keep teams aligned, deadlines visible, and initiatives on track.

Before joining BHIS, Danielle served as a Process Improvement Manager at TDIndustries, where she redesigned core operational systems spanning finance, reporting, and workflow management for a large facilities organization. Prior to that, she spent more than five years at American Campus Communities leading Accounts Payable and vendor compliance teams, driving process improvements that resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual savings.

Outside of work, Danielle enjoys exploring Central Texas nurseries and collecting plants. She is also the founder of a nonprofit organization that brings engagement and enrichment programs to residents of underfunded assisted living communities, often volunteering alongside her children to foster meaningful connections across generations.

David Rushing

Defensive Operator

David Rushing joined Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) as, first, an Intern in early 2023, and then became a full-time Detection Engineer in August 2023. In this role, he researches, designs, develops, tests, documents, deploys and maintains detections, analytics, and metrics for the SOC team. Previously, David was an offensive network operator for the Navy Red Team and the NSA. He chose BHIS because he enjoyed their content and likes the team he gets to be a part of. Outside of work, David can be found mountain biking, playing video games, and spending time with his family.

Eric Capuano

Director of SOC Operations

Eric Capuano is the Director of SOC Operations at Black Hills Information Security. He is an InfoSec Founder, Practitioner, Trainer, Advisor, SANS DFIR Instructor, and Member of the IANS Faculty with nearly two decades of experience in Security Operations, Digital Forensics, and Incident Response. He began his Information Security career as a Tactics Developer for the United States Air Force, later transitioning to Cyber Warfare Operations. After his military service, Eric led cybersecurity operations across private and government sectors. In his spare time, Eric shares technical training labs on his blog at https://blog.ecapuano.com, enjoys music festivals, and loves finding ways to blend AI with his passions for cybersecurity, music, and home automation.

Haseeb Khan

Principal Defensive Specialist

Haseeb Khan joined Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) on November 24th, 2025, as a Principal Defensive Specialist.

Haseeb Khan brings over 10 years of IT, SOC, and cybersecurity expertise to the team. Having navigated the complex security needs of defense contractors, public sector organizations, and multiple MDR operations, Haseeb is a seasoned defender against modern cyber threats. Off the clock, he is an avid golfer and world traveler.

Hayden Covington

Associate Director of Security Operations

Hayden Covington is the Associate Director of Security Operations at Black Hills Information Security. With nearly a decade of experience in Security Operations, Detection Engineering, and Incident Response, he leads detection engineering efforts, operationalizes threat intelligence processes, and oversees day-to-day SOC operations across a diverse customer base.

Prior to joining BHIS in 2022, Hayden worked as a SOC Analyst at Newport News Shipbuilding (Huntington Ingalls Industries), where he served on the incident response team and focused on insider threat analysis and SOAR engineering. When he’s not working, Hayden can be found doing anything athletic (like triathlons!), as well as enjoying reading, astrophotography, and Formula 1.

Hermon Kidane

Defensive Analyst

Coming soon.

Josh Haudricourt

Partner Success Manager

Josh Haudricourt is a Partner Success Manager at Black Hills Information Security. He joined BHIS in July 2026 and works closely with SOC partners to answer questions, strengthen client relationships, and help deliver an exceptional customer experience.

Before joining BHIS, Josh spent more than 12 years in security compliance and customer relations, building lasting relationships and helping organizations navigate complex compliance requirements.

Outside of work, Josh is a musician who plays 11 instruments, enjoys restoring and showing classic cars, and loves playing tennis and volleyball.

Kiersten Gross

Security Engineer

Kiersten Gross is a Security Engineer at Black Hills Information Security (BHIS). He joined the team in 2021 as a SOC Operator, where he focused on log analysis and attack identification before transitioning into a security engineering role. Today, Kiersten builds and maintains internal tooling to streamline operations and strengthen the team’s capabilities. He enjoys leveraging programming to tackle complex challenges when the situation calls for it.

Kiersten chose BHIS because they are trailblazers in the industry and he believes that the work done at BHIS contributes to the community. He loves that he gets to live in his small hometown while still being a part of the tech industry. Outside of work, Kiersten enjoys hunting, going to archery shoots as an amateur competitor, and Annie Oakley trapshooting (shotguns).

Kyle Hubert

Principal Defensive Specialist

Over the course of eight years, Kyle was on a US Air Force Cyber Protection Team responsible for leading roughly 30 threat hunters/incident responders on missions to protect military networks and infrastructure across the globe. He also served as the head of the training and research and development teams, which supported roughly 100 people. Most recently, Kyle was a government contractor working with an Intelligence Community customer to integrate agentic AI into their detection engineering and analytics workflows.

Lance McNeese

Defensive Analyst

Lance McNeese joined Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) in early 2025 as a SOC Analyst. In this role, he assists in monitoring and analyzing client networks, investigates potential alerts, and documents the details of incidents. Previously, Lance worked in the family landscaping and lawncare business at the start of age 14, until at 22, he decided to change careers and start in cybersecurity. He chose BHIS because of the opportunity to give back to the community and work with like-minded individuals. Outside of work, Lance can be found folding super-complex origami (The Divine Dragon by Satoshi Kamiya is a favorite), going on long hikes with his wife, and baking gluten-free goodies.

Neeraj Shetty

Senior Defensive Operator

Neeraj Shetty joined Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) in Summer 2022 as a SOC Operator. In this role, he investigates suspicious activities, and documents and reports on any information security issues as well as emerging trends. He chose BHIS because “cybersecurity is a booming industry, and risk & security has always been my domain, but working as a SOC Operator at BHIS would give me a different exposure and a chance to work with the client directly.” His previous work includes positions as a Senior Solution engineer at Diligen and as a Senior QA engineer at MetricStream. Outside of work, Neeraj enjoys staying fit playing soccer and badminton, and learning nursery rhymes with his young son.

Pratap Shetty

Defensive Analyst

Pratap joined Black Hills Information Security in April 2026 as a Defensive Analyst on the ActiveSOC team. In this role, he investigates and documents security alerts across a range of customer environments, escalating real threats to customers and tuning out the noise along the way.

Prior to BHIS, Pratap spent 14 years as a Quality Engineer at Accenture Solutions Pvt Ltd. A long-standing passion for cyber security eventually pulled him into the field full time, and BHIS gave him that opportunity — he could not have asked for a better place to make the switch. The best part of working here is the people, a team that shares knowledge openly and makes it easy to learn something new every day.

Outside of work, Pratap enjoys staying active by playing badminton, diving into PlayStation games, and following the thrill of Formula 1. Most of all, he treasures spending quality time playing with his daughter.

Scott Johnson

Defensive Operator

Scott Johnson joined Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) as a SOC Intern in the spring of 2022 and became a full-time SOC Operator later that winter. He helps monitor and investigate alerts to come into the SOC. He was previously a submarine machinist’s mate for the U.S. Navy and also worked in the oil and gas industry in North Dakota. Having enjoyed the work during his internship, Scott chose BHIS because of the friendly and helpful atmosphere and the people he works alongside. When he’s not working, he enjoys fishing, playing board games, and spending time with his wife and son.

Timothy Johnson

Associate Director of Security Engineering

Timothy (TJ) Johnson joined Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) in the Summer of 2024 as a SOC Platform Engineer. In this role, he maintains the SOC infrastructure — from data ingestion to parsing and enrichment. Previously, Timothy was a SecDevOps engineer for Recon InfoSec. He chose BHIS because of the impact they have on the infosec community and their mission alignment with his own personal goals for improving security posture for organizations and spreading knowledge throughout the industry. He thinks the best part is everyone’s joy for their job and the open communication even in a remote-work position. Outside of work, Timothy loves spending time roughhousing and playing video games with his young boys, listening to music and collecting vinyl records, and weight lifting.

Tom DeJong

Senior Defensive Operator

Tom DeJong originally joined Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) in October 2022 as an Intern but came on full-time in May 2023. He operates as part of the Systems team, as well as doing work as a SOC Operator. Tom first heard of BHIS on Darknet Diaries, and he started listening to their weekly webcast and attending online classes; he made it his goal to work for them after graduation. Prior to working at BHIS, he was working at a company that offered tech support to POS systems in the service industry, and he is still in school as a student. His favorite part of his job is the workplace’s strong team mentality. Outside of work, Tom enjoys outdoor activities like snowboarding, rock climbing, and disc golfing.

Whitney Champion

SOC Engineering Director

Whitney is the SOC Engineering Director at Black Hills Information Security. She is a security architect, advisor, trainer, and InfoSec founder with over 15 years of experience in designing and automating security infrastructure. She began her journey as a web and flash developer and sysadmin in the 90s and early 2000s, and after college became a security analyst for the U.S. Navy. Her work spans building advanced security platforms, managing complex multi-environment deployments, and architecting comprehensive solutions that integrate cutting-edge tools and technologies. With extensive experience in both the private and public sectors, she excels at automating and orchestrating large-scale environments and streamlining security operations. In her spare time, she enjoys making weird art, 3D printing, music festivals, and mom-ing with her 3 girls.