Open to opportunities

Brian Hostetler

@brianhostetler

I am a senior cybersecurity leader specializing in defensive cyber operations, cloud security, and mission-critical infrastructure.

United States

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What I'm looking for

I am seeking senior leadership roles in cybersecurity or cloud security where I can lead defensive operations, scale mission-critical programs, mentor teams, and reduce risk through measurable remediation and capability maturity improvements.

I am a cybersecurity leader with extensive experience directing defensive cyber operations, cloud and infrastructure security, and enterprise IT teams supporting mission-critical space launch programs. I have led multi-million-dollar integration and defensive engineering efforts, including a $1.7M cybersecurity integration contract, delivery of a $28M threat-hunting system, and resourcing a $12M infrastructure baselining project that exposed 20K threats and 120 flaws. I secure program funding, negotiate mission-focused investments, and translate technical risk into operational outcomes.

I specialize in threat hunting, incident response, RMF/A&A, and cloud security across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, and I hold CISSP, PMP, GCIH, CSM, and Azure Fundamentals certifications. I lead and mentor cross-functional teams, develop training aligned to the NICE Framework, and drive measurable vulnerability remediation, capability maturity, and operational resilience.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

AI Writing Evaluator

Current

Outlier AI

Jun 2024 - Present (1 year 2 months)

Write and rank original prompts and AI model responses, editing 30+ outputs to improve accuracy, factuality, and code quality while providing detailed reasoning for rankings.

Prompt Engineering Response Ranking Technical Editing AI Safety

Current

Director, Cyberspace Support

Current

645th Cyberspace Squadron

Jan 2022 - Present (3 years 7 months)

Directed cyberspace integration and IT program branch, leading a $1.7M cybersecurity integration contract and executing 14 defensive engineering integration projects; supervised deployment of a $28M threat-hunting system and secured $1.7M plus negotiated $2M additional DCO funding.

Threat Hunting Vulnerability Assessment Budget Management Project Management Security Operations

Director, Operations Flight

45th Space Communications Squadron

Aug 2020 - Jan 2022 (1 year 5 months)

Directed a 64-person IT team supporting 5.7K users and $98M in assets, achieved top vulnerability hygiene ranking and remediated 32K vulnerabilities while overseeing 70 projects valued at $145M.

Leadership Network Security Vulnerability Management Incident Response Program Management

Section Chief, System Administration

45th Space Communications Squadron

Feb 2020 - Aug 2020 (6 months)

Planned and directed IT operations for $20M virtualized data centers, led an 8-member team to complete 40 complex projects and implemented continuity programs that improved MTTR by 90%.

System Administration Virtualization Hyper Converged Infrastructure Scrum Project Management Disaster Recovery Team Leadership

IT Operations Lead

17th Operational Weather Squadron

Jun 2014 - Feb 2020 (5 years 8 months)

Led four tech refreshes that increased a $2.5M network's operational capabilities 200% and saved $700K; built custom applications reducing 4K annual hours and saving $2M while authoring 40 SOPs and triaging multiple incidents.

IT Operations Automation)Web Development SOP Development DISA STIGs)Project Management

Air Force Education with Industry Fellow

Counter Hack Challenges / SANS Institute

Sep 2018 - Jul 2019 (10 months)

Selected to exchange offensive and defensive cybersecurity practices with industry leaders; developed SANS cloud security training, built 4 NetWars cyber ranges, and contributed to DevSecOps and threat intelligence content.

Offensive Security Cloud Security DevSecOps Python PowerShell Training Development Threat Intelligence

Sr. Systems/Security Administrator

Naval Communications and Telecommunications Master Station P

May 2013 - Jun 2014 (1 year 1 month)

Served as senior technical lead for the MUOS program, supervised 14 administrators in a 24/7 environment, and led O&M of servers, firewalls, NIDS/IDS, ACAS, and key management ensuring security for 745 endpoints.

MUOS WCDMA Systems Administration Database Administration Firewalls IDS Vulnerability Management SIEM

Sr. Network Analyst

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) - Pacific

Jul 2012 - Feb 2013 (7 months)

Supported USPACOM and theater customers to maintain DISN availability with 98% uptime, led monitoring and incident response, and reported 30 violations to CYBERCOM to preserve mission capabilities.

Network Analysis DISN Operations Monitoring Incident Response Security Posture

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

American Public University System

Master of Science, Information Assurance and Security

Master of Science in Information Technology with a concentration in Information Assurance and Security from American Public University System, completed in 2024.