Eric Wacker Email & Phone Number

Lake Forest, Illinois, Us

Evanston, Il, Us

In July 2020, my job description was completely rewritten to address the district's cybersecurity needs. Changes included an additional direct report (network engineer) and new duties include cybersecurity framework adherence, analysis of security policy & practices, developing network segmentation and automated network access control improvements, identifying and implementing intrusion detection and intrusion prevention systems, expanding a traditional perimeter defense to include a growing amount of data stored on 3rd party hosting services/cloud providers, identification and implementation of a SIEM/SOAR solution with 24x7 SOC support/event handling/threat hunting, automated vulnerability analysis, evaluating server configuration against hardening benchmarks, compliance with state and federal regulatory acts (COPPA, FERPA, CIPA, and SOPPA), end user cybersecurity awareness education efforts, overall risk assessment and mitigation efforts, development of incident response and business continuity plans (IR/BCPs), guiding annual 3rd party red-teaming/penetration testing efforts and the development and execution of remediation strategies following those auditing efforts. I continue to guide the district's computing infrastructure development and overall strategy, identify and allocate funding from federal and state programs (E-rate, ICN-funded bandwith, etc.), write RFPs, design and implement network and server infrastructure/solutions, etc.

Evanston, Il, Us

As the manager and technical lead for District 65's Technology Services group, I design our network and server infrastructure to be geared toward providing stable, distributed, and failover-provisioned services, to best support the school district's mission by providing maximum uptime without compromising security and delivering optimum value while minimizing costs for taxpayers. I work with the administration to help shape the district technology plan, specifically translating ideas and goals into implementable hardware and software solutions.I wear a lot of hats, and thus never feel like I'm truly an expert in any one technology, but as someone steeped in tech their whole life, I've developed a broad understanding across many areas, and a skill for learning exactly what I need to quickly in order to achieve goals and implement solutions quickly. Areas of strong expertise: Network architecture and design, HP/Procurve and Cisco/Meraki switching, Aruba & Meraki wireless deployments, Palo Alto security/firewall/VPN operations, Mitel VoIP system management, Google Apps deployment/management, Mac and iOS MDM/fleet management with JAMF Pro, unix shell scripting, and Microsoft Active Directory-related services.Moderate-level expertise: VMware ESXi/vSphere, Windows Server 2012R2, Ubuntu, FreeBSD, CentOS, and macOS Server system administration, Airwave / PRTG monitoring packages, and FatPipe WARP administration.Other things I do: performance reviews, budgeting, documentation, keeping things organized, and paying attention to the details.

Responsible for all aspects of support for two district schools (one K-5, the other 6-8.) Also provided technical expertise for the district's Level 1 technicians. Duties were extremely varied and included resolving software, hardware, and networking issues when they arose, maintenance of all technology-related resources, and instruction of teachers & staff.

Level 2.5 engineer for Apple available for public consultation at the "Genius Bar" in Apple retail. Performed hardware & software repairs (off the floor / back of house), performed triage to determine source of problem in 10-20 minute appointment at the bar, assisted & educated customers on OS, applications, computer & peripheral hardware. Assisted with training new geniuses.