About – David Barrera | CritSec, Zurich

Career

The short version. Company names and references gladly shared in a personal conversation.

2014
OFFENSIVE

Started in penetration testing

Defending systems starts with understanding how they are attacked. Foundations in network, system and application security.

2016
FORENSICS

GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst

Moving to the investigation side: host and memory forensics, timeline analysis and defensible documentation following SANS methodology.

SOC
LEADERSHIP

Built and led a 24/7 SOC

Follow-the-sun operations at an IT service provider across two continents, serving tier-1 Swiss banks: processes, tooling, detection content and team leadership.

IR
DETECTION

Incident response and detection engineering

IR programme in the insurance sector: account-compromise playbooks, detection content, a threat intelligence framework and forensic readiness.

2026
CRITSEC

CISSP and full-time independence

Since 2026 working exclusively as an independent consultant: incident response, security operations and interim leadership across the DACH region.

Outside of work

I serve in a volunteer militia fire brigade, completed military leadership training, and have worked medical and security staff roles at large events for years. Calm communication and leadership in situations with real consequences are not theory to me. Aviation is another passion: an industry whose safety culture of checklists, clear responsibilities and honest error handling maps directly onto my work. The rest of my free time belongs to the workshop and a home lab where new tools are tested before they ever touch a client network.

Discuss a project or an incident?

Reachable by email or directly by phone. Initial assessment, no strings attached.

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