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Kevin Dawson

IT & Security Administrator | Cloud & Endpoint Security

IT | Cyber Security | Cloud

My Resume

Professional Summary

Security-focused IT professional with hands-on experience implementing identity, endpoint, and cloud governance controls across Microsoft 365, Azure, and AWS environments. Proven success enabling Conditional Access, enforcing 2FA, driving Intune compliance, and deploying Microsoft Defender for Endpoint with real-time telemetry and incident response follow-through. Skilled in triaging threats, performing root cause analysis, and aligning systems to PCI-DSS, NIST, and ISO standards.

Designed and operated an AWS-based SOC lab that captured live malicious traffic—including SMB exploits and brute-force attacks—via honeypots and cloud-native detection tools such as GuardDuty, VPC Flow Logs, and CloudWatch. Integrated Splunk, Terraform, and Security Hub for log aggregation and visualization. Known for collaboration skills, building transparent governance frameworks, and delivering cross-functional security projects in both enterprise and nonprofit environments.

Certifications

  • CompTIA CySA+ (In Progress)
  • Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) – May 2024
  • ISC² Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) – Feb 2024
  • CompTIA Security+ – Dec 2023
  • CompTIA A+ – Mar 2023

Work Experience

IT & Security Administrator

NCCJ of the Triad, Greensboro, NC | 12/2023 – Present

  • Exported CVE inventory, patched top-5 critical apps, raising Microsoft Defender Secure Score by 25 pts in 1 week.
  • Purged 182 dormant Entra ID guest accounts and removed stale credentials, cutting attack surface by 35%.
  • Blocked non-U.S. logins via Conditional Access and disabled legacy protocols; enforced tenant-wide 2FA.
  • Eliminated 12 unmanaged/BYOD devices from Intune to improve compliance and reduce risk.
  • Built SharePoint security tracker for 20+ initiatives and migrated leaver data to a governed archive.
  • Reduced phishing risk by 25% with a tiered training program; launched internal IT portal and self-help guides.

IT Service Analyst

Allstate, Winston-Salem, NC | 09/2022 – Present

  • Resolved 1400+ support escalations with 84% SLA; automated triage with log parsing.
  • Cut endpoint exposure 40% by deploying CrowdStrike Falcon Sensors and hardening OS builds.
  • Spearheaded PCI-DSS compliance upgrades for 100+ endpoints and standardized EOL workflows.
  • Administered 2FA for 60,000+ users and created rollout playbooks.
  • Founded mentorship program covering Splunk, QRadar, CrowdStrike, and Proofpoint.

E-Commerce Account Coordinator

Hooker Furnishings, High Point, NC | 12/2019 – 10/2021

  • Generated $25M in revenue via data-driven Wayfair campaigns.
  • Improved product data compliance 75%, halving support tickets.

Earlier sales leadership roles available upon request.

Education

Bachelor of Digital Communication Studies – University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Competencies

  • Security Ops: Incident Response, SIEM (Splunk), EDR, IDS, Threat Intel, Root Cause Analysis
  • Cloud & Infra: AWS (EC2, VPC, CloudWatch), Azure, Linux, Intune, Terraform, VMware
  • Governance & Tools: IAM, Entra ID, NIST CSF, PCI-DSS, PowerShell, Python, GitHub Actions

Projects

Security Findings

Interactive infographic displaying GuardDuty findings, attack patterns, and key takeaways from my cloud honeypot lab.

View Findings →

AWS SOC Lab Terraform

Terraform modules for deploying AWS SOC infrastructure: includes EC2 provisioning, subnet segmentation, security groups, and CloudWatch dashboard automation.

View Repo →

AWS SOC Lab

AWS-based Security Operations Center (SOC) lab simulating real-world attacks using Dionaea and Cowrie honeypots. Includes structured VPCs, GuardDuty, Security Hub, CloudTrail, VPC Flow Logs, and CloudWatch integration with real-time telemetry piped to Splunk for visualization and triage.

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Cloud Resume Challenge

Static portfolio site deployed on AWS (S3, CloudFront, Route 53) with CI/CD via GitHub Actions. Serverless API integration with Lambda + DynamoDB for tracking visitor analytics.

View Repo →