John Bambenek

John Bambenek is an information security practitioner and opinions journalist from Champaign, Illinois. As a graduate from the University of Illinois with a B.A. in Theoretical Astrophysics (emphasis in extragalactic astrophysics) and a minor in Mathematics, he has been employed as a project manager at Cap Gemini/ Ernst and Young, where he provided consulting services to numerous Fortune 500 firms. He continues to provide his expertise to the SANS Institute by authoring published course materials and exams. He also operates the charitable Tumaini Foundation, which provides funds and other needed resources to Tanzanian schools for AIDS orphans. He is currently studying for a Masters degree in Theology from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.

Information Security

As a research programmer for the Coordinated Science Lab at the University of Illinois–John is a nationally recognized expert in information security, and has written and contributed to numerous books, courses, and other publications. He is also known for his current work in spyware and botnet technology, and their use concerning identity theft. He is also a volunteer as an incident handler for the Internet Storm Center, and his research has been cited in various media venues such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Opinion Journalism Work

John is currently self-syndicated as a columnist, writing on politics, religion and current events for publications with a circulation of approximately 300,000 a day. As a former columnist for the Daily Illini, John now writes for his own blog, Part-Time Pundit, and contributes to several popular blog sites including: Blogcritics, Men’s News Daily, Illinois Review, Pro-Life Blogs, Stop the ACLU, and The Wide Awakes as well as having many columns appearing in print in newspapers throughout the state of Illinois. He has appeared and has been cited numerous times within the mainstream media, and has been appeared numerous times on radio. He currently also serves as assistant politics editor for Blogcritics Magazine.

Philanthropy

John is the executive director of Tumaini Foundation, which provides humanitarian relief to poor schools in Tanzania. The organization seeks to help AIDS orphans to obtain solid education so they can contribute to their communities and help Tanzania from within. He has also worked with numerous other charities, both domestic and international, to help those most in need.