At Our Roots

While paying the bills as a physical penetration tester and red teaming instructor, Deviant Ollam also sits on the Board of Directors of the US division of TOOOL — The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers — for the past 14 years, acting as the the nonprofit’s longest-serving board member. His books Practical Lock Picking and Keys to the Kingdom are among Syngress Publishing’s best-selling pen testing titles. In addition to being a lockpicker, Deviant is also a SAVTA certified safe technician, a GSA certified safe and vault inspector, member of the International Association of Investigative Locksmiths, a Life Safety and ADA Consultant, and an NFPA Fire Door Inspector. At multiple annual security conferences Deviant started Lockpick Village workshop areas, and he has conducted physical security training sessions for Black Hat, the SANS Institute, DeepSec, ToorCon, HackCon, ShakaCon, HackInTheBox, ekoparty, AusCERT, GovCERT, CONFidence, the FBI, the NSA, DARPA, the National Defense University, Los Alamos National Lab, the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the United States Military Academy at West Point.

In his limited spare time, Deviant enjoys loud moments with lead acceleration and quiet times with podcasts. He arrives at airports too early and shows up at parties too late, but will promptly appear right on time for tacos or whiskey.

Dr. Treston Wheat is a Sr. Intelligence & Geopolitical Research Consultant with Pine Risk Management specializing in geopolitical risk and red teaming. Previously, he worked within Meta’s Global Security Risk Management division as a lead analyst, focusing on threat actor/TTP research, wargaming, and alternative analysis. He has extensive experience in academia and big tech. Dr. Wheat teaches Intel Analysis at Georgetown University, and has built and maintained intelligence capabilities at Fortune 40 companies including Microsoft and Meta. In addition to his corporate and academic work, Dr. Wheat also:

• Received his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville focused on national security and warfare tactics. 
• Was selected as the winner of the inaugural Andrew W. Marshall Paper Prize on Future Reconfigurations in Asia 2045 (2022)
• Publishes analysis for InsightForward (IF), a thought leader in geopolitical and strategic risk based in the UK. 
• Was part of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ National Security Fellows Program 2022

Atticus is a security consultant and risk management advisor for Pine Risk Management, focused on specialized programs that protect high-value assets. Atticus’s career has revolved around building high performing security functions, and testing their effectiveness to ensure critical assets are kept safe and secure. His experience has showcased his operational capabilities and technical skills, enabling him to support clients across many domains and environments with security programs, technology, and creative solutions to difficult problems. He has extensive experience working with Fortune 100 companies, US Defense Contractors, Crypto Startups, and Private NGOs. Holding a BA and an MS from Golden Gate University, his studies have focused on applied theory in Organizational Leadership, Human Skill Development, Influence, and Conflict Management. Atticus served as a US Marine abroad, developing a deep appreciation for the potential, both positive and negative, that resides in humanity. He enjoys cultivating resilience and capability where they are needed most.

Brian M. served 20 years as a U.S. Marine aviator retiring in 2016, specializing in amphibious operations planning, aviation planning, and red team decision support. Since retirement, Brian continues his passionate work teaching and training the next generation of leaders and decision makers at various government and military agencies. Brian contributed to the U.S. Army’s Red Team Handbook and has been interviewed by red team, intelligence, and security leaders for major publications, including Bryce Hoffman’s Red Teaming, Beyond Your Limits by Rob Dubois, and the Ontic Protective Intelligence Podcast. In addition, Brian is an experienced red teaming and applied critical thinking instructor for the following agencies:

• Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
• U.S. Marine Corps
• National Geospatial Intelligence Agency College
• Joint Improvised Threat Defeat Organization (JIDO)
• Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)
• U.S. Arm University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies (UFMCS)

Dan is an experienced cybersecurity and information security practitioner focused on aiding public sector, educational institutions, and small/medium businesses in securing the systems that allow them to achieve their missions. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Master’s of Science in Security Technologies (MSST) program, and works for the university as the Principal IT Auditor. As a security expert, Dan holds multiple industry-leading certificates including the CISSP, CISA, and Certified Penetration Tester (GPEN), along with extensive experience and training related to cybersecurity, internal audit, IT auditing, and critical infrastructure protection.

Dan helps clients remain compliant, operational, and secure. As a security consultant, he works with in-house teams to aid in auditing procedures, or conducts third-party audits of critical systems to ensure clients can prevent, detect, and respond to information security incidents as they happen. Prior to his work at the University of Minnesota, Dan helped protect the U.S. mail infrastructure working at the USPS Office of the Inspector General by overseeing red team assessments, developing rules of engagement for USPS’s wireless networks, and hacking Post Office systems and partnering with cybersecurity coworkers to fix systems and protect U.S. infrastructure.