Charlene R. Kessler, CCE

(formerly Charlene R. West)

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Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia

Math/Computer Science, B. A.
May 1985

Certified Computer Examiner® (CCE®) certificate # 298
International Association of Forensic Computer Examiners® (ISFCE®)

Ms. Kessler is a well-organized individual able to work independently or on a team with the desire to contribute to the success of a quality organization.  She is dynamic, energetic and enthusiastic with strong presentation and excellent communication skills and the ability to motivate those around her to accomplish the company goals.

Ms. Kessler founded Above Board Consulting, Inc. in 2004 which focuses on Computer Forensics, Technology Management Consulting, and Computer and Network Security.  Her 20 years of experience in these areas is summarized below:

Forensic Experience

• During the past year, performed forensic recovery, preservation and analysis of computer systems in response to EEOC claims.  Maintain chain of custody and original images/documents per legal guidelines.

• Recovered deleted files for various clients for personal reasons.

• Two years of experience with responsibility for network security of large campus wide network with multiple UNIX and Windows Servers and end-user workstations.  Security role included the responsibility for preventing and detecting network intrusions and doing forensic analysis to identify inappropriate network access.

• Three years of responsibility for the design and implementation of the WAN and LAN access and security.  Responsibilities included securing the network and doing forensic analysis to identify potential hackers and prevent unauthorized access.

• Approximately 8 years of experience writing advanced administration scripts on UNIX for DNS, NFS, NIS(yp), sendmail, POP3, imap and http servers to track activity and system performance and monitor audit logs and notify administrators of potential problems.

Management of Information Services Experience

• Audited MIS operations of an Atlanta-based Healthcare provided and recommended changes and improvements to reduce support costs and improve SLA’s.
• In Technical Liaison role between BellSouth (our largest customer at the time) and our engineers had responsibility for the communications and problem resolution in order to improve product design and delivery.
• During traditional jobs and consulting engagements have training and experience in budgeting, project management and in the development and management of personnel.
• Worked in a consultative capacity to analyze the requirements of small government clients in order to improve the design of the software being marketed to those agencies.  Coordinated between the end-user clients to develop requirements and the engineers to implement those requirements.
• Built and managed a remarkable team of employees to support over 30 different types of Unix platforms for software development and operations for about local and remote employees and all the associated PC’s, databases and applications.
• Assisted numerous clients including hospitals, law firms, investment companies and manufacturing companies by helping to solved telephony, wireless, call center and network design problems.

Network Security Experience

• Penetration testing and GLB reports for a regional ISP.
• Network security design and implementation for a local city government.
• Implementation of secure wireless networks.
• Analyzed client networks to identify bottlenecks and vulnerabilities and recommended design changes to maximize the available resources and improve up-time and increase security.
• Training and experience implementing SourceFire Intrusion Detection Products.
• Implementation of Anti-Virus, Anti-Spam and Anti-Spyware software to protect networks.
• Experience with numerous network management packages including SunNet Manager, HP Openview and NG Sniffer. 
• Experience implementing security measures including prevention and intrusion detection on UNIX hosts and Local Area Networks.  Please note Network Security Experience listed under Forensics since there is overlap in this area.

General Technical Experience

• Authored and taught UNIX Administration, TCP/IP, Ethernet and X.25 courses.
• Certified numerous UNIX systems for Year 2000 compliance for 400-bed hospital, large automobile manufacturer, large bank and newspaper.
• Extensive technical experience in a variety of areas, including UNIX and Network Design, Implementation, and Administration.  Established and documented corporate network policies and standards.
• Extensive experience planning and managing local and wide area networks over Ethernet and Frame Relay using TCP/IP and IPX Protocols.  Have Novell experience and training.  Configuration, installation, and troubleshooting experience on Cisco routers and switches.
• Advanced UNIX systems administration and shell scripting skills on HP, IBM, SGI and Sun systems in a variety of environments including setup and maintenance of DNS, NFS, NIS(yp), sendmail, POP3, imap and http servers.

Above Board Consulting, Inc.	President and CEO	7/04 -- Present
Relational Technology Services	Business Development Manager	3/02 – 7/04
Self Employed	UNIX/Business Consultant	9/01 – 3/02
IKON Technology Services	Senior Business Developer	4/00 – 9/01
Self employed	UNIX/Business Consultant	1/99 - 4/00
Greenville Technical College	Adjunct Faculty	3/99 - 6/99
IPST	UNIX/Security Administrator	1/97 - 12/98
Digital Video	UNIX/Security Administrator	3/95 - 1/97
Uniface Corporation	Systems Engineer	9/93 - 3/95
Brock Control Systems	MIS Manager	9/91 - 8/93
Keogler, Morgan & Co.	MIS Manager	4/90 - 9/91
Convergent Technologies	Instructor & Course Developer	6/87 - 4/90
AT&T Information Systems	Systems Engineer	5/85 - 6/87
Emory University	Part Time: Teaching Assistant	1/84-5/84