Marco Palacios is the President of the Pacific Hackers Association and MDR Customer
Success Manager at Fortinet. He started his career in IT and spent over a decade in IT
operations before transitioning to Cybersecurity. A Blue teamer by heart, Marco has
spent the last eight years specializing in defending organizations and building and
implementing modern Security Operations. Marco is also a co-founder of the non-profit
Pacific Hackers Association (PHA). Through the PHA, he mentors and advocates for
veterans and underrepresented communities to help them find non-traditional paths in
the cybersecurity industry. He served in the United States Air Force and deployed as
part of “Operation Enduring Freedom.” He holds a Master’s in Cybersecurity, a
bachelor’s in information systems, and different industry cybersecurity certifications
such as GCIH, GMON, GNFA, GISF, GSEC, GCED, SSCP, CySA+, Net+, and A+.
