Ali Kazmi
Expert spotlight interview
What's the most underrated cyber skill of an ethical hacker?
Enumeration. That's when you gather as much information as possible about your target. People often rush towards exploitation – the actual attack – but understanding the environment properly is where the attack path really begins.
What is the biggest AI misconception in cyber security?
That AI replaces expertise. It can make a skilled person much faster, but you still need the knowledge to recognise when it's wrong.
What’s one habit every employee should adopt?
Pause and verify. Particularly when something is urgent, unusual, or involves credentials, money, or sensitive information.
Technology that worries you?
AI-enabled impersonation and social engineering, because distinguishing what's genuine is becoming increasingly difficult.
What's the minimum security a company should have?
If you give me 10 organisations, each will have a different security requirement. A small business with 10 employees might just need a firewall and antivirus programme. But one with hundreds of employees needs to have proper security mechanism like a security operation centre that monitors everything 24 hours a day.
Biography
Dr Muhammad Ali Kazmi completed his PhD in Cyber Security at London Metropolitan University. His research was focused on building SQL injection attack framework for automated penetration testing. Before starting his PhD, he was working as a Network Security Engineer. He has been working as a senior lecturer and cyber security expert since last 9 years. His core domains of interest are Ethical Hacking, Penetration Testing, Network Security, Information Security, Security Operation Centre (SOC), Computer Forensics.
Qualifications
- OffSec Experienced Penetration Tester (OSEP)
- OffSec Certified Professional (OSCP)
- Offensive Security Web Assessor (OSWA)
- OffSec Wireless Professional (OSWP)
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
- UK National Cyber Security Centre Certified in The Art of Hacking
- EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
- CompTIA Security+
- CCNA Enterprise
- CCNA Cyber Operations
Instructor Qualifications
- Offsec Certified Instructor
- Certified EC-Council Instructor (CEI)
- Cisco Certified Networking Academy Instructor
Career Experience
- 2018-Present - QA - Principal Learning Specialist Cyber Security
- 2014-2022 - London Metropolitan University - Associate Lecturer Cyber Security
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