ASHWAN RICHARDS
Virginia Beach,Virginia
Summary
Highly accomplished Cybersecurity professional and Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) Administrator with over 11 years of experience in DoD enterprise environments. Expert in SIEM architecture, large-scale migrations, and automated threat hunting. Proven success in orchestrating enterprise-wide Splunk upgrades (v10.2.3) and developing standardized security reporting frameworks that enhance organizational threat visibility.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Splunk Administrator / Security Analyst
ZealRiver Technology Inc. (Contractor)
Dam Neck Naval Base, VA
04.2024 - Current
- Enterprise SIEM Migration & Engineering: Spearheaded the successful technical migration and upgrade of the Splunk environment to multiple versions, (latest 10.2.3) ensuring zero downtime and full compatibility with existing security stacks.
- Architectural Oversight: Administering the full Splunk infrastructure, including Search Head Clusters, Indexer Clusters, and Universal/Heavy Forwarder (UF/HF) deployments; managed RBAC and retention policies to maintain strict security standards.
- Data Normalization & Integration: Expertly onboarded and normalized logs from Active Directory, Windows/Linux servers, Cisco Firepower (FTD)/ISE, ACAS, and HBSS, ensuring all data is CIM-compliant for effective analysis.
- High-Fidelity Dashboard Engineering: Designed and maintained 10+ mission-critical dashboards (authentication activity, compliance, and network traffic) that provide real-time Cyber Navy–compliant visibility for executive leadership and audits.
- Security Orchestration & Reporting: Developing a systematic Daily Network Security Reporting process to identify and mitigate anomalous traffic spikes and unauthorized authentication attempts across the enterprise.
- Advanced Threat Hunting: Created and tuned 15+ correlation searches and actionable alerts to detect malicious patterns, significantly reducing the "mean time to detect" (MTTD) for critical vulnerabilities.
- Supported incident response, investigations, and threat hunting through multi-source log correlation.
- Standardized Continuity (SOPs): Authoring comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and technical documentation for dashboards, alerts, and data sources to ensure seamless operational continuity.
Cyber Network Infrastructure Defense Specialist
United States Navy
Honolulu, HI
02.2021 - 03.2024
- Cyber Mission Support & Analytics: Collected and analyzed over 100 TB of PCAP data utilizing Splunk and ELK stacks to visualize and mitigate high-priority security threats across enterprise environments.
- Infrastructure Hardening & Defense: Installed and secured 73+ Cisco ASA firewalls and enterprise switches, establishing a robust defense posture for mission-critical network segments.
- Network Resilience & Optimization: Engineered and rebuilt legacy network architectures to achieve 99.9% uptime with zero deficiencies, significantly improving operational reliability.
- Strategic Asset Management: Directed the accountability and technical readiness of 742+ network assets valued at over $16M, ensuring 100% inventory compliance.
- Technical Leadership & Mentorship: Served as Operations Lead Petty Officer (LPO), mentoring 30+ personnel in cyber defense workflows and qualifying 10 Network Technicians and 7 CCNA candidates.
Information Systems Watch Officer
United States Navy
Mayport, FL
08.2017 - 09.2020
- Systems Administration & Interoperability: Administered complex maritime systems including CANES, GCCS-M, NTCSS, TBMCS, and CENTRIX, ensuring 24/7 operational readiness and cross-platform communication.
- Full-Stack Network Operations: Orchestrated the resolution of 4,173+ technical incidents involving routing, switching, next-generation firewalls, Active Directory, Exchange, SQL, and VMware environments.
- Personnel Leadership & Mission Continuity: Supervised a high-tempo team of 16 personnel managing 500+ enterprise network assets, consistently maintaining a 99.97% system uptime rate.
- Endpoint Security & Malware Mitigation: Leveraged HBSS to proactively detect and eradicate malicious activity, leading the successful remediation of 17 confirmed malware incidents.
- Advanced Infrastructure Engineering: Managed robust network configurations including Cisco ISE, VLAN segmentation, ACL implementation, and enterprise routing protocols (OSPF, BGP, and GRE tunneling).
- Automation & Process Optimization: Engineered custom scripts using PowerShell and Bash to automate repetitive tasks, significantly increasing team efficiency and reducing configuration errors.
- Disaster Recovery Planning: Developed and validated comprehensive Disaster Recovery (DR) and Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans to safeguard mission-critical communication channels.
Tech Support Specialist
United States Navy
Honolulu, HI
09.2013 - 06.2017
- System Deployment & Administration: Managed the installation and lifecycle maintenance of 54+ high-performance workstations and 48+ enterprise user accounts, ensuring hardware readiness and resource availability
- Tiered Technical Support: Delivered high-impact Tier 1 and Tier 2 technical support for a diverse user base of 75+, resolving complex hardware, software, and connectivity issues to minimize operational downtime.
- Security & Access Compliance: Conducted systematic audits of Active Directory objects and user permissions, ensuring 100% alignment with strict Navy security protocols and compliance standards.
- Network Infrastructure Support: Supported mission-critical LAN operations and structured cabling projects while managing high-volume ticket queues to maintain superior service level agreements (SLAs).
Education
Bachelor of Science - Cybersecurity Technology
University of Maryland Global Campus
11-2027
NETWORK ENGINEERING & INFRASTRUCTURE EXPERIENCE
- Designed, deployed, secured, and maintained enterprise-scale routed and switched networks.
- Administered Cisco routers, switches, ASA firewalls, and Palo Alto firewalls.
- Configured VLANs, ACLs, STP, OSPF, BGP, and GRE tunneling.
- Performed Layer 1–3 troubleshooting across copper, fiber, and wireless infrastructure.
- Managed Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) for network access control.
- Conducted packet-level analysis using PCAP, Wireshark, and Gigavue.
- Integrated network telemetry into Splunk ES for security monitoring and incident response.
Certification
- Splunk Core Certified Power User (Valid through Dec 2028)
- Splunk Enterprise Security Certified Admin (Valid through Dec 2028)
- CompTIA SecurityX
- CompTIA CloudNetX (Valid through Dec 2028)
- CompTIA CySA+, PenTest+, Security+
- Cisco CCNA (Previously held – expired Feb 2026)
Timeline
Splunk Administrator / Security Analyst
ZealRiver Technology Inc. (Contractor)
04.2024 - Current
Cyber Network Infrastructure Defense Specialist
United States Navy
02.2021 - 03.2024
Information Systems Watch Officer
United States Navy
08.2017 - 09.2020
Tech Support Specialist
United States Navy
09.2013 - 06.2017
Bachelor of Science - Cybersecurity Technology
University of Maryland Global Campus