Summary

Executive Technical Leader & Architect. As a Senior Principal Engineer within McAfee's Office of the CTO, I bridge the gap between experimental research and global-scale engineering. My career has evolved alongside the tech landscape—from pioneering mobile and IoT security to architecting the next generation of AI/ML cloud platforms. I lead a high-performing team focused on neutralizing threats through hybrid detection layers and real-time efficacy monitoring. Whether collaborating with teams in India, Ireland, or across the globe, my goal remains the same: solving the world's most complex consumer security problems through elegant, scalable, honest engineering.

Personal Projects

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ciretose.com

My "after hours" site with links to projects including Hash/Check, Squares!, and Cast/Snip.

Mostly Security Podcast logo
Mostly Security

Co-host of a weekly podcast started in November 2017, (mostly) about security and technology which allows me to stay current with industry trends and insights.

Professional Experience

McAfee logo
2004 – Present  ·  Portland, OR
Senior Principal Engineer
Office of the CTO  ·  2022 – Present
Directing a cross-functional organization of cybersecurity experts across AI, Threat Research, and Cloud Security. I bridge the gap between experimental R&D and global-scale engineering, coordinating strategies across engineering teams located in the US, Europe and India to deliver innovative solutions and strategic guidance to the executive board.
Key Achievements
  • Drove Subscriber Retention: Spearheaded the 2025 evolution of McAfee's AI Scam Detection, driving a >5% increase in retention among adopting cohorts. AI/ML
  • Uncompromising Efficacy: Scaled detection to millions of users, achieving >95% Recall/Precision with <1% FPR against real-world field data.
  • Hybrid Resilience Architecture: Implemented a multi-layered detection architecture (AI + Heuristic) to provide a resilience buffer during model retraining cycles, countering rapid shifts in smishing and phishing.
  • Real-Time Threat Ops: Pioneered a Real-Time Efficacy Dashboard, accelerating threat response capabilities from days to hour-by-hour intervals. Ops
  • Strategic Roadmapping: Secured executive buy-in and funding for the multi-year AI Efficacy roadmap, ensuring sustained investment in cutting-edge defensive capabilities.
Principal Engineer
Office of the CTO  ·  2017 – 2022
Directed the AI Research Technical Leadership Team and architected McAfee's next-generation cloud security platform, driving strategic initiatives that secured McAfee's competitive edge in the consumer market. Researched and developed proof-of-concepts for evolving security threats in corporate and consumer environments. Worked with customers and industry to understand the changing security landscape and define protection strategies.
Key Achievements
  • Architected for Global Scale: Designed and deployed cloud infrastructure processing over 6 billion security events daily.
  • Optimized Cloud Economics: Engineered high-throughput detection layers that balanced strict, high-bar threat efficacy with aggressive cloud cost optimization.
  • Industry Leadership: Steered the AI/ML and threat research roadmap, forging strategic partnerships to deliver first-class threat intelligence to customers and partners.
Architect & Engineering Leadership Roles
Various Divisions (IoT, Mobile, System Security)  ·  2004 – 2017
Progressed through senior engineering and architectural roles, driving the technical vision for McAfee's consumer, enterprise, and IoT security portfolios.
Key Achievements
  • Flagship Enterprise Integration: Led the technical architecture for McAfee’s flagship management console (ePolicy Orchestrator), directing teams of 40+ engineers to deliver Enterprise Mobility Management and core API frameworks.
  • Cross-Domain Architecture: Designed and prototyped scalable security solutions across emerging platforms, including early iOS/Android consumer apps, wearables, and secure IoT platforms (Helix Device Cloud) in partnership with Intel and WindRiver.
  • Global Product Delivery: Coordinated with distributed engineering teams across the US, India, and China to build and launch zero-to-one products like Intel Security Safe Family.
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Intel
2010 – 2017
Navigated Intel's acquisition of McAfee in 2010, continuing through the 2017 divestiture when I returned to the independent McAfee entity.
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Cohdoo
2010 – 2013
Co-founder — Built Highlight, an audio recording app that allowed users to embed real-time audio markers, then edit, share, and replay recordings. Designed for research and education markets. Developed the iPhone, iPad, and companion Mac apps.
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The Regence Group
2002 – 2004
Software Engineer
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Cenus Technology (later renamed Adara Networks)
2000 – 2002
Software Engineer
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Novell, Inc.
1994 – 2000
Software Engineer

Patents

Inventor on 10 issued and pending patents driving McAfee’s intellectual property portfolio across blockchain integration, IoT security, distributed networks, and AI threat mitigation.

  • US11245721: Using a blockchain for distributed denial of service attack mitigation
  • US11558355: Gateway with access checkpoint
  • US11128438: Systems, methods, and media for sharing IoT device profile data
  • US11201728: Data leakage mitigation with a blockchain
  • US20200304459: Systems, methods, and media for intelligent split-tunneling
  • WO2021222651: Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to securely audit communications
  • WO2019152123: Steganographic encoding detection and remediation
  • WO2021021573: Distribution of neural networks with blockchains
  • US20210342446: Cache system for consistent retrieval of related objects
  • US20210075681: Methods and apparatus for dynamic network classification