Mark Dowd

Mark Dowd is a prominent figure in the cybersecurity industry, known for his expertise in vulnerability research and software security. He is currently the founder and director of Vigilant Labs, a company specializing in detecting unreported vulnerabilities.45

Career Highlights

Founder of Vigilant Labs:: After a brief hiatus, Dowd launched Vigilant Labs, which focuses on vulnerability research and detection of zero-day exploits.45

Co-founder of Azimuth Security:: Prior to Vigilant Labs, Dowd co-founded Azimuth Security with John McDonald. Azimuth Security was later acquired by L3Harris Technologies and became part of their Trenchant group.13

Extensive Experience:: Dowd brings over a decade of security experience to his roles. He has worked as:

• A senior researcher at IBM's Internet Security Systems (ISS) X-Force
• A principal security architect for McAfee
• An independent information security consultant1

Achievements and Contributions

Vulnerability Research:: Dowd has an impressive track record in identifying and helping to remediate critical security vulnerabilities in widely-used software such as Sendmail, Microsoft Exchange, OpenSSH, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Adobe Flash.13

Author:: He co-authored the book "The Art of Software Security Assessment," which is highly regarded in the field.12

Speaker:: Dowd regularly presents at industry conferences including BlackHat, CanSecWest, PacSec, and Ruxcon.1

Contest Winner:: He won the 2009 Google Native Client Security Contest.1

Current Focus

At Vigilant Labs, Dowd continues to work in the field of vulnerability research, with a particular emphasis on the market for zero-day vulnerabilities and how security mitigations affect the monetization of offensive security work.2

Mark Dowd is recognized as an "Internet Hacker" in professional circles, a term used to acknowledge his expertise in identifying and understanding software vulnerabilities.56