FIFO Networks

Now offering personal cybersecurity setup for journalists, stalking victims and others. DM me or use the "Contact Us" page on the FIFO Networks website. It's only me. You'll be communicating directly with me.

Most of my income: network and cybersecurity projects for public utilities.
Most of my time: IT services by the hour for companies too small to have an in-house IT staff, including SOHO businesses and residential.
I also unlock computers and do data recovery and account recovery for people when a loved one dies. (Advice: keep paying their cell phone bill until you've got all their data back, and if they used a smartwatch, keep it charged and ready).

Network design assistance (both wired and wireless).
Cybersecurity assistance: policy, design, implementation, training.
Training at all levels for IT and RF engineers and technicians.
Expert witness services in cases involving data or wireless networks.
Crisis resolution.
Emergency interim management.
Clients include hospitals and many public utilities (electric, gas, water), nationwide.

Licensed and insured.

Sole Proprietor, Consultant - IT Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Management 

Wireless Advocates

CISO and Director of Information Security

Everett Community College

I wrote and taught the course, "Basic Electronics and Troubleshooting," at Boeing's request. I also updated and taught the follow-up course, "Intermediate Electronics and Troubleshooting."

Technical Instructor

Bellevue College

Over the years I have taught various courses at BC including: Ethical Hacking and Cyber Security, Server Management, Smartphone and Tablet Security, Network+, A+, Certified Cellular/PCS Technician, Wireless Fundamentals, Cellular Fundamentals, Voice over IP, and more. I have also provided custom training through BC to various companies including T-Mobile, Costco, and the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources.

Adjunct Professor

Peripheral Vision Communications, Inc.

Wireless and telecom consulting and technical services. Integration of voice and data communications systems using diverse communications protocols. Design review, budgeting assistance. 802.11, VoIP, bandwidth calculations, propagation solutions, and more. Clients include all major US cellular carriers.

President

Western Wireless

Directed all new cell site construction, and all civil upgrades to existing cell sites, in Western Wireless' area of operation (19 states). Western Wireless owned the Cellular One brand name. Received 100% of my bonus for in-budget completion.

Director, National System Development

Tele-Waves

Directed the design, installation, and maintenance of two satellite data distribution systems with a nationwide footprint. In budget every year.

Director, Technical Services

Portland Paging/PageWEST-TSI

On time, in budget: managed the design and installation of a profitable satellite controlled wireless communications system.

Regional Manager, Technical Services

US Navy

My last assignment was Shop Supervisor, all shifts, Avionics Department, USS Okinawa (LPH-3). I held a Secret clearance related to crypto electronics.

Aviation Electronics Technician

I make networks resilient, recoverable, and - almost always - simpler.

Some of my projects:
Interstate highway network design for California Dept. of Transportation (Caltrans) for part of Interstate 10 for traffic monitoring and control.

Network and cybersecurity evaluations for various public utilities.

Achieved PCI DSS compliance in less than 4 months for a company that was paying monthly fines for non-compliance.

Designed, installed, and maintained wired and wireless communications systems and network infrastructure in many hospitals in many states.

Cell and WISP site lease valuations for Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Wireless communications site inspections for the City of Bremerton, Washington.

Antenna and tower design for the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Commercial communications tower lease valuation for Port of Olympia, Washington.

Reviewed patent applications.

Expert witness with trial experience.

Developed certification course for electronics technicians under contract with Boeing.

Developed and taught courses at Bellevue College, Everett Community College, Oregon Coast Community College, and Perry Technical Institute (Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom - VoIP).

Taught several CompTIA courses to hundreds of students.

In addition to training and management, I'm also providing remote tech support to small businesses and home office workers. See https://fifonetworks.com/ or call me at (206) 465-2422 for more info or to schedule service. Fast response times.

Years of CISO and Director experience.
I take delight in mentoring today's leaders and teams.
I'm 69 years old and cutting edge current. My age isn't a bug, it's a feature.

Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom - VoIP

I can help your city, corporation, or small business be prepared for a crisis, or recover from it.

Available by the hour, weekly, monthly, project - let's discuss!

Full time? I'll accept an invitation to interview. We can take care of paperwork if we both agree it's a good fit.

Comfortable in the server room and the boardroom. Successfully managed budgets and projects up to $132M and nationally distributed teams. Quite familiar with extensive travel (Delta Gold, Hilton Diamond) and remote work. Crisis management, department overhauls, network optimization - contact me today at (206) 465-2422.

US Government offices: registered through SAM, available to work on federal government projects.

State of Washington offices: registered through MRSC Rosters for state, county, and city projects.

Bob Young

Coalfire

Senior Consultant, Cyber Risk Advisory

Privageo

•	Developed 21 privacy program plans, tailored to company-specific compliance requirements (e.g. CCPA, GDPR, GLBA) and risks assessed during virtual data privacy workshops with executives and senior stakeholders.
•	Led data inventories and data asset-level privacy/cybersecurity risk mitigation plans for 17 businesses.

Senior Privacy Consultant

Calyx Peak

I was promoted to Senior Director of Compliance, taking over regulatory compliance, licensing, and contributing to risk management in a leadership capacity. I acted as program manager for the compliance policies in three states.

•	When Covid-19-related supply chain delays risked revocation of a license, I facilitated and secured an agreement with regulators allowing an unprecedented extension to complete a $40M buildout anticipated to become the company’s flagship operation. Regulators cited my two years of transparent communication as pivotal to their sign-off. 

•	Piloted compliance initiatives across the organization, establishing policies, templates, training, guidance, and a check-in system for critical deadlines. Our CEO complimented me on providing these “on a silver platter” for all levels of the organization.

Senior Director, Compliance

I was invited to join Calyx Peak as one of the earliest corporate employees. My role as Senior Project Manager was to secure opportunities in new markets with limited government licenses.

Some success stories include:

•	Masterminded competitive proposals that secured licenses to enter new markets in CA, MA, and MO. Working to government-mandated deadlines, I collaborated cross-functionally with c-suite, legal, compliance, security, finance, operations, vendors, and consultants. I owned both the detailed written responses and the gathering of personal documentation from global investors and owners.

•	Synthesized legislative, regulatory, contractual, and other commitments into concise procedures for each facility with unique state requirements. My custom indices allowed regulators to quickly verify compliance and fast-track approval to operate.

•	Translated the Massachusetts Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) regulations into policies, including step-by-step instructions to set up segregated and encrypted storage. Breaking it down ensured our overworked HR complied with privacy regulations when completing mandatory background checks while hiring for the first Calyx Peak facility in MA.

Senior Project Manager

GR Consulting

GRC is a consulting firm specializing in competitive government RFPs. I was hired as a writer and promoted to Manager of Application Development within my first month. As the company and our team grew, I took on a leadership role as Assistant Director.

• On my first assignment, I established the project plan, quality control, and communications strategies that led to 100% of our 8 client submissions securing licenses, despite 811 applicants competing for 94 spots.

• Contributed to revenue growth from $300k to over $3M. Building on my policies and templates, we scaled to serve more clients, while earning a reputation for success and regulatory analysis. In project retrospectives, my clients consistently requested additional contracts with me.

• Rescued a major client relationship (10% of then-revenue) that was in jeopardy after they read an unreviewed early draft. Due to tight deadlines, we only had 24 hours to make it right and no time to hire a new expert. I identified and applied key frameworks and regulations, revised the draft, and met with the client’s senior engineers. They praised the updated draft, which won them a manufacturing license, and signed on for a new project.

Assistant Director

Human Security Report Project

Initially hired to manage the HSRP’s newsletters and web presence, I was promoted to factcheck and co-author our flagship publication. I overhauled the logical framework (metrics to evaluate success) used for funder reports. I left to pursue my Master’s Degree in International Affairs, focused on public policy.

•	Wrote the state-based armed conflict chapter for the Human Security Report 2012, which provides the data and analysis necessary for evidence-based security policy. 

•	Managed HSRP’s web presence, supervising two Research Assistants responsible for HSRP’s web content, including daily and digest newsletters sent to over 10,000 subscribers.

•	Overhauled the logical framework and indicators used to report to HSRP’s funders, and incorporated tools such as Google Analytics with HSRP’s websites.

•	Developed standard operating procedures, training manuals, and templates for website- and indicator-related tasks, enabling new employees to work independently within a week. 

•	Mentored two co-op students per term, training on online research and writing abstracts.

Senior Research Assistant

You could say I learned about compliance at my mother’s knee. She was a Manager of Internal Audit for a nuclear facility. Our discussions ranged from Christmas dinner to business ethics to Excel functions. Mom shaped the way I think and as a result, I’ve carved my own niche as a compliance leader in other highly regulated industries. 

My journey in compliance has led me to data privacy.  Since 2015, I've honed superpowers to support complex business decisions in volatile regulatory environments. I bring order from chaos. I form relationships to keep my finger on the pulse of the industry. I pinpoint pain points in processes that I can automate or improve. I focus on iterative improvement to match compliance needs with business scale.

I post and engage with the privacy community about:
•	implementing privacy programs
•	data privacy enforcement actions
•	applying frameworks to data privacy implementation (e.g. Atomic Habits)
•	data protection
•	books #lifelonglearner

Affinity points:

•	I’m a Canadian ex-pat living in California. I moved here to marry the love of my life, who I met playing World of Warcraft.  After 8 years in a long-distance relationship, I have a lot of experience to draw upon when building rapport with remote colleagues! 

•	In my youth, I participated repeatedly in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It was a mad dash with a goal of 50,000 words on the page within 30 days. My bookshelf still features professionally-bound copies of a few of these projects!

taplio

The Battle

Bob Young

Gwen Takagawa, CIPP/US/E, CIPM, PMP

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