David “Dave” Mayer is a SANS Certified Instructor and CIO and Managing Director of Advanced Assessments at Neuvik, where he specializes in offensive security, red teaming, and adversary emulation. At SANS, he is co-author and teaches SEC565: Red Team Operations and Adversary Emulation, bringing students a practitioner’s view of how real-world adversary simulations are planned, executed, and translated into stronger enterprise defenses.

Dave’s career began in healthcare information security, where he progressed through support, analyst, and engineering roles before moving into Offensive Security. He later served in red team, vulnerability assessment, and penetration testing roles at Citi, led red team operations at prestigious consulting firms, and now leads advanced assessment work at Neuvik. That path gives his labs a grounded, end-to-end perspective: students learn not only how to emulate adversaries, but how to communicate findings that help defenders mature.

Dave holds the GIAC Security Expert certification and many additional GIAC and industry credentials, including GSEC, GSNA, GCIA, GCFE, GPEN, GXPN, GCIH, GWAPT, GAWN, GX-IH, GX-IA, GX-CS, GSP, OSCP, and Security+. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from SUNY Plattsburgh. Reflecting his commitment to advancing the field through both education and collaboration, Dave is a co-founder of BSides South Florida, where he has helped build and support a thriving regional cybersecurity community. David Mayer is also a faculty member of the SANS Technology Institute, which has been designated an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense and is a multi-year winner of the National Cyber League competition.

In the classroom, Dave emphasizes practical skill-building, clear methodology, and the judgment required to conduct offensive operations responsibly. He connects technical tradecraft to organizational risk, defensive architecture, and security maturity, preparing students to plan, execute, document, and communicate red team operations with discipline and purpose. Outside the classroom, he contributes through webcasts, conference presentations, podcasts, and mentoring. Beyond cybersecurity, Dave is a hands-on problem solver who spent a decade as a volunteer firefighter—a role he deeply misses—and enjoys time with his two sons, as well as skiing, waterskiing, camping, and home improvement projects.