Mouhamad Hamzah Ismail

About Mouhamad Hamzah Ismail

I am a cybersecurity engineer who genuinely enjoys building and improving systems, not just monitoring them.I started in SOC operations, but quickly became interested in engineering and then snuck my way into that side of security. I enjoy understanding how systems are designed from the ground up, especially when it comes to networking, SIEM architecture, and infrastructure design.something that keeps me motivated the most is taking processes that have been done the same way for years and finding a more efficient and quicker approach.I am particularly interested in:• Designing and building SIEM environments from scratch• Networking and security architecture• Cryptography • Automating everything possible including patching, backups, alert workflows, and documentation• Getting my hands on a cluttered project (storage, cluster of nodes or anything else) and organizing it form ground up.I am not interested in being a button clicker or blind AI prompting. I want to understand how systems work internally, optimize them, and leave environments stronger and more resilient than I found them.Always learning. Always building. Always improving.

Experience

1. Cybersecurity Operations Engineer

   Cyberforce Q

   Nov 2025 — Present · Plymouth, MI, US

   Architected and deployed SIEM environments from the ground up, including infrastructure provisioning, server and VM builds, platform installation, integration onboarding, and operational support.• Built and configured Linux and Windows servers, including secure AD/LDAP integration for centralized authentication, access control, and user management.• Implemented log source integrations across firewalls, cloud platforms, operating systems, and security tools to improve visibility and reduce data gaps.• Designed, built, and maintained disaster recovery solutions for 100% of critical environments, including monthly recovery tests, reducing expected downtime by 85%.• Developed ILM-based retention strategies, optimizing data movement across hot, warm, cold, and frozen tiers for performance and storage efficiency.• Provisioned and managed Azure resources for Gov SOC environments, including compute, networking, storage, and access controls.• Configured and refined firewall, NAT, and security policies across Palo Alto, FortiGate, and Check Point platforms.• Automated +70% of recurring workflows for SIEM patching, 100% of firewall backup workflows, and 100% of post backup/patch verification, saving 10 hours per week/month and reducing manual effort by 80%.

Education

• Henry Ford College

  Michigan transfer Agreement (MTA), cyber security

• University of Michigan-Dearborn

  Bachelor's degree, Cybersecurity and Information Assurance