Wesley Lombardo

CISSP, CETL, CISM, CASP+, CCSP, CySA+, PenTest+ — 21+ years experience — Knoxville, United States (Verified)

About Wesley Lombardo

I am a cybersecurity and technology leader with more than a decade of experience securing K-12 environments at scale, one of the most constrained and human-dependent operating environments in existence. As a former classroom teacher turned Director of Technology, I have led cloud transformations, built security programs from the ground up, and responded to real-world incidents where technical decisions carried human, legal, and political consequences. My work sits at the intersection of security strategy, education, and human behavior. I specialize in translating cyber risk into language that boards, superintendents, educators, and non-technical stakeholders can understand and act on, without diluting technical truth. This includes designing security awareness programs, advising on identity and access strategy, strengthening cloud security posture, and helping organizations understand why controls succeed or fail in real environments. Beyond operational leadership, I am an active speaker, writer, and advisor in the K-12 cybersecurity space. I write the EdTechIRL.com blog, co-host the Zero Breach Zone podcast, contribute to industry publications and whitepapers, and regularly present at national conferences on topics including phishing, incident response, AI-driven threats, and student data privacy.

Specialisations

• Coding
• Career & Technical Education
• IT Consultancy

Education

• Western Governors University — Master of Science - MS, Cybersecurity
• Western Governors University — Bachelor of Science (BS), Information Technology - Cybersecurity and Information Assurance
• Western Governors University — Master's degree, Curriculum and Instruction
• Maryville College — Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), English
• University of Tennessee, Knoxville — Studies

Certifications

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) — ISC2 (2022)
• Certified Education Technology Leader (CETL) — Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) (2025)
• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) — ISACA (2025)
• SC-900 - Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals — Microsoft (2024)
• Certified Cybersecurity Rubric Evaluator (CCRE) — Cybersecurity Coalition for Education (2023)
• CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+) — CompTIA (2022)
• CompTIA Infrastructure Security Expert (CSIE) — CompTIA (2022)
• CompTIA Security Analytics Expert (CSAE) — CompTIA (2022)
• CompTIA Network Vulnerability Assessment Professional (CNVP) — CompTIA (2021)
• CompTIA PenTest+ — CompTIA (2021)
• Cloud Admin Professional — CompTIA (2020)
• Secure Cloud Professional (CSCP) — CompTIA (2020)
• Cloud+ — CompTIA (2020)
• Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) — ISC2 (2019)
• Security Analytics Professional (CSAP) — CompTIA (2019)
• CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) — CompTIA (2019)
• Certified Incident Handler (ECIH) v1 — EC-Council (2019)
• Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP) — ISC2 (2018)
• Encryption Specialist v2 — EC-Council (2018)
• ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management — AXELOS (2017)
• CompTIA Project+ — CompTIA (2017)
• CompTIA Security+ — CompTIA (2017)
• CompTIA Network+ — CompTIA (2017)
• CompTIA Server+ — CompTIA (2017)
• IT Operations Specialist (CIOS) — CompTIA (2017)
• Secure Infrastructure Specialist (CSIS) — CompTIA (2017)
• Tennessee Teaching License: 407 English 7-12 — Tennessee Department of Education (2007)

Experience

• Owner at BardSec.com / EdTechIRL.com
• Teacher - Computer Science at East Tennessee Public School System
• Director of Technology at East Tennessee Public School System
• Technology Coordinator / Instructional Coach at Middle School
• English/Language Arts Teacher at East Tennessee Public K12 School

Languages: English

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