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Justin Elze

CTO, Director of Research

EXPERIENCE
Justin Elze is currently serving as Chief Technology Officer at TrustedSec. Over his 8 years with the company as an InfoSec expert, Justin has used his vast expertise in enterprise penetration testing, network security, social engineering, and red teaming to identify clients’ vulnerabilities and ultimately, protect their technology infrastructure. Prior to becoming CTO, Justin held the roles of Director of Innovation, Research, and Advanced Testing and Principal Security Consultant for TrustedSec.

With more than a decade of experience in the IT industry, Justin’s expertise is increasingly sought out by others in the field. He has taught at Black Hat and spoken at DerbyCon, where he also served on the CFP Review Board, and is also featured as an industry leader in the published books Tribe of Hackers: Cybersecurity Advice from the Best Hackers in the World and Tribe of Hackers Red Team: Tribal Knowledge from the Best in Offensive Cybersecurity.

Prior to joining TrustedSec, Justin was a Senior Penetration Tester for Accuvant LABS, Optiv, Dell SecureWorks, and Redspin, where he led numerous red team engagements and penetration tests. He has worked across a variety of industries, including roles for ISPs, hosting companies, Department of Defense contracting companies, and consulting companies. Today, he leans on what he learned throughout his roles in various capacities to inform his choices as CTO and further his thought leadership in the industry.

Outside of his work experience and “ethical hacker” persona, Justin is passionate about building, tuning, and racing cars (and, yes, occasionally hacking them) and spending time with his 3 dogs. You can find his latest musings—security-related and otherwise—on his Twitter account, @HackingLZ.

Featured Blogs And Resources

Discover the blogs, analysis, webinars, and podcasts by this team member.

Blog May 18 2023

Walking the Tightrope: Maximizing Information Gathering while Avoiding Detection for Red Teams

Understanding network reconnaissance without detection is crucial in commercial testing, leveraging tools like BloodHound and scripts to gather valuable…

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Blog March 17 2023

Critical Outlook Vulnerability: In-Depth Technical Analysis and Recommendations (CVE-2023-23397)

Protect your organization from the Microsoft Outlook CVE-2023-23397 vulnerability with expert guidance and a simple remediation script.

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Webinars March 15 2023

Ask Me Anything: Penetration Testing Innovations and Insights

Join David Kennedy & Justin Elze for a live Q&A on penetration testing, tackling the ever-changing tactics used by attackers, and get answers to your burning…

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Webinars December 14 2021

Log4j: Live Update Webcast

Learn how to detect and respond to the Log4j vulnerability with experts from TrustedSec & Binary Defense, including David Kennedy, during our live webcast.

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Blog March 25 2025

PCI DSS Payment Card Data Retention

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) applies to and has specific requirements for retention of Account Data. In general, organizations…

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Blog March 21 2025

Trimarc Joins TrustedSec: Strengthening Our Commitment to Security

Play We’re excited to share some big news: Trimarc Security is now fully operating under TrustedSec! This marks a significant step forward in our mission to…

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Blog March 18 2025

Are Attackers "Passing Through" Your Azure App Proxy?

TL;DR - Azure app proxy pre-authentication set to Passthrough may unintentionally expose private network resources.Microsoft’s Azure app proxy allows for…

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Blog March 11 2025

Abusing Windows Built-in VPN Providers

Some interesting things happen when you connect to a virtual private network (VPN). One that recently caught my interest is updates to the routing table.…

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Blog March 06 2025

Measuring the Success of Your Adversary Simulations

Adversary Simulations (“AdSim” or “Red Teams”) represent a serious commitment on the part of an organization. In the United States, AdSim engagements are…

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Blog March 04 2025

The Hidden Trap in the PCI DSS SAQ A Changes

Implementing requirements 6.4.3 and 11.6.1, or using a WAF to protect against script-based attacks, to meet PCI SSC's new eligibility criterion for SAQ A…

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