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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 July 24 2026

CCPA Update: Cybersecurity Requirements (Part 2)

Confirmed you're in scope for CCPA? Now comes the cybersecurity audit requirement. In Part 2 of this blog series, we cover what it entails, the phased…

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Blog July 23 2026

CCPA Update: Who’s In Scope (Part 1)

California updated CCPA... again. Before you do anything else, does it apply to you? In Part 1 of this blog series, we clarify who falls under scope, what data…

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Blog July 21 2026

The New Hotness in Phishing: Device Code Attacks in M365

Device code phishing is quietly becoming one of the more effective techniques targeting M365 environments. In this blog, we detail how it works and the…

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Blog July 16 2026

CMMC is (Not) Cancelled

Just because CMMC Phase II audits are paused doesn't mean compliance is. In this blog, we clarify what the suspension means for defense contractors and why…

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Blog July 14 2026

Pandora’s Container Part 1: Unpacking Azure Container Security

Azure container services are everywhere. Their attack surface? Often overlooked. In Part 1 of this blog series, we walk through offensive techniques targeting…

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Blog July 09 2026

Vulnify: Giving Your Agents a CVE Brain

The CVE brain your AI agent has been missing. In this blog, we introduce Vulnify, an open-source tool that stitches eight authoritative vulnerability databases…

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