Alejandro Higuera Castro

Computer Scientist · Cloud Security & Google SecOps · OT/ICS
Bogotá, Colombia

Professional Profile

Computer Scientist with hands-on experience in security operations (SecOps) and the defense of industrial (OT/ICS) environments. Passionate about both offensive and defensive cybersecurity, with a particular focus on Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, and OT environments. Certified in Google Cloud (Security Operations Engineer) and CompTIA Security+, with direct working knowledge of the Google SecOps stack (Chronicle SIEM/SOAR), detection rule engineering, playbook execution, and Google Cloud Platform hardening. Results-driven, with a strong track record of meeting SLAs and continuously improving security posture.

Professional Experience

OT Cybersecurity Analyst (Intern) Jan 2026 – Jul 2026
Accenture Colombia — Client: Oil, Gas & Electric Energy sector — Bogotá, Colombia
  • Administered, configured, and contributed to tuning the Tenable OT industrial cybersecurity/IDS platform, ensuring continuous visibility and monitoring of industrial control assets.
  • Served as Level 2 (L2) specialist for events escalated by the SOC, meeting established SLAs for incident investigation and response.
  • Conducted in-depth event investigation through network packet inspection with Wireshark and traffic-monitoring platforms, in coordination with the client and plant personnel.
  • Monitored traffic involving industrial protocols including DNP3, OPC, Modbus over TCP, and IEC 61850.
  • Analyzed rules and managed Fortinet FortiGate firewalls, strengthening segmentation and secure connectivity across converged IT/OT and pure OT networks.
  • Documented OT devices, assessing criticality and mapping them to the Zones and Conduits model of the ISA/IEC 62443 standard.
  • Performed passive-mode scans and assessed asset risk according to ISA/IEC 62443 Security Levels (SL) and NIST mitigation guidance.
  • Presented findings and hardening plans for ICS assets, aligning techniques and mitigations with the MITRE ATT&CK for ICS framework.

Education

Bachelor's in Computer Science 2020 – Jul 2026
Universidad Nacional de Colombia — Bogotá, Colombia

Volunteering

Bogotá Council Student Representative Nov 2025 – Present
Universidad Nacional de Colombia — Education
Computer Science Student Representative Oct 2022 – Nov 2024
Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Certifications

  • Google Cloud Professional Security Operations Engineer (PSOE) — Design and operation of detection and response on Google SecOps (YARA-L rules, SOAR playbooks, Security Command Center, and Applied Threat Intelligence).
  • CompTIA Security+ — Cybersecurity, threat management, cryptography, and secure architecture.
  • Google Cloud Digital Leader — Google Cloud ecosystem solutions and products.
  • Google Cloud Generative AI Leader — Generative AI, Vertex AI, and AI applied to security use cases.

Technical Skills

Cloud Security & SecOps
Google SecOps (Chronicle SIEM/SOAR), YARA-L detection rules, playbooks, Security Command Center, Applied Threat Intelligence, Google Cloud Platform hardening, CIS Benchmarks, vulnerability management, Identity and Access Management (IAM).
OT/ICS Security
Tenable OT, ISA/IEC 62443 (Zones and Conduits, Security Levels), NIST SP 800-82, MITRE ATT&CK for ICS, PLC/RTU/HMI/OT Workstation/SCADA modeling and criticality assessment, passive scanning.
Networking & Defense
Fortinet FortiGate, Wireshark, TCP/IP, VPN, network segmentation, traffic monitoring, Wazuh, IBM QRadar, Kibana, Elasticsearch.
Offensive Security (Pentesting)
Nmap, Gobuster, SQLmap, Evil-WinRM, Chisel, Burp Suite, BloodHound, PEASS-ng, CrackMapExec, Hashcat, Impacket, Responder, Metasploit Framework, BloodyAD, Ligolo-ng.
Automation & Scripting
Python, Bash, and Terraform fundamentals (IaC).
Languages
Spanish (native) · English (B2+).

Achievements & Activities

  • CTF Competitor: AI Security CTF 2026 (Accenture x TryHackMe), Global Cyber Skills Benchmark 2026 (Hack The Box), and HackStorm CTF 2026 (Universidad del Rosario).
  • Member of the UQBAR Cybersecurity Group at Universidad Nacional de Colombia (since October 2025).