John Bambenek (born May 31, 1977) is in information security and an opinions journalist from Champaign, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.A. in Theoretical Astrophysics (emphasis in extragalactic astrophysics) and a minor in Mathematics. He is currently studying for a Masters degree in Theology from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.

He currently resides in Champaign with his wife Rebekah and they are expecting their first child in December. John has been employed as a project manager at Cap Gemini Ernst and Young where he provided consulting services to numerous Fortune 500 firms. He continues to provide his expertise to the SANS Institute by authoring some of their published course materials and exams. John also operates the charitable Tumaini Foundation which provides funds and other needed items to Tanzanian schools for AIDS orphans.

Information Security Work

John works as a research programmer for the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois . He is a nationally recognized expert in information security and has written and contributed to numerous books, courses, and other publications. He volunteers as an incident handler for the Internet Storm Center and his research has been cited in various media venues such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. He is currently most well-known for his work with spyware and botnets and the use of those technologies for identity theft.

Opinion Journalism Work

John is currently a columnist for the Daily Illini writing weekly on current events and politics. He also writes for his own blog, Part-Time Pundit, as well as contributes to several popular blogsites such as Blogcritics, Men’s News Daily, Illinois Review, Pro-Life Blogs, Stop the ACLU, and The Wide Awakes. He is read by over 100,000 readers. He has been cited in the popular media and been interviewed on numerous radio shows.