William Coldwell
About William Coldwell
William Coldwell is a Principal Cybersecurity Engineer currently working at BlueCat and has held various leadership roles at The NetBSD Foundation since 2015. With extensive experience in cybersecurity, software engineering, and team management, he has contributed to numerous projects and mentored students in Google's Summer of Code program.
Work at BlueCat
William Coldwell serves as the Principal Cybersecurity Engineer at BlueCat, a position he has held since 2021. He operates out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In this role, he focuses on cybersecurity initiatives and contributes to the development of secure network solutions. His expertise in cybersecurity is complemented by his extensive background in technology and software engineering.
Current Roles and Responsibilities
In addition to his role at BlueCat, William Coldwell is the Director and President of The NetBSD Foundation, positions he has held since 2015. He also serves as the Chief Technology Officer and Founder of Warped Communications, Inc. since 1995. His responsibilities include leading security teams, managing software engineering projects, and coordinating community efforts for the NetBSD project. He mentors students in Google's Summer of Code program, contributing to the development of future technology leaders.
Professional Background
William Coldwell has a diverse professional background in technology and cybersecurity. He has held various positions, including Sui Generis Technomage at Quad9 for two months in 2020 and Infosec Technomage/Infrastructure Administration at Infrascale from 2016 to 2018. His early career includes roles such as System Administrator at The NetBSD Foundation and Senior Software/Network Engineer at Mediaplex. His work spans over three decades, showcasing his adaptability and expertise in the field.
Education and Expertise
William Coldwell studied at Oregon Polytechnic Institute, where he earned an Associate of Applied Sciences degree in Electronics and Programming from 1987 to 1988. He is a Certified Scrum Master and possesses extensive experience in OSX/macOS and iOS UI/UX development using Objective-C and OpenGL. His expertise includes building and managing elite teams, problem-solving from a holistic perspective, and coordinating international community-building efforts.
Achievements and Contributions
William Coldwell has made significant contributions to the NetBSD project, leading hundreds of developers coding for over 50 separate architectures. He runs various vendor PSIRT teams, managing coordinated releases and fixes. He is currently developing an iOS game called TapNet.app, with plans to launch it as a standalone product. His involvement in the technology community includes surviving the Usenet flame wars and the DotCom crash, highlighting his resilience and commitment to the field.