Cybersecurity Essentials

Trenice Thompson is a cybersecurity professional with over fifteen years of experience in information security, risk management, and digital forensics. She holds the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) credentials and has served as a security architect for both Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Her career began in IT support, where she first witnessed the devastating impact of a simple phishing attack on a small nonprofit—an experience that shifted her focus to proactive defense and user education.

Trenice is the founder of SafeNet Advisors, a consulting firm that provides affordable cybersecurity assessments and training to small businesses, schools, and community organizations. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences such as RSA, Bsides, and the National Cybersecurity Alliance Summit, where she advocates for making security accessible to non-technical audiences. Her writing has appeared in *CSO Online*, *Dark Reading*, and the SANS OUC blog.

Passionate about closing the cybersecurity skills gap, Trenice volunteers as a mentor for Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) and teaches a free monthly workshop at her local public library. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family and an ever-growing collection of smart home devices—all secured, of course, on a segmented network. *Cybersecurity Essentials* is her first book, born from the realization that most people want to protect themselves but lack a straightforward, actionable roadmap.