Taher Amine ELHOUARICybersecurity leadershipWork with me

Career · Leadership · Delivery

From the keyboard to the decision room.

More than 15 years across hands-on IT, software, offensive security, SOC operations, consulting, governance, assurance, CISO leadership, audit, training, and international capability building.

Independent vCISO · Senior Advisor ·Accredited Auditor · Certified Trainer

Explore experience View LinkedIn profile
15+Years across IT & cybersecurity
4Continents of engagement
300+Credentials & certificates
GOLDPECB trainer standing

Professional profile

Technical experience shaped the leader. Governance gives the work direction.

I work at the intersection of cybersecurity, governance, assurance, operations, and leadership—helping organizations convert standards, risk, evidence, and technical reality into decisions people can own.

My career began with systems support and web development, moved through penetration testing and security projects, expanded into SOC, incident response, architecture, consulting, and audit, and now spans CISO-level governance, business-unit leadership, independent advisory, and global capability building.

LinkedIn profile ↗Selected case studies ↗Credentials & recognition ↗

Current mandates

Current leadership across three connected operating lanes.

Independent advisory, regional certification-audit leadership, and open-source practitioner programs—supported by parallel training, assurance, and professional appointments.

01
Current

Independent executive practice

Independent Consultant · vCISO · Senior Advisor · Accredited Auditor · Certified Trainer

ANAE — Agence Nationale de l’Auto-EntrepreneurJan 2026 — Present · Algeria · Global
Independent cybersecurity executive practice spanning vCISO advisory, strategy, governance, enterprise risk/GRC, resilience, privacy, third-party risk, SOC/CSIRT/CERT maturity, technical assurance, audits, certification readiness, training, and capability building.
  • vCISO
  • GRC & resilience
  • SOC/CSIRT/CERT
  • Audit & training
02
Current

Regional certification-audit leadership

Regional Director & Accredited/Approved Senior Lead Auditor

Accurate Global Inc.Oct 2024 — Present · North Africa · Algeria & Tunisia
Leads regional certification and audit activities across Algeria and Tunisia, including accredited management-systems certification audits, evidence evaluation, findings, certification recommendations, client relationships, and strategic partnerships within impartiality requirements.
  • Certification audit
  • ISO management systems
  • North Africa
  • Impartiality
03
Current

Open-source knowledge & practitioner resources

Creator & Program Lead — Cyber Master Series

Field Guides · Certification Study Series · Free Security ToolsAug 2026 — Present · Global / Open Source
Builds free practitioner knowledge, certification study resources, and open-source cybersecurity, GRC, privacy, resilience, assurance, and SecOps tools through the Cyber Master Series ecosystem.
  • Field Guides
  • Certification Study Series
  • Free Security Tools
  • Open source

Professional appointments & contribution

Audit, training, assurance, and regional professional contribution.

Roles are conducted under their respective authorization, governance, impartiality, contribution, or community frameworks.

TRN

Jun 2024 — Present · GOLD since Jan 2026

Certified GOLD Trainer & Authorized Instructor

PECB
Official professional and certification training across a broad authorized portfolio in cybersecurity leadership, ISO management systems, GRC, risk, incident management, SOC 2, NIST, resilience, and related disciplines.
AUD

Sep 2024 — Present

Accredited Senior Lead Auditor — Management Systems Certification

MSECB
Conducts independent third-party certification audits for ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO 22301:2019, and CSA STAR Level 2, covering audit planning, evidence evaluation, findings, corrective-action follow-up, and certification recommendations.
SME

Mar 2025 — Present

Professional Member · Cybersecurity Subject Matter Expert

AfricaCERT
Contributes to regional frameworks and capability development spanning governance, common controls, maturity models, SOC/CSIRT, incident response, cloud security, and digital resilience.
ADV

Sep 2024 — Sep 2026

Global Advisory Boards Member — C|CISO & C|PENT

EC-Council
Provided strategic and technical input into executive leadership and advanced offensive-security programs through the C|CISO and C|PENT global advisory boards.

Certification audits performed through Accurate Global and MSECB remain separate from independent consulting or certification-readiness services; training engagements are delivered under their respective authorization frameworks.

Selected career & professional history

A career built across the full security system.

Selected career history and professional contribution, curated by relevance rather than strict chronology. Independent consulting, advisory, training, community, and project work often continued in parallel.

01

Executive · Algeria

CISO / DSSI — Director/Head of Security, Risks & Compliance

GIE Monétique
Led information-security, cyber-risk, and compliance strategy for the electronic-payment ecosystem; redesigned the security framework and connected sector oversight with internal governance, assurance, and measurable reporting.
  • Financial services
  • Sector governance
  • PCI DSS
  • RNSI
02

Leadership · Algeria, UK & USA

Senior Director — Information Security, Cybersecurity, Advisory & CSIRT/MSOC | CISO/vCISO

EKSec Group
Led information security, cybersecurity, advisory and CSIRT/MSOC services, GRC, assurance, resilience, training, partnerships, and security-service delivery, combining CISO/vCISO leadership with business-unit direction and professional-services management.
  • CISO/vCISO
  • GRC & assurance
  • SOC/CSIRT
  • Advisory
03

Independent practice · International

vCISO & Cybersecurity Expert · Independent Consultant & Instructor

International independent practice
Built a long-running independent cybersecurity practice serving SMBs, critical infrastructure, government entities, national cyber organizations, and international clients across strategic, technical, audit, assessment, and training mandates.
  • vCISO
  • GRC
  • VAPT / Red Team
  • Training
04

International advisory & SME contribution

Global Advisory Boards & Cybersecurity SME

EC-Council · ISC2 · Hack The Box
Contributed to global advisory boards, certification and exam development, curriculum, technical review, and practitioner content across executive, defensive, offensive, and foundational cybersecurity disciplines.
  • C|CISO / C|PENT
  • ISC2 SME
  • Exam & content development
  • Technical review
05

Security operations · Algeria

Information Security Engineer & Cyber SOC Analyst L2/L3

Société Générale — Algeria
Worked across ISMS, risk, incident management, SIEM, EDR, DLP, DFIR, threat hunting, vulnerability management, application security, and offensive-security validation.
  • SOC L2/L3
  • ISO management systems
  • DFIR
  • Threat hunting
06

Independent / Contract · Selected engagements

Selected Independent & Contract Engagements

Brandvakt · TryHackMe · iNET · MicroExpert · Public Sector · ILM Center
Selected engagements across CISO/security-operations leadership, senior consulting, content and lab development, offensive security, assessments, incident response, and professional training—consolidated within the independent practice.
  • Consulting
  • SecOps
  • Assessments
  • Training
07

Community leadership · Algeria

Founding Leadership · Senior Subject Matter Expert

OWASP Algiers · CSA Algeria · CAS Algeria
Founding leadership and senior SME contribution across application security, cloud security, conformity assessment, community education, capacity building, and strategic development.
  • Founding leadership
  • Application security
  • Cloud security
  • Conformity assessment
08

Projects · Algeria

Projects Manager — Information Security & Cybersecurity

Divona Algérie / SLC / Smart Link Holding
Managed NOC-related cybersecurity initiatives, datacenter security, assessments, offensive projects, architecture, incident-response plans, and operational-resilience work.
  • Project management
  • NOC / SOC
  • Datacenters
  • IR planning
09

International capacity building · Africa-Arab regions

Program & Planning Committee Member · Cybersecurity Capacity Building

FIRST / AfricaCERT / CERT-MU
Contributed to program planning and cybersecurity capacity building for the FIRST & AfricaCERT Symposium, supporting regional professional collaboration and CSIRT/CERT capability development.
  • Capacity building
  • Program planning
  • CSIRT / CERT
  • Africa-Arab regions
10

Technical leadership · Algeria

Lead Penetration Tester

Taghellist Technology
Led client security assessments and penetration tests, internal security initiatives, remediation support, and company-wide awareness programs.
  • Penetration testing
  • Assessment
  • Awareness
  • Training
11

Independent · Global / Remote

Web Developer · Cybersecurity Assessor · Ethical Hacker

Upwork
Delivered web development, VAPT, source-code security review, and ethical-hacking services to clients and small businesses across international engagements.
  • Web development
  • OWASP
  • Source review
  • Global clients
12

Technical foundation · Algeria

IT Support Technician

Independent
Started in hands-on IT support, troubleshooting, repair, systems installation, upgrades, optimization, and direct client service—the operational foundation beneath later security leadership.
  • IT support
  • Systems
  • Troubleshooting
  • Client service

Operating range

Leadership breadth backed by practitioner depth.

The value is not the number of domains. It is the ability to connect them into one governed and operationally credible security program.

  1. 01Cybersecurity governance & strategy
  2. 02GRC, risk & executive reporting
  3. 03ISMS, BCMS, PIMS & AIMS
  4. 04Independent audit & assurance
  5. 05SOC, MSOC, CSIRT & CERT
  6. 06Incident response, DFIR & crisis
  7. 07VAPT, red team & technical assurance
  8. 08Cloud, architecture & Zero Trust
  9. 09OT / ICS / IEC 62443
  10. 10Training & capacity building

Academic education

Technical, business, and executive formation.

Formal study complements—rather than replaces—the operating experience, professional credentials, and continuous practitioner learning behind the work.

LanguagesArabicNativeEnglishFluent / bilingualFrenchIntermediate
  1. 01

    Doctor of Business Administration — DBA

    Atlanta College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

    Business leadership and executive management.

  2. 02

    Master of Science — Computer Science, Software Engineering

    Woolf

    Computer Science and software-engineering study spanning the 2025–2026 MSc program.

  3. 03

    Master of Computer Science

    Atlanta College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

    Advanced computer-science study.

  4. 04

    Master of Business Administration — MBA

    Atlanta College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

    Business administration and organizational leadership.

  5. 05

    Mini-Master of Business Administration — mMBA

    International Business Management Institute

    Business management.

  6. 06

    Higher Technician Diploma — Computer Science & Networking

    INSFP — State-approved academy

    Computer systems, networking, and applied technical foundations.

Leadership · Advisory · Assurance

Need experience that can move between the boardroom and the control room?

I am available for selected executive, advisory, audit, training, transformation, speaking, and international collaboration opportunities. Role-specific or extended CV material can be provided for serious discussions.

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