Justin Vallese is a Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s Cybersecurity practice and is based in Los Angeles. He brings more than two decades of experience in cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and national security investigations. Mr. Vallese advises organizations on cyber incident response, threat intelligence, and cyber risk strategy, translating complex technical findings into actionable guidance for executives and legal counsel. He focuses on helping clients in the media and entertainment, financial services, defense and aerospace, and technology sectors prepare for, respond to, and investigate significant cyber threats.
Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Vallese spent more than two decades as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) Los Angeles field office, investigating complex cybercrime and national security matters. Most recently, he served as Program Manager for the FBI’s Cyberhood Watch initiative — a cyber threat intelligence-sharing program connecting more than 700 information security professionals and executives across the Los Angeles region. In that role, he served as the primary point of contact for incident escalation, advising participating organizations on cyber risk and response strategy and translating investigative findings into actionable guidance.
During his FBI career, Mr. Vallese investigated landmark national security and criminal cyber matters, including more than a decade tracking North Korea’s Lazarus Group across the Sony Pictures intrusion, WannaCry ransomware, the Bank of Bangladesh cyber heist, and large-scale cryptocurrency exchange compromises. His work led to the indictment of three North Korean cyber actors, U.S. Government sanctions, and joint FBI/DHS-CISA cybersecurity advisories. Mr. Vallese also served as a Supervisory Special Agent, leading multidisciplinary teams of investigators, forensic examiners, computer scientists, and intelligence analysts responding to high-profile network breaches, and advising corporate executives and legal counsel on incident handling and law enforcement engagement.
Mr. Vallese holds the GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH) and GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC) certifications and serves as a member of the GIAC Advisory Board. His professional honors include the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Cyber Investigation, the United States Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, the United States Secret Service Director’s Impact Award, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence National Meritorious Unit Award.