Hello! Welcome to my little corner of the internet…
Hello! Welcome to my little corner of the internet…
Thank you for visiting Send The Payload. I’m passionate about all things cybersecurity. I hope through this blog, I can provide you with additional resources, knowledge, and tips that I’ve learned throughout my career.
My name is Katherine McNamara and saying I am a huge nerd would probably be an understatement. I work as a Cybersecurity Technical Solutions Architect by day and by night, I’m labbing and trying new things with the resources I have available. I love technology and getting my hands into the CLI or trying something new. I started this page because I’ve had a lot of people ask for help with some of the things I’ve either deployment in my professional career or at clients and I think that it’d be beneficial to the community to share the knowledge.
A little about myself: I hold a Bachelors of Science and Masters of Information Security and Assurance from Western Governors University. I hold several industry certifications including the following:
- CCIE Data Center #50931
CCIE Security #50931
CCNP Route & Switch
CCDP
CISSP
I am part of several online communities, such as TechExams and Routergods, and help co-organize lab meetups in my free time. If you have any questions or comments, please use the contact form on this site. I’m always happy to share information as long as it doesn’t include NDA or copyrighted material.
Outside of technology, I’m happily married, enjoy (good) sci-fi, zombies, gaming, comic books (DC, Marvel… doesn’t matter to me), and laser tag. Pretty much all the good things in life.
Now for the obligatory disclosure statement:
The opinions expressed on this page are my own views and not those of my employer or clients. This page is run as an independent blog.

Certifications
CCIE Security
CCIE Data Center
CCNP Routing and Switching
CCDP
CCNA Voice
CCNA Security
500-254 – ISE: Implementing and Configuring Cisco Identity Services Engine
GIAC Certified Incident Handler
CISSP
MCSE 2003
BCVRE
BCNE
BCEFP
Palo Alto ACE
And quite a few others that aren’t worth mentioning
Education
Western Governors University
Master of Science (MS), Information Security and Assurance
2012 – 2014
Western Governors University
Bachelor of Science (BS), Information Technology
2009 – 2012
Other Content
- Guest on PacketPushers Episode 345: How to Further Your IT Infrastructure Career
- Guest on The Network Collective – Episode 4: The Impact of Increasing Encrypted Traffic
- Author on Network Computing
- Blogger on Cisco ISE Communities
- Product Training for ISE on Cisco ISE Communities
- Co-Organizer for Routergods: The largest Cisco Meetup Group in the world
- Co-Author for CCNP Security Identity Management SISE 300-715 Official Cert Guide
- Course Author for Configuring Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Integrations
- Course Author for Configuring Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) NetOps Features
- Course Author for Operationalizing Cisco Firepower
- Course Author for Getting Started with Cisco Firepower – Initial Configuration
Certifications
CCIE Security
CCIE Data Center
CCNP Routing and Switching
CCDP
CCNA Voice
CCNA Security
500-254 – ISE: Implementing and Configuring Cisco Identity Services Engine
GIAC Certified Incident Handler
CISSP
MCSE 2003
BCVRE
BCNE
BCEFP
Palo Alto ACE
And quite a few others that aren’t worth mentioning
Education
Western Governors University
Master of Science (MS), Information Security and Assurance
2012 – 2014
Western Governors University
Bachelor of Science (BS), Information Technology
2009 – 2012
Other Content
- Guest on PacketPushers Episode 345: How to Further Your IT Infrastructure Career
- Guest on The Network Collective – Episode 4: The Impact of Increasing Encrypted Traffic
- Author on Network Computing
- Blogger on Cisco ISE Communities
- Product Training for ISE on Cisco ISE Communities
- Co-Organizer for Routergods: The largest Cisco Meetup Group in the world
- Co-Author for CCNP Security Identity Management SISE 300-715 Official Cert Guide
- Course Author for Configuring Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Integrations
- Course Author for Configuring Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) NetOps Features
- Course Author for Operationalizing Cisco Firepower
- Course Author for Getting Started with Cisco Firepower – Initial Configuration