Ahmed Sunny, PhD
Verified Expert in Engineering
Cybersecurity SME Developer
Troy, MI, United States
Toptal member since September 19, 2025
Ahmed is a senior cybersecurity engineer specializing in automotive and ADAS security, with expertise in intrusion detection, threat modeling, risk analysis, and security architecture for software-defined vehicles. He currently works on ADAS security and risk assurance at Woven by Toyota. Previously, Ahmed contributed to the design of vehicle intrusion detection architectures at General Motors. He specializes in AI/ML security and governance aligned with ISO/IEC 42001 AI Management System.
Portfolio
Experience
- Communication Protocols - 8 years
- Cybersecurity - 6 years
- Networking - 5 years
- Large Language Models (LLMs) - 4 years
- Threat Modeling - 3 years
- Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment (TARA) - 3 years
- Risk Analysis - 3 years
- AI Risk Management Framework - 2 years
Preferred Environment
Python, Windows, MacOS
The most amazing...
...thing I've done is design an intrusion detection system for software-defined vehicles at General Motors.
Work Experience
Cybersecurity Architect
Henry Ford Health Systems
- Conducted AI threat Modelling based on the established security framework in an enterprise environment.
- Established process control for AI security assessments based on the NIST AI framework, and risk management for the enterprise systems using ISO42001 to enable secure technology adoption.
- Designed secure architectures for Generative AI, Agentic AI, cloud, IoT, and automation platforms, embedding security-by-design principles across enterprise technology initiatives.
- Established AI governance frameworks and architectural guardrails covering model security, data protection, identity, and secure AI lifecycle management.
Senior Assurance Engineer
Woven by Toyota, Inc - USA - Online Services
- Conducted an AI GAP analysis based on ISO42001 by comparing the current practices with the framework. Also, prioritized areas that need immediate improvement.
- Led and performed risk assessment and data governance engagements for ADAS products (data collection and processing, AI/ML, and autonomous driving) and related information systems or processes.
- Completed a complete end-to-end TARA analysis based on ISO21434.
- Developed and maintained security metrics and KPIs for ADAS, including vulnerability counts, time to remediation, and compliance roadmap with security policies. Regularly reporting findings to stakeholders to drive accountability and improvement.
- Built and maintained ADAS security standards, ensuring alignment with industry practices and ADAS goals, especially for data governance.
Cybersecurity Engineer, Intrusion Detection System Design
General Motors
- Spearheaded the design and proof-of-concept development for a novel intrusion detection system (IDS) tailored to software-defined vehicles (SDVs).
- Conducted in-depth research, analysis, and presentations on emerging threats to the leadership targeting large language models (LLMs).
- Applied threat analysis and risk assessment (TARA) modeling using Itemis in alignment with ISO/SAE 21434 standards, integrating IDS output as a control vector to optimize risk scoring and mitigation strategies.
- Published a US patent and a defensive publication focusing on TCAM-based network segmentation techniques for Ethernet-based communication in automotive systems.
- Prioritized cybersecurity monitoring needs by analyzing threats via MITRE ATT&CK and the Automotive Threat Matrix (ATM), creating a risk-weighted scoring methodology for effective threat prioritization.
- Leveraged advanced AI techniques, including transformer-based architectures, to enhance IDS detection accuracy and establish industry-leading benchmarks for AI-driven security solutions in automotive systems.
- Conducted comprehensive vulnerability and threat assessments across BLE, BT, wifi, and Ethernet communication protocols, addressing both real-time and latent security risks.
Reseach Assistant
Texas Tech University
- Modified a transfer-based model with multi-head attention and pointer networks, solving a network interdiction problem.
- Utilized tools such as Snort, Suricata, Nmap, Wireshark, Wifite, Aircrack-ng, Burpsuite to identify vulnerabilities in IOT devices.
- Demonstrated strong inapproximability results using randomly selected committees to resist bribery in voting systems and complemented theoretical findings with greedy heuristics to enhance interpretability and practical understanding.
Network Engineer
Digital Distribution Australia
- Designed, tested, and deployed a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network architecture supporting both data and multicast video services.
- Implemented and maintained key networking technologies, including MPLS, LDP, RSVP, RSVP-TE, OSPF, IGMP, MPLS traffic engineering, L2VPNs, VPLS, E-LINE, E-LAN, FRR, VRRP, SNMP, and QoS to support converged network functionality.
- Guaranteed network uptime and performance by deploying BFD, MPLS path protection, Fast Reroute (FRR), and tunnel prioritization with pre-emption techniques for redundancy and resiliency.
- Configured QoS strategies, including MPLS EXP and IP DSCP marking, traffic policing, rate limiting, shaping, and congestion management to meet service-level objectives for high-priority traffic streams.
- Delivered Level 2 on-call engineering support, resolving escalated faults and ensuring service continuity for real-time customer-impacting incidents across managed services.
- Configured and managed radio transport systems from vendors such as Nera, Aviat, and NEC, integrating them with MPLS backbones to extend network coverage and capacity.
Experience
Virtual NAT Network Creation and SYN Flood and Reset Attacks Analysis on TCP Connections
Performed XSS Attack on a Web Application to Steal Users' Credentials and Post Fake Messages
Wireless Network Security Audit with Wifite
Education
PhD in Computer Science
Texas Tech University - Lubbock, Texas, USA
Master's Degree in Telecommunications Engineering
University of Technology Sydney - Sydney, Australia
Bachelor's Degree in Telecommunications
University of New South Wales - Sydney, Australia
Certifications
Cisco Certified Network Associate
Cisco
Understanding Cisco Cybersecurity Fundamentals (210-250)
Cisco
Skills
Tools
NMap, Tcpdump, Wireshark, Iptables
Industry Expertise
Cybersecurity
Frameworks
AI Risk Management Framework
Platforms
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Windows, MacOS, Burp Suite, Linux
Languages
Python, C
Paradigms
Cisco Certified Network Associate Routing & Switching, Penetration Testing
Other
Communication Protocols, Threat Modeling, Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment (TARA), Risk Analysis, Vulnerability Analysis, OWASP Top 10, Vulnerability Assessment, Atlas, ISO42001, Security Assessment, Security Architecture, Networking, Wireless Systems, Cisco, Frameworks, AI Trust, Risk and Security Management (AI TRiSM), AI Risk Assessment, ISO24089, Cloud Security, Identity & Access Management (IAM), Vulnerability Remediation, Algorithms, Wireless Security, IT Networking, Analysis, Large Language Models (LLMs), Threat Intelligence, ISO 27001, ISO 21434, Networks, Routing and Switching Protocols, Network Security, IP Addresses, Cryptography, Security Monitoring, Attack Methods, Host-based Analysis, Machine Learning, Computational Complexity, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), Deep Reinforcement Learning, Network Architecture & Virtualization, Offensive Security Techniques, Web App Security, Wifite, Aircrack-ng Suite, Network Traffic Analysis, AI Security, Quality Assurance (QA), Security, IT Audits, Advanced Driver-assistance Systems (ADAS), IT Governance, STRIDE, LiDAR, CISM, CISSP, Risk Models, NIST AI, EU AI ACt, NIST AI RMF, HIPAA, HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF)
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