CIRT-BS is proud to celebrate Senior Analyst D'Nae Ferguson, whose research has been published by the RAND Corporation. D'Nae served as the lead author on the paper, working alongside researchers from RAND Project AIR FORCE, contributing her expertise on network and security operations to a study prepared for the United States Department of the Air Force.
RAND Expert Insights · July 2026
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Read the Full Report →A Finding Worth Sharing
One of the more striking findings in the paper is how automation is reshaping the shape of a security team itself. As tools take over routine monitoring and alert triage, the entry-level workload shrinks, but the need for senior engineers who can tune, validate, and troubleshoot those automated systems grows. The authors describe the result as an hourglass rather than a pyramid: fewer junior analysts at the base, a small and highly skilled core of senior analysts, and a deep bench of engineers keeping the automation itself in check.
It is a useful reminder that automation does not remove the need for skilled people. It just changes where that skill needs to sit.
For a country the size of The Bahamas, having one of our own contribute to research at this level is something worth celebrating. Congratulations to D'Nae on this well-earned recognition.