Athees M on Tal
Headline
Network Security Engineer @ Cognizant | Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange|ZIA|ZPA|Cloudconnector|Branchconnector|Cisco FTD/ASA|Paloalto|VPN
About
Network Security & Zero Trust (ZTNA) Specialist | Transforming Enterprise Connectivity & Cloud Security I am a Network Security Engineer and Service Lead with extensive experience architecting, migrating, and securing enterprise connectivity. My core focus lies at the intersection of Zero Trust Architecture (ZTNA), cloud transformation, and traditional network security operations. Throughout my tenure at Cognizant, I have spearheaded large-scale brownfield migrations from legacy VPN and MPLS infrastructures to modern Zscaler cloud platforms (ZIA & ZPA). From deploying App/Cloud/Branch Connectors and Private Service Edges to implementing granular, identity-based access policies and SSL inspection, I help organizations dramatically reduce their attack surface while ensuring seamless, high-performance user access. Core Areas of Expertise: Zero Trust & SASE: Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA), Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), App/Cloud/Branch Connectors, Private Service Edge, SAML/SCIM. Firewall & Security Operations: Cisco FMC/FTD/ASA, Palo Alto Networks, NAT, IPsec/SSL VPN, Log Analysis & Policy Hardening. Routing & Infrastructure: BGP, OSPF, Cisco ASR/ISR, Catalyst Switches, Packet-Level Analysis (Wireshark). Troubleshooting & Diagnostics: ZDX, Web Insights, SIEM (Splunk, Cortex), Root-Cause Analysis (RCA). 🏆 Recognized with 9 performance awards at Cognizant for operational excellence and delivering zero-downtime security cutovers.
AI stack
claude code
gemini
Work experience
Network Security Engineer at Cognizant, Jun 2021 - Present · 5 yrs 3 mos, Chennai
TAC Engineer at IP Infusion, Nov 2020 - Jun 2021 · 8 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Technical Support Engineer at Zoho Corporation, Jan 2020 - Oct 2020 · 10 mos, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Network Engineer at IMSI India Pvt. Ltd., Dec 2018 - Dec 2019 · 1 yr 1 mo
Network Engineer at ZIGMA TECHNOLOGIES INDIA (P) LTD, Nov 2016 - Aug 2017 · 10 mos, Erode Area, India
Education
Bachelor of Engineering - BE, ECE, Anna University Chennai
