K I R B Y P L E S S A S
Founder & CEO, Plessas Experts Network
Kirby Plessas is founder and CEO of Plessas Experts Network, Inc. (PEN), an Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) internet technology and information extraction company specializing in training, researching, and consulting to meet the unique needs of diverse government and private-sector organizations.
Before devoting her work full time to PEN, Kirby established herself as one of the foremost tradecraft experts in OSINT through successful careers both as a member of the U.S. Military and as a contractor prior to founding PEN in 2008. A service-disabled veteran, Kirby began her career in Military Intelligence as an Arabic linguist supporting the Department of Defense. Upon completion of her Army service, Ms. Plessas complemented her MI expertise through utilizing her OSINT experience at the Defense Intelligence Agency to support the warfighter as well as supporting other Intelligence Community activities. Acknowledged as an expert in her field, in 2007 she was selected to participate and was instrumental in the creation and institution of an innovation center for conducting OSINT. In great tribute to her long list of personal and corporate accomplishments in her field, DHS declared Kirby Plessas an OSINT Technical Expert (2010).
Through her work at PEN, Kirby shares her love of innovative technology and OSINT expert skill through corporate workshops as well as consulting and delivering hands-on training courses. Although she maintains a diverse customer portfolio, one of Kirby’s main efforts is focused on law enforcement and the internet, where there is substantial interest in safe and investigative uses of social media. Ms. Plessas has additionally taught numerous social media classes for the U.S. Department of Justice and conferences including SXSW Interactive, the annual HTCIA Conference and the International Conference on Transnational Organized Crime.