Alissa Knight is a globally recognized cybersecurity expert with more than 25 years of experience in offensive security, specializing in API penetration testing and vulnerability research. Her career began at the age of 17, when she was arrested for hacking into a government network. After the charges were dropped, Knight was recruited by the U.S. Intelligence Community to work in cyber warfare, marking the start of a distinguished career in national security. She was later invited to the Pentagon by the Brigadier General of the U.S. Marine Corps to serve as an advisor on securing the Marine Corps’ global network infrastructure.
A contributing author to the 2024 OWASP API Security Top 10, Knight has played a critical role in shaping international cybersecurity standards and best practices for protecting modern digital ecosystems.
Her groundbreaking vulnerability research has had wide-reaching impact, including shaping public policy on Capitol Hill. Her vulnerability report into FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability and Resources) APIs exposed systemic authentication and authorization flaws that led to the exposure of millions of patient records. The findings triggered action from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and were widely covered in national media, including Forbes.
Knight was a keynote speaker at DEFCON 2021's Car Hacking Village, where she revealed critical authorization vulnerabilities in Ford’s APIs, enabling remote exploitation of federal and state law enforcement vehicles.
She further earned her reputation as one of the foremost vulnerability researchers in APIs with the release of her high-profile research paper "Scorched Earth", where she successfully breached 50 banks and cryptocurrency exchanges in under a week by exploiting insecure APIs. She presented her findings in a keynote at Money 20/20, one of the world’s leading fintech conferences.
In recognition of her influential career and contributions to cybersecurity, Knight was inducted into The Mob Museum in 2024, where her hacking tools and laptop were curated as part of the museum’s permanent exhibit on global cybercrime—honoring her legacy in ethical hacking and cyberwarfare.
In that same year, she was invited to speak at Harvard University’s historic Sanders Theatre, where she shared her remarkable life story—from reformed hacker to government advisor—and her journey through the frontlines of cyberwarfare.
Today, Knight is an accomplished Hollywood director, and producer, specializing in cybercrime and techno-thriller television series and feature films. She blends her real-life experiences as a former black hat hacker and intelligence operative with gripping, character-driven storytelling to entertain, provoke, and educate global audiences. Knight has produced over seven television series, primarily in the procedural crime drama genre, earning critical acclaim and multiple awards. With momentum building, she now has a full slate of five new original television series greenlit for 2025, further establishing her as a pioneering creative force at the intersection of cybersecurity and cinematic storytelling.
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