John Fastabend
Senior Director, Software Engineering Isovalent At Cisco
Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolJohn Fastabend is a senior software engineering leader with 13+ years focused on Linux kernel, eBPF, and cloud-native networking and security, currently leading engineering for Isovalent at Cisco. He is a creator and committer of Tetragon—an eBPF-based runtime security and observability project—and a long-time maintainer and reviewer on Cilium and BPF/Linux kernel networking subsystems. His work spans deep kernel-level BPF programs (L7, XDP, verifier), IPsec and IPv6 networking, and practical runtime enforcement features that improve cluster security and observability. Known for refactoring core components and hardening access controls, he blends hands-on systems engineering with product-minded roadmap execution. Based in the Portland area, he brings an uncommon physics and electrical engineering background to low-level systems design and secure networking.
13 years of coding experience
17 years of employment as a software developer
Bachelor's Degree Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bachelor's Degree Electrical and Electronics Engineering at University of PortlandMaster's Degree Physics, Master's Degree Physics at Portland State University
Github Skills (23)
kubernetes10
ebpf10
ipsec10
packet10
networking10
bpf10
security10
go10
filter10
kubernetes-pods10
api-design9
apidoc9
c119
api9
c179
Programming languages (8)
Github contributions (5)
cilium/tetragon
May 2022 - Nov 2022
eBPF-based Security Observability and Runtime Enforcement
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer & Security Engineer
Back-end Developer & Security EngineerContributions:1 release, 247 reviews, 81 commits in 6 months
Contributions summary:John's primary contribution is to enhance Tetragon, an eBPF-based security observability and runtime enforcement component. They developed and refactored core components, specifically related to BPF programs, sensors, and event handling within the Tetragon system. The user made changes to the API definitions and configurations for improved maintainability. Further, they contributed significantly to improve security by modifying access to the different components of Tetragon.
bpfkernelenforcementsecurityruntime
cilium/cilium
May 2017 - Jun 2024
eBPF-based Networking, Security, and Observability
Role in this project:Back-end & Security Engineer
Back-end & Security EngineerContributions:219 reviews, 310 PRs, 626 pushes in 7 years 2 months
Contributions summary:John primarily contributed to the implementation and maintenance of security features and core back-end functionalities within the Cilium project. Their work involved fixing issues related to encryption, particularly with IPsec and the use of BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter) programs for network traffic management. The user also added support for features like IPv6 and performed code refactoring to streamline the handling of network traffic in the context of the security features. Additionally, they addressed issues related to Kubernetes compatibility and implemented unit tests to ensure functionality.
bpfcontainerskerneltroubleshootingkubernetes-networking
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