Tom Hessman (he/him)

I'm a computer nerd and theatre nerd who is always finding new ways to combine my passions. By day I work in cyber security, and by night I work and volunteer at my local non-profit community theatres. I'm a proud card-carrying member of the ACLU, and I proudly support my LGBTQIA+ family and friends!

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What I Do

Cyber Security

Tom works at Counter Hack, leading all efforts for quality assurance and testing for SANS NetWars, SANS Skills Quest by NetWars, SANS Holiday Hack Challenge , Cyber Quests, and more. With a background in systems administration, Tom works on the operations team, providing behind-the-scenes support for NetWars with the occasional crowd-favorite appearance as TomZilla for CyberCity events. His unparalleled bug-finding ability is a critical part of challenge reliability and the delivery of intended learning goals for Counter Hack's projects.

Theatre

Tom is a lifelong theatergoer, and spent 15 years on the media crew for Staples Players (Westport, CT) before fully transitioning to the New Jersey community theater scene. In addition to seeing shows all around NJ, Tom loves volunteering in various capacities. Tom had a brief walk-on role in Phoenix Productions' 2019 production of Young Frankenstein as one of the hangmen, and Phoenix hasn’t been able to get rid of him since! Tom serves as a production manager and a member of the Operations Committee at Phoenix Productions (Red Bank, NJ), and also served as a board member at Exit 82 Theatre (Toms River, NJ). Tom also served as a board member and manager of Theatre@Home, a series of virtual concerts that ran in 2020-2021 created by Justin Christopher Odon. Tom got his first official film credit (and IMDb listing) as an Executive Producer on Amanda Marino's short film That's When The Music Died. Tom also won the 2025 BroadwayWorld New Jersey Award for Best Sound Design of a Musical or Play, for his 2024 production of Bat Boy The Musical with Phoenix Productions!