My name is Marcelo. I currently live near Los Angeles, CA, and I consider myself a cybersecurity explorer. At the moment, I am pursuing a degree in Cybersecurity from Los Angeles City College and am expected to graduate in June 2024. My goal is to use my background in software development to transition into a career in cybersecurity.
My IT Background #
I’ve worn many IT hats over the years, transitioning from roles such as tech support, network administrator, software developer, mobile apps developer, and recently as a front-end engineer. Over the years I’ve learned a lot from these different roles. Jack of all trades, master of none.
What do I mean by being a Cybersecurity Explorer? #
This industry is huge and have different roles that goes from SOC analysts to Governance, Risk, and Compliance and everything in between. Some people enjoy being on the blue-team or defending side and others enjoy the red-team or attacking side of cyber. In my case, it’s a mix, I do enjoy penetration testing, and malware analysis. Ultimately, I’m someone that enjoys a good technical challenge and overcoming obstacles.
Cybersecurity? #
Penetration Testing is one of those red-team roles that have always picked up my interest. I truly enjoy doing footprinting and recon on a target. Analyzing the information obtained and finding a way to break into the system – ethically, of course. The feeling and the rush you feel when you can access a system this way is something that can’t compare to many things related to IT realm. Yeah, you get super excited when a software development project gets deployed and you get great feedback and pats in the back for the job done, but nothing compares to the rush of breaking into systems.
Certifications #
I have several CompTIA certifications such as A+, Network+, Security+, and Linux+. Additionally, I hold the Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) certification. Currently, I am working on obtaining cloud certifications from two different providers. The first is from Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the second is from Microsoft Azure (AZ). Specifically, I am pursuing the AWS Fundamentals certification, and the Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) certification.
WORK-IN-PROGRESS