Syntax - Arrested Teenager to Motorcycle Racer To Pentester

Getting Into Infosec

Syntax, an internal pentester for a large organization, had an interesting ride into infosec, filled with pitstops, detours, and countersteering along the way. At an early age, he was influenced by his father, got started hacking, and was wrongfully arrested for reporting a vulnerability in his High School. Hear his exciting journey into infosec, filled with life lessons.

Shownotes

• Was arrested in High School for disclosing a vulnerability in the school IT system
• Went to college for computer science, but dropped out
• Inspired by the movie hackers
• His first computer had a 1MB hard drive (yes, not a typo!)
• Still went to Defcon even when he was not in IT or working in security
• Was a professional motorcycle racer
• Kept all his rejection letters as a way of motivation to keep going
• Had some business and entrepreneurial experience in the past, which helped him get back into the field
• Got back into security through… IT!

Quotes

• "A lot of our time is spent arguing with the other departments and justifying our findings." [2:58]
• "Is this cross-site scripting really a problem?"
• "I get stuck a lot… it's kind of the nature of the beast." [5:17]
• "I'm not going to work in tech again." [12:21]
• "You're a motorcycle mechanic… why should we hire you?"[19:07]
• "It's my hacker family. These are my people. Everyone in security, they make sense to me, cause they're all kinda like me." [19:41]
• "I kept getting [these] projects coming my way and I constantly said, 'YES.'" [22:07]
• "Have you done this before? … no, but I'll learn!" [25:06]"
• "Because I had that mindset… I was seeing [from a] different [perspective] than other analysts." [26:00]

Links

• Syntax on Twitter: https://twitter.com/syntax976
• DCZIA: http://dczia.net/
• Queercon: https://www.queercon.org/
• Outro Music: "Pure Decking" by Patient Zero from the album "Screen Saviour" her link is http://patientzero.bandcamp.com and she is @DoctorKraft on the Twitter

Getting Into Infosec

• Breaking IN: A Practical Guide to Starting a Career in Information Security: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N15GTPC/
• T-Shirts, Mugs, and more: https://gettingintoinfosec.com/shop/
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