I decided to document my journey into this new field. Here is part one, talking about why and how I started.
There are multiple reasons for posting a public record of this journey. Besides keeping me accountable, it hopefully might inspire others who are on the same journey.
The first time security as a tool for good impressed me was after seeing the documentary Roll Red Roll in 2018.
It is a dark story about the Steubenville High School rape case. There was an attempted cover-up from teachers, parents, and authorities, who were trying to deny the allegations. They deleted the video evidence and even called the victim a liar. There wasn’t much hope for justice until a hacker group found the deleted videos. The evidence was brought to light which got the perpetrators convicted.
This story stayed with me for a long time. It impressed me how something with such negative connotations, such as hacking, can be used for good. It also made me wonder how obtaining the deleted evidence was even possible.
But back then, I was not very confident in my abilities and saw it as something for “smart” people only.
Not long after, I changed my career to software development, I gathered experience and finally felt comfortable and confident in my skills.
I focused more on Ruby/Rails and collaborated on different applications and teams. Although security is one aspect of development, it was never the main focus. Often treated as an afterthought, but it always drew my attention.
I kept reading news about various data breaches and cyber-attacks on large companies (Uber, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) and hearing from acquaintances about them getting hacked. It showed the topicality of security.
Now, feeling more confident in my abilities, I realized my opportunity to use it for something positive.
In 2023, I started dedicating time to transitioning to this new field. Gaining skills in Web Security (as I was more familiar with the subject).
It is only now that I’m publicly documenting my journey. In part two, I will write about the first steps I took until the present.