From coding..
My developer life started at 14 when I enrolled at the HTL Villach with a focus on IT. In those five years I learned to code: Assembler, C, C++, COBOL, and that new thing: Java. I continued the path at the Technical University of Vienna, eventually earning my Master's Degree in Software Engineering.
In parallel to my studies, I started to work at the Austrian Institue of Technology (AIT), initially as part of an EU FP7 Project on Quantum Key Distribution, later mostly on EU Horizon 2020 projects focusing on Secure Data Storage and Identity Management in the Cloud.
.. to hacking, ..
In late 2012, a friend asked me to help out in their pen-testing company. I initially declined. Lured in by the offer of free coffee, I visited their office and thus began my hacking career. Over the next six years, I alternated between engineering (AIT) and pen-testing until, in 2018, hacking won and I became a full-time pen-tester.
Not forgetting my roots, over time I became more and more involved in AppSec, Developer Trainings, and consulting roles.
.. but still caring.
‘Only’ hacking feels unfulfilling: while pwning systems is fun, there must be a more constructive side to security.
To explore this aspect of mine, I taught various security lectures at the FH/Technikum Wien and became an OWASP leader, both for a local chapter (Vienna, then Klagenfurt) and a project.
This never felt enough. So in 2022, I quit my day job and enrolled in a PhD program at the Technical University of Vienna. My focus lies on using AI/ML for offensive security as well as hackers’ decision making processes in general. To finance this, I have become a freelance security consultant accompaning softare devs/companies on their road towards security self-reliance. Secretly I hope to bridge academia and industry through my work.
To see more information about my squiggly journey, see my my CV (github) or checkout my LinkedIn Profile.
