$ whoami zurtix

My Experience

7 years Software Engineering

4 years Technology Lead | Cyber Threat Intelligence

My Story

My path into security isn't anything extraordinary (at least I don't think so), but I’d like to share how I went from point A to Z, in case it might inspire someone reading this.

It all started in my younger days when I built my first computer. I was captivated by how these greenboards and their soldered components worked together. What was the brain, the heart, the limbs of this machine? That curiosity sparked a lifelong bond with computers.

A few years later, however, I found myself dropping out of high school to work full-time, losing my passion for computers and pretty much everything else. It wasn’t until I grew tired of my job that I decided I needed to make a change. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved working—it keeps me grounded—but there’s nothing worse than mind-numbing work. So, I took the opportunity to finish high school through remote learning, at my own pace. Traditional classrooms never suited me; I needed fast-paced, firehose-style learning.

I self-taught the material, took the exams, and completed high school. From there, I moved on to college. But let’s be real—I’ve never liked formal education. I rarely attended classes unless there was an exam or a chance to hang out with friends (not the best decision, I know). Thankfully, most of my lectures were recorded online, so I could listen at 2x speed, which was much more my style. During this time, I developed a passion for C++. It felt like I’d rediscovered that childhood joy of tinkering with computers, this time by interacting with memory at a low level.

After college, I landed my first job as a Java/C# Developer in production support for the financial sector. I didn’t love production support, but I was good at it. I had a knack for finding bugs in the middle of the night and reverse-engineering problematic code. In the process, I stumbled across things like plaintext passwords in applications—things that fueled my interest in security.

This is when I realized reverse engineering was an actual career. It sounded perfect for me, but it’s a tough, niche field to break into. So, I set my sights on penetration testing. I spent countless hours on Hack The Box (HTB), a platform where you exploit virtual machines to capture flags. I learned a lot there, both through practice and by helping others. One of the people I befriended, H3x3D, eventually introduced me to a manager at the company he works at, giving me the chance to showcase my skills.

At first, I didn’t look good on paper and was rejected quickly—understandably, since I had no formal security experience. But with the persistence of my friend and my own determination, I worked hard to prove myself. Eventually, that same manager gave me a shot. I wouldn’t be here today without the support of that manager and my friend. If either of you happens to read this, you have my deepest thanks.

If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to get to know me. I hope we share some similarities in how we’ve navigated our paths, and that I feel a little less like a stranger to you now.