“You don’t need IT fundamentals or programming skills to learn cybersecurity.” “You don’t need to have a degree to be a software engineer.” While it’s noble to promote lowering the barriers of entry within desperately understaffed STEM fields (such as cybersecurity), it seems that beneath these well-intended words often lies…

As a formerly devout Christian, I often find it hard to disagree publicly with people I used to regard as brothers and sisters (particularly those who I wish were still close friends) over matters of faith. …

An awkward thing about starting a new career later in life is being at the bottom of the ladder with kids fresh out of school. More painful than the pay cut is the reminder that I’m playing catch-up, or rather, as my parents remind me constantly, that I haven’t made…

If we aren’t wanted, then you can’t blame us for looking out for ourselves first. — Warning: the opinions expressed here may be unpopular/disconcerting and do not represent the views of my employer. “To this day, I wake up at times, look in the mirror, and just stare, obsessed with the idea that the person I am in my head is something entirely different than what…

Many of us are familiar with a concept called Moore’s Law, in which chip performance is expected to double every 18 months or so. This “law” is now more scripture than fact as improvements in chip performance have reached diminishing returns. …

I sometimes participate in an alumni Discord server, where we recently had a bit of heated debate regarding the value of our bootcamp program and what we wish could have been different. Two major themes were: The training on its own was not sufficient/rigorous enough to make us “job-ready” relative…

Most days I’m glad to have gotten out of my line cook position long before COVID-19 hit, but at moments I still look back in regret for leaving too soon. The bitter-sweetness of that time lingers in my mind, for better or worse. Salaryman to Shokunin Tired of the ad agency and startup…

One Size Doesn’t Fit All After nearly 7 months of bootcamp, self-study, and job hunting, I’ve finally made it — I recently accepted a full-time role as a SOC (security operations center) analyst. …

Button Mashing If you’ve ever participated in a CTF or have tried web application penetration testing, you might have come across a situation where a response must be made to the server in a limited amount of time. …