With 2023 just around the corner, we wanted to reflect on our Pentester Spotlights from this year. Our Pentester Spotlight series is focused on highlighting the Cobalt Core Pentesters and putting a face to their work. Our pentesters come from all over the world and have experienced different careers and experiences. This ensures that the Cobalt Core is full of testers with different skills and expertise. Below are our Pentester Spotlights from 2022.
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"Sharing my knowledge has become my passion. If even one person is getting value from my content, I will be motivated to write more, create more mindmaps, and present at more conferences. Plus, publishing content has also helped me improve my overall communication skills. Being able to convey a technical topic in a manner that can reach all audiences is no easy task."
"I love the quote, 'Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.’ I believe that this applies to pentesting as well. Unlike earlier days, plenty of resources are available on the internet for pentesting."
"The number one thing I took away from my time in the military was what it means to be a good person and an effective leader. While not always, leadership has been a vital skill that I leveraged as a leader and follower. While in the Army, I experienced multiple leadership styles, and I eventually adopted a combination of these styles that I saw as honorable. Leadership mantras such as “lead by example,” “never ask someone to do something you haven’t done/wouldn’t do,” and “treat everyone with respect” have helped guide my decision-making process."
"I like puzzles. For a pentester, a patch is a puzzle; breaking that patch is what keeps me motivated. Nowadays, it feels like a hobby. It's all changing with technology. We all have seen how bugs have been present for a decade. This helps me challenge myself."
"I am extremely fortunate and grateful that I found my passion early in my career. Since there are so many incredible hackers in the community and the field is so vast and constantly evolving, it feels overwhelming at the same time too. I keep reminding myself with a positive attitude to be consistent and keep learning daily. I am happy to be here and having a good time so far 😀"
"I reported a vulnerability in Microsoft and got into their Hall of Fame list. That’s it. Then the journey of becoming an ethical hacker started. After that, I never looked back. I got many halls of fame in top-notch organizations."
"As a retired developer, I love understanding how a site has been built and the logic behind it, to figure out how or why something is working that way, and then abuse it, of course. Furthermore, being in a field that requires constant updating and a great deal of specialization motivates me a lot."
"The joy I felt when I received the email stating: “I’m pleased to share that you have PASSED the lab and are now a GSE! Congratulations!” was probably close to what Nobel Prize winners feel when they are nominated 🙂. Unofficially, I am the 3rd Romanian person in the world who achieved this certification, and this was a nice ego boost. 🙂"
"In pentesting, I am not motivated by my greed, but I work based on my intelligence and strategy, and I think that’s the foundation I keep following. It keeps me motivated and allows me to develop my skill set."
