This week we’re putting the Spotlight on Tony, a Bugcrowd Ambassador.
Feel free to follow on Twitter @TJ_Null
Tony was a Sophomore in High School when he decided to start taking computer classes. Through the classes, one of his teachers, Rob, introduced him to cybersecurity and gave him a pen testing operating system called Backtrack. Rob is one of his major influencers in his life and continues to be a mentor to Tony.
His other influencer was his grandfather. His grandfather was involved with X-Ray technology and had his own computer company. Tony would occasionally come across some of his scripts that contained his own exploit code that was written in his grandfather’s alias name. It peaked his curiosity to look for exploit scripts that exploited systems.
While searching for scripts, he also became curious about how people find vulnerabilities, and how hackers created exploits to find vulnerabilities. Paired with his high school education, finding vulnerabilities became an addictive hobby. There were even days that he remained on his computer wanting to learn about specific tools to find more vulns.
He then proceeded to continue his education by attending a community college, Frederick Community College (FCC). During his time there, he also looked into organizations and meetups to enhance his skills.
Once he graduated from the local community college, he was asked to help build out their cybersecurity program by putting together classes and curriculum. As well as, building the lab from the ground up. Still today, he is involved with the college as a professor by teaching classes such as ethical hacking, Linux, while coaching the FCC Cyber Team.
Tony continued his education by transferring to the University of Maryland – University College (UMUC). Graduating with a major in Cybersecurity. During his time at UMUC he became a member and captain for the Cyber Padawan Team. Through them, he trained ever further by competing in cyber competitions and attending local meetups. Tony continues to be part of the Cyber Padawan team and is part of their board.
After receiving his Bachelor’s degree, he came across Hack the Pentagon via news, which was the first time he heard about bug bounties. Since FCC was very interested in Hack the Pentagon, his group submitted vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, they were previously found by another team. Afterward, he attended Hack the Airforce. After bug bounties, Tony took a break and went towards smaller companies to find vulnerabilities, as well as, participating in many CTFs such as SANS Netwars and SANS Tournament of Champions. Tony is also a founding member and moderator for an infosec community called NetsecFocus that aims to help members get into cybersecurity as well.
It didn’t last too long. He found out about Bugcrowd through a friend when attending Hack Fest in Canada. His friend, Rey Bango, one of Bugcrowd’s Ambassadors recommended him to give Bugcrowd a shot. And now, Tony is an ambassador as well.
How did you get into Cybersecurity?
How do you manage your personal life, work, and bug bounties?
What are a few of your favorite hacking/security tools? Why should others use those?
What is a quick hacking tip or technique that you recommend?
What advice would you give to someone who is starting out as a beginner in bug bounties?
How have bug bounties impacted your life?
What do you like to do in your free time, when you’re not doing bug bounties or working?
Thank you so much to Tj null for his time and for his great contributions to the bug bounty community!
Interested in becoming an ambassador? Apply to become a Bugcrowd Ambassador today! If you have any questions, please Twitter direct message @ChloeMessdaghi