I started hacking as a teenager: reading Phrack Magazine, writing code late at night, diving into low-level systems. What started as curiosity quickly became a calling, and it never let go.
18 years in the industry, more than 25 years of hands-on work in hacking, software development, operating systems, networking, and low-level technologies. I've worked across the full spectrum: Director of Detection Engineering, Security Architect, Red Teamer, Pentester, Blue Team Lead, etc. Public and private sectors, European and American organizations.
Responsible for the disclosure of hundreds of security vulnerabilities, resulting in more than 140 assigned CVEs across technologies like the Linux and XNU Kernels, Apache, Firefox, Safari, Samba, QEMU, HAProxy, OpenVPN, Go, Ruby, libssh2, etc., acknowledged by Google, Microsoft, Apple, Mozilla, Cisco, Red Hat, Tenable, Rapid7, and many others. Along the way, I've developed modern exploits including kernel exploitation, contributed to academic research, presented at security conferences, and triaged nation-state intrusions at 3 AM. I also passed the OSCP, OSCE, GREM, and GXPN certifications.
But what I keep coming back to is teaching and mentoring. I've been at it since 2018, across engineering schools, universities, and online training. I also founded HackForge, a free CTF platform, and HackWiki, a free cybersecurity knowledge base. It's a genuine passion, and a duty toward the next generation.
That's why Talence exists. Every course is built from real engagements, original research, and hard-earned lessons. No recycled slides. Whether you're breaking in or defending the wall, this is the training I wish I had when I started.
