How I Got Started: Offensive Security


In the high-stakes world of cybersecurity, offensive security experts play a pivotal role in identifying and mitigating potential threats. These professionals, sometimes referred to as “ethical hackers”, use their skills to probe networks and systems in search of vulnerabilities, ultimately helping organizations fortify their digital defenses.


In this exclusive Q&A, we spoke with a seasoned offensive security professional. Benjamin Netter is a cybersecurity expert and the founder and CEO of Riot, a cybersecurity platform created for employee protection. His goal is to protect over one million employees from cyberattacks. 


Benjamin shares valuable insights on his career path and the skills required to thrive in the field.


First, what does offensive security mean to you?


To me, offensive security is putting yourself into the shoes of a hacker, taking an outside look at your company and thinking about ways you would hack your company. That’s how I ended up working on Riot and preparing employees for cyberattacks. Most of the time, they are the undervalued vulnerability in companies.


Please tell us where you went to school and what you went to school for. 


I went to EPITECH, a software engineering school in Paris. It’s a school that teaches really hardcore programmer skills. EPITECH teaches based on practical cases rather than theoretical cases. There’s no teacher, you have a project to complete before a deadline and you are completely free to manage your time the way you want until that deadline. For the first three years, I was coding probably twelve hours a day in low-level languages.


I also spent my fourth year at Concordia University in Montreal, mostly focusing on AI — befor ..

Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.