The Story So Far

My name is Alfred, Master of House Negron, the Second of his Name, Shadow of the Storm, Breaker of Castles, Veteran of the Desert Wars, and now, blogger of silly things and cybersecurity.

For a long time, I avoided writing a blog. I’ve read all the stories and recommendations by famed cybersecurity professionals who portend that a blog is one of the best ways to market yourself. I avoided it because I always felt as though I had nothing to provide to the conversation, nothing of real value to give the community.

Then I remembered all the other bullshit people put out there, and I thought, “Well, fuck, I could do that.”

So here I am, standing in my kitchen, writing down the first words to my first blog post. If you’ve made it thus far, there’s a good chance you know me personally. Or perhaps you’re an AI scrubbing my article for data to feed your insatiable hunger for knowledge. Either way, thank you.

A Life of Service

I decided to enlist in the United States Marine Corps many years ago. I chose to serve for all the usual reasons: travel, adventure, guns, and a sweet uniform. My father was a Marine, and, at the time, it was about the only thing I knew about him. It seemed like a noble cause, and military service is typical in my family. When it came time to sign my enlistment paperwork, I asked my recruiter if I could sign a 20-year contract.

“Maybe see how the next four years go, first.” was his response.

The next four years shaped me in ways I had never imagined. I became a combat engineer. I deployed to Iraq and participated in Operation Phantom Fury, the Second Battle of Fallujah. Immediately following that deployment, I volunteered for another to Jalalabad, Afghanistan. By the end of my first enlistment, I had spent more time overseas and in combat than I did stateside. I met my future wife; I had the opportunity to learn from and lead incredible people. By the end of those first four years, I had confirmed what I knew to be true from the start: I was destined to do this for at least 20 years.

My subsequent enlistment saw me deploy again to Afghanistan, this time to the Helmand province. When I returned, the Marine Corps needed me for recruiting duty. Recruiting was a difficult time for me. I was approaching strangers and attempting to convince them that the life I chose was so great that they should do it, too. Many long days and nights later, I left recruiting duty equipped with a bevy of soft skills I didn’t have before. Also, a deep disdain for high school students…

Around the time I left recruiting duty, the combat deployments had begun to taper off. I deployed again to the Middle East, but this time, I stayed in Kuwait on a staff job with the command element. I started a degree program after some deep conversations with one of my Corporals. I spent a year living in Japan and then a few years at the Marine Corps Engineer School. It was during my time at the schoolhouse that I discovered my passion for technology and writing. I enjoyed studying technology trends, talking to people about tech, and writing tech reports. It’s also about the time my daughter was born. My little partner in crime. No, seriously, that kid is up to no good and implicates me in everything.

A Bright Future

As the sun sets on my career with the Marines, it rises on a new one in cybersecurity. That’s the goal, at least. I finished my bachelor’s degree, ranking at the top of my class. I’ve spent hours talking with professionals in the field, studying the latest hot topics, and logging several hours into Modern Warfare: Warzone. Admittedly, I’m a mediocre player at best, but I’m a sucker for a progress bar, and I need that shiny new scope.

The purpose of this website is to tell my story. Demonstrate to the reader my technical knowledge and growth. Highlight my learning struggles and victories. I plan to document my home lab experiences, comments on the latest news, and shenanigans at conferences. Cybersecurity is often a serious topic for discussion. Failures in security policies or practices have severe consequences for both those within an organization and among the customers it serves. Being empathetic is critical when a situation calls for it; however, some lighthearted humor can help us make the best of a dark world.

With any luck, someone will come across this site and think, “You know what? This guy’s alright.” And that’d be pretty cool by me.