Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday November 14, 2025 - “28 Days before $0 UE Benefits” Ed.

Highlights for the week

Another week in the bag. So looking forward to the holiday season, despite the lack of employment. It's odd that I'm not freaking out about not finding work. I'd prefer landing a great job than a shitty job, with an ego-maniac manager, for trash pay.

On the security front, I finally added a VPN to my Mac. Now I can pen test like a big boy! It has not impacted the browser performance and I like knowing my browsing habits are secured. The cool highlight was I finally published my first bug to BugCrowd. It was more like a reach-out to the client instead of a legit bug. I got feedback that it was NOT APPLICABLE but I'm fighting it. I want final confirmation from the client before accepting it as N/A.

Regarding my mentees, I completed the Session 4 training deck for Imani and realized just how much I'm learning as I'm teaching. I'm not going to be much help to Shree as she's moved back to India. She's on a different path now and the time difference is going to suck. At this points, we're friends. Luna is radio-silent this week. I reached out but she hasn't replied. I'm thinking asking for payment for pen testing changed our dynamic. Hoping not the case but also, so what. I'm learning to value my time and the payment was more about a measure of commitment than compensation. Whatever!!

What We’re Grateful For

1. As always, I love that I get to be here. I get to wake up and start a fresh new week.
2. Always grateful for good health!!
3. Always grateful for love in my heart, faith in my abilities, and continuous improvement, working to be my best self.
4. Always grateful for a loving home, a loving family, good friends, a roof over my head, and a full 'fridge.

What We Loved

1. For this week, loved that I got to finish my Pen Test report and file a bug.
2. Loved that the gym finally has cool equipment.
3. Loved that my student is feeling more confident in herself.

What We Learned

1. Gandalf AI - [Status: Paused!]. Keeping this here as a reminder.
2. TCM: AI Fundamentals - [Status: Active!] This week's learning was all about Natural Language Processing, Tokenization, and 'Attention'.
3. Mentor/Mentee w. LUNA - [Status: Not Started!] Radio silence after reaching out regarding my offer. I don't think she's fully committed.
4. Mentor/Mentee w. IMANI, Lesson 4 - . Upcoming week is where things get really good.
5. Mentor/Mentee w. Shree - [Status: Done!]. At this point its safe to say my mentorship is over. Friends now.
6. Reading: WAHH Chapter 16 - [Status: Done!]. It was a quick chapter.
7. Pen Testing: Octopus.com [Status: Done!]
8. Writing: Chapter "War Council" [Status: Done!]. Next chapter is the rescue.
9. Burp Suite: HTTP Header Labs [Status: To Do!]
10. QA Day: Need to get started on APIs.

What We Longed For

1. A GOOD JOB, WITH GREAT PEOPLE, DOING COOL SH**, FOR DECENT PAY/li>

What We Loathed

1. U-Test Moderation. Having to fight for valid issues are a lesson in patience.

Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday November 7, 2025 - “"Holiday Season in effect"” Ed.

Highlights for the week

Holiday season is absolutely in effect. It starts with the Halloween havoc and ends with New Years. So far, it has been a great start. Halloween is always fun and lot's of good vibes. We brought in a massive haul of treats. I certainly picked the worst time to worry about my weight. I will have to be disciplined .. or at least try to maintain some control.

My Test Analyst student rescheduled for this weekend. Hope she's feeling better. She was not doing well at work either. Her confidence was shaken. I'm so blessed to be part of her journey.

U-test platform is still dogsh** but it provides some money. Had a ticket in "Disputed" state and I was super-frustrated by the moderation. Even after the feedback from the Test Lead, I know she was wrong. The consequence was a small reduction in my profile status. I've been told it's not that big of a deal. As someone who's done this for over 15 years, it is humbling. Let's me know there's always something to learn.

What We’re Grateful For

1. As always, grateful for a loving home with my loving family.
2. Having my student and mentees. Haven't heard from Shree in a long time. Hope she's ok.
3. Despite the unemployment, I'm hopeful that things will turn around and I get to wake up to see that come to pass.

What We Loved

1. With the holidays here, loving everything!!

What We Learned

1. Gandalf AI - [Status: Paused!] ... I may never get to this anytime soon and that's ok. I'm taking a new course in AI from TCM.
2. U-Test work - [Status: Done!]
3. TCM: AI Fundamentals - [Status: Done!] - Learned how training models works.
4. Mentor/Mentee w. LUNA - [Status: Not Started!] She's been sick but I'm also not convinced she's going to come through.
5. Mentor/Mentee w. IMANI, Lesson 3 - [Status: Postponed!]. She was sick and we moved things for this weekend.
6. Mentor/Mentee w. Shree, TBD
7. Reading: WAHH Chapter 15 - [Status: Done!] The chapter was mostly about information disclosure in error messages and server logs. Not a lot to "hack!"
8. Pen Testing: Octopus.com [Status: In Progress!]
9. Writing: Chapter "War Council" [Status: In Progress!]
10. Burp Suite: HTTP Header Labs [Status: To Do!]
11. QA Day: Need to get started on APIs.

What We Longed For

1. JOB

What We Loathed

1. U-Test Moderation .. the absolute worst!

Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday October 31, 2025 - “Halloween Hopes” Ed.

Highlights for the week

Halloween week kicks off with an amazing assortment of treats and scaries. Still, it's been a productive week.
Treat: Oreos w. Reese's Peanut Butter is a great treat.
Trick: the layoffs haven't stopped ...

1. GM - 1,700
2. Meta - 9,000
3. Target - 1,000
4. Paramount - 2,000
5. Amazon - 30,000
6. Microsoft - 6,000 (on top of the 9,000 from earlier in the year)
7. UPS - 4,800
8. Nestle - 16,000
9. Lufthansa - 4,000
10. Intel - 4,000
I have to wonder if I'm ever going to land a job considering most companies are going through hiring freezes. The longer I'm out of work, the worse it looks.

What We’re Grateful For

1. Fun halloween spirit and an awesome family to share it with.
2. I get to wake up and enjoy good health and good food.
3. I get to look forward to a fun weekend and a good student.

What We Loved

1. CELEBRATED ANOTHER YEAR OF MARRIAGE - Forgot how long it's been
2. Have I mentioned the fun Halloween vibes .. always the best precursor to the holiday stretch.

What We Learned

1. Gandalf AI - [Status: Paused!] .. bumping this to next week as part of an AI learning initiative.
2. Picked up U-Test work (Tue. 10/28)
3. New Lesson: Getting Started in iOS Mobile Application Testing (Wed. 10/29 12 - 1) [Status: Done!] Cool things learned, but no real demo.
4. New Lesson: AI Agents and MCP Security Risks (Thr. 10/30 1 - 2) [Status: Done!]
5. Mentor/Mentee w. LUNA happening (Thr. 10/30 3pm) [Status: Done!]
6. Mentor/Mentee w. IMANI happening (Sun. 11/1 2pm) [Status: Done!]
7. Reading: WAHH Chapter 13 - [Status: Done!] .. applied the HTTP header lessons. Should revisit the labs a.s.a.p
8. Hacking: TCM - [Status: Done!]
9. Pen Testing: Five9 Pen Testing [Status: Done!]
10. Writing: Chapter "War Council" [Status: To Do!] .. been a hectic week.
11. Burp Suite: HTTP Header Labs [Status: To Do!]
12. QA Day: Need to get started on APIs.

What We Longed For

1. As always, a good job doing cool shit with amazing people, making great money ... and this time not to f** it up!!

What We Loathed

1. The 2025 Job Market
2. Miami Dolphins in 2025 .. worst I've seen in a long time

Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday October 24, 2025 - “Post BSidesNYC” Ed.

Highlights for the week

Welp! Another week and another round of layoffs across diverse companies in the technology sector (and others). I'm optimistic I will find employment, just not sure in what anymore. Pen Testing is a super-saturated field. Literally everyone and their cousin want's to become a "hacker" having neither the talent or experience. Jobs in QA are becoming scarce as well, with roles being offshored to India and So. East Asia, or eliminated altogether.

The high from BSidesNYC has worn off. I'm back to the reality of looking for work > applying > getting rejected. Lather -> Rinse -> Repeat. 36 days left of UE .. the countdown begins.

The greatest blessing of the moment is acquiring a new mentee / student. I'm teaching her what I have learned about QA and arming with the knowledge I never had. I want to be the person I prayed for. My mission is to ensure she is empowered with the knowlege and skills to ask the right questions and perform to the best of her abilities. F** me for never having that in my life back when I started in QA. Who knows where I would have wound up. Teaching her is a new achievement unlocked!!

What We’re Grateful For

1. As always blessed to have a loving home, great family, food, and comfy bed
2. BSidesNYC continues to be a blessing. New connections keep popping up and I feel new opportunities will manifest themselves.
3. Grateful for Imani, my new student. Her name means "Faith/Believe" in Arabic. So it makes sense I would find faith in myself.

What We Loved

1. In a word .. everything! Never taking a day for granted.

What We Learned

1. Gandalf AI - haven't made time for this [Status: Paused!] .. Looking to pivot to taking the AI courses from "Eli" before coming back to this.
2. Reading: WAHH Chapter 13 - still going [Status: In Progress] .. hadn't had much time this week to do much reading or writing of any kind.
3. Hacking: TCM - 98% done. Have to finish watching the "Report Authoring" section for new ideas.
4. Writing: Chapter "War Council" [Status: Not started] .. been a hectic week.
5. Pen Testing: Five9 Pen Testing [Status: In Progress!] .. behind on it due to BSidesNYC (2 days), along with other priorities.
6. Burp Suite: HTTP Header Labs [Status: To Do!]
7. QA Day: Need to get started on APIs.

What We Longed For

1. As always .. a good job!!

What We Loathed

1. Not having a job for this long.
2. As fun as it feels, losing my willpower to my vice sucks. Getting back on the discipline wagon.

Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday October 16, 2025 - "BSidesNYC Experience" Ed.

Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday {{month}} {{day}}, 2025 - “{{ Theme }” Ed.

Highlights for the week

"A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things" - PLATO

BSides NYC All DAY Saturday ... sooo excited for this. Finally getting to volunteer, as per my new years resolution for 2025. For the most part, a lot of what I had laid out as far as goals has come to pass. Landed a Security job, read a couple of books, wrote more, and did as much as I could for mentoring. Certifications are just so expensive. In the meantime, I'm working on the weak areas like network pen testing, report writing, and getting better with Burp Suite (need that PRO version a.s.a.p).

What We’re Grateful For

1. As always, I take comfort in having an awesome family.
2. Grateful that I'm getting to meet people at the BSides Conference.
3. Keeping hope alive that I will land a job soon. But I am glad I didn't get a bad job.

What We Loved

1. Getting to be part of the BSidesNYC voluteerism.
2. Looking forward to meeting RaicesCyber folks.

What We Learned

1. Gandalf AI - haven't made time for this [Status: Paused!]
2. Reading: WAHH Chapter 13 - still going [Status: In Progress]
3. Hacking: TCM - Re-watched Module 9 [Status: Done!] Module 10 [Status: Not Started!]
4. Writing: Set up the outline for Chapter "War Council" [Status: In Progress!]
5. Pen Testing: Five9 Scope completed; Pen Testing paused for other priorities that came up.
6. Burp Suite: CSRF Labs [Status: Done!] HTTP Header Labs [Status: To Do!]
7. QA Day: Fixed E2E e-commerce tests. Need to get started on APIs.

What We Longed For

1. Longing for that great job, making great money, working with great people, doing awesomethings in the Cybersecurity space, mainly pen testing.

What We Loathed

1. 2025 Job Market.

Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday October 10, 2025 - "Versus Vices" Ed.

Highlights for the week

Had a temporary moment of weakness with my vice - felt guilty despite the temporary enjoyment. Reddit is the other habit I need to regulate.

In other, exciting news, my mentee wants to get started on Pen Testing .. which is motivating me to revisit the craft. Radio silence from my other mentee in France. Hope all is well with her. It's been three weeks or so since we last talked.

What We’re Grateful For

1. Getting to rise and shine to a beautiful Friday morning in the fall is always a blessing.
2. Grateful to have another week of good health and good vibes.
3. I get to wake up .. I will make the most of this.
4. I'm appreciative of all that I have.
5. I will make the most of this.

What We Loved

1. As stated before: crisp fall air, beautiful blue skies, sunshine, and the unshakable feeling of something amazing about to happen this month.

What We Learned

1. Gandalf AI - hacked around and did not find out! Prompt injection attack for level 1: [Status: Paused!] .. just not enough hours in the week.
2. Reading: WAHH Chapter 13 - [Status: In Progress] - it's a monster chapter and I'm pausing to correlate BurpSuite labs as I finish a section.
3. Hacking: TCM - Module 9 [Status: Done!] - Might need to revisit the last 10 minutes before starting Module 10.
4. Writing: New Chapter "War Council" [Status: Not Started!]
5. Pen Testing: Five9 Scope completed; Pen Testing paused for other priorities that came up.
6. Burp Suite: Near complete with CSRF Labs; Then HTTP Header Flaws (per WAHH Chap. 13).
7. QA Day: Continued work for Checkout Summary page [Status: In Progress]; need to fix the fails.

What We Longed For

1. As always: a great job, working for a great company, doing amazing things, with great people, making great money.
2. Getting out of debt .. looking forward to that so I can start saving $$$

What We Loathed

1. THE JOB MARKET IN 2025 ... I'll probably keep repeating this until I land a job.

Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday October 3, 2025 - "Besides the BSides" Ed.

Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday {{month}} {{day}}, 2025 - “{{ Theme }” Ed.

Highlights for the week

Got a great feeling about October, and from the looks of my calendar .. that is justified!! Mentee wants in on Pen Testing action. And I'm volunteering for BSidesNYC ... woot!

What We’re Grateful For

1. I get to be here.
2. Got a great family.
3. Some money was given to us for good use.
4. New opportunities showing up.

What We Loved

1. Finally getting to go to BSidesNYC and volunteering.
2. Gandalf Hacking posponed to next week.
3. Got some great feedback with the AI prompt on "Husb.." fight scene.
4. Re-assessed finances and consolidated a lot of balances down to two cards. Gotta make that money!!
5. Got around to scheduling new appointment for DMV.
6. Got a new doctor and hoping I can get to the new endo. This low-t thing is killing me

What We Learned

1. Finished Module 4 for Google Prompt and came away learnig A LOT about prompts.
2. Reading: WAHH Chapter 13 - [Status: In Progress]
3. Hacking: TCM - Module 9 [Status: To Do!]
4. Writing: Leveraged AI to expand on the fight scene between Mara and Dee. [Status: Done!] The feedback was amazing!
5. Pen Testing (Bug Crowd): Need a new PT starting next week.
6. Burp Suite: Bus. Logic flaws - [Status: Not Started!]. About to start CSRF, which aligns with the section in Chapter 13 of WAHH.
7. QA Day: Continued work over the weekend [Status: In Progress]
8. Gandalf AI - hacked around and did not find out! Prompt injection attack for level 1: [Status: In Progress!]

What We Longed For

1. A great job doing cool sh**, with amazing people, making decent $$$ and benefits! Applied again to Perplexity (fingers crossed!)

What We Loathed

1. Job Market in 2025. Unemployment is a real drag.