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.