Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday December 5, 2025 - "Long December" Ed.

Highlights for the week

A post on linked in started me down a mental thought spiral. It posed a question: "ARE YOU RELIABLE? Can we depend on you to get the job done?" -- These words hit me like a mack truck and probably the source of why I've been in a Hire/Fire pattern. Thinking back, a lot of the reasons for why I've lost my many jobs can be boiled down to this word, RELIABILITY (or DEPENDABILITY). As I reflect on that I'm realizing the changes I need to make.

Although I've been out of work, I've been supremely busy. Started on a new API Pen Testing endeavor. AI is hot on its heels.

Mentorship has been the best blessing, however it's made me realize peopl work on their own schedules. Imani is progressing nicely. Luna is MIA. Nothing from Shree either.

What We’re Grateful For

1. As always, I'm grateful for my family near and far.
2. Grateful to be a mentor to my student, Imani. She's teaching me about myself.
3. I'm truly blessed to have good health, a great mindset, and the opportunity to keep learning and improving where I failed. Work in progress, always!!

What We Loved

1. Loving teaching QA.
2. Really starting to appreciate my API Pen Testing.

What We Learned

1. API Pen Testing: YNAB [Status: BLOCKED!]. The platform reached out to the project owner for follow-up.
2. BBH! 2 Tickets created but declared "Not Applicable" - an open port that cannot be exploited further is not an issue.
3. VAMPI [Status: DONE!]
4. AI Training [Status: Not Started!] - Moved to next week.
5. Mentor/Mentee w. IMANI, Lesson 6: [Status: DONE!] Her submission required a lengthy conversation. Discussions of more lessons in the week to come.
6. Reading: WAHH Chapter 18 - [Status: IN PROGRESS!] Haven't really made the time to read. Been busy!!
7. Writing: Chapter "War Cry" [Status: NOT STARTED!]. Outline is done. Need to make time to put hands on keys.
8. Burp Suite: HTTP Header Labs [Status: TO DO!]
9. QA Day: API Automation [Status: DONE!]. Leveraged Google Gemini to review my work, convert the test to proper Typescript notation. Tests pass intermittently, but not because the test code is bad.

What We Longed For

1. As always, a good job with a steady pay check, working on cool sh***, with amazing people. Long-term: I'd love to be a part of project zero (Google).

What We Loathed

1. Filed 2 Bugcrowd Tickets .. rejected. Seems like the moderators are consistently rejecting issues. That being said, finding them was fun. I tested the two issues to the fullest and learned a ton.
2. Hate not having a proper income, but I don't hate NOT having a job.