My Exciting Two Month Journey as a Security Analyst at Appsecco

A quick post about the beginning of my exciting journey as a full time Security Analyst at Appsecco.

Photo by Clemens van Lay on Unsplash

Background

Around 5 years ago, I stepped into the world of cybersecurity, and about 4 years ago, I started hacking as a bug bounty hunter on HackerOne. I wanted more from my freelancing career and really wanted to get an industry view of how the world was actually doing security testing.

To start that journey, I applied as an intern at Appsecco after which I landed a full-time role as a security analyst here.

My time as an intern at Appsecco was amazing. Having Riyaz as my guide and mentor was fantastic, and I learned a lot about the developer’s perspective while approaching any target. I wrote about my 6-months internship experiences too.

Transitioning from an intern to a full-time employee wasn’t a big change from a technology point of view but definitely stepping into the world of working with real world customers was eye opening. Having a team lead like Swathi, allowed me to blend right in with her guidance and start executing customer facing projects.

I got involved in some major assignments, like testing Cloud environments, performing a security test of internal networks, examining web applications, and API pentesting. I even did my first-ever solo project where I hacked Android and iOS applications. I’ve learned and done more testing in these 2 months than I did in the entire previous year.

Get Abhishek Birdawade’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

What I really love about being around such experienced security experts is that learning never stops. Appsecco’s way of learning is awesome for young folks like me who want to explore cybersecurity.

Even though I’m the youngest on the team, everyone takes my ideas and suggestions seriously.

What my day looks like

My day starts at 6 AM, followed by a 2-hour workout. Then, at 9:30 AM, we have our first team meeting of the day. I really enjoy our morning catch-up sessions; they’ve made me much more productive and accountable.

My approach was pretty different, having come from bug hunting and freelancing, but thanks to the great mentors, I’ve developed some really effective ways of working (I’ll talk more about this in my next blogs).

And let’s not forget the fun team meetings at Appsecco! We used to have Fun Fridays, but now we have Warm Wednesdays. Our HR, Manu Singh, makes sure we have a whole hour of entertainment and engagement and the team let’s their hair loose and have some non-judgemental fun!

I used to worry before starting this job — what if I don’t fit in? But now, at Appsecco, it feels like I’ve always belonged here. In just 2 months, I’ve built strong connections with my team members. Can’t wait to meet them in person at our next in person outing!

Outro

Photo by Aravind Kumar on Unsplash

I’ve got a long and exciting journey ahead, and I’m looking forward to working, learning, and growing with Appsecco for many years to come.