Hacker Valley Red Finale - Marco Figueroa

Oct 6, 2020

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This episode of the Hacker Valley Studio podcast concludes the Hacker Valley Red series. In this finale, Ron and Chris interview their friend - and formerly their shared roommate - Marco Figueroa. Marco is a security researcher and cybersecurity speaker, and he is also a bug bounty enthusiast. He and the hosts constant improvement, bug bounty, and more, while also looking back at the conversations thus far in the season.

At the start of the conversation, Marco shares about his background and what he’s doing now. He runs through the past 7-8 years of his career, ultimately arriving at his current transition to Sentinel. Ron and Chris jump in to thank him for his contributions to their podcast, and to share with listeners about their friendship with Marco. Moving forward, Marco talks about how he first got into the security community, and eventually found a niche in reverse-engineering malware. He also involved himself in the bug bounty community, and in his various spheres of life, he is committed to building relationships and staying relevant. Marco explains his system of scheduling calls, his practice of (and future plans for) content creation, and love of learning and feedback.

Throughout the conversation, Ron and Chris lead the conversation to cover a wide variety of topics. They ask about the possibility of an unhackable device (which Marco denies), the mindset of a hacker, Marco’s philosophy in protection work, and the question of whether or not coding experience is needed for hacking. The group looks back to former conversation about the hacker mindset (with Ted), about community (with Alex), and about social engineering (with Rachel). In view of the whole season, the group considers two main takeaways: the value of mentorship and the need to put oneself out there and take a first shot. Marco shares a lot from his own experience, and makes sure listeners know to press on and trust the process.

-The episode features Marco Figueroa, and listeners are introduced to the content ahead.

-What is Marco’s background, and what is he doing now?

-Is there such a thing as an unhackable device?

-The group talks about Marco’s philosophy in his protection work, the place of social engineering, and the value of building relationships.

-What is the hacker mindset, and do you need coding experience to be a good hacker?

-If interested in the red side of the field, what should someone do first?

-Marco shares about what he sees on the horizon.

-The group considers two major season takeaways: the value of mentorship and the need to put yourself out there and take the first shot.