Tribe of Hackers Red Team

42Adam Willard

“It has been said that the red team is the unwanted party guest that trashes the hotel, doesn’t clean up, and blames everyone else.”

Twitter: @asw_sec

Adam Willard, at a young age, found out his passion was in computers. It started with building computers, graphic design, and digital photography. He spent the majority of his career writing software based on business requirements for customers, which led to many bruises from hitting his head on the keyboard. It was time to start something new, so he took an opportunity for a high-profile system as an application security analyst. Adam is now a senior penetration tester on multiple projects and is involved in several bug bounty programs. He is captivated by the industry and looks forward to growing with the next generation of security professionals.

How did you get your start on a red team?

It was a long road to where I am today. The start of my career was in software development, moving on to code reviews, to penetration tester, and today to working with a great team on the blue and red sides.

I was fortunate during my early days, between code review and penetration testing, to sit in the SOC, access all of their tools, and switch hats when needed. During the transition to penetration tester, I was allowed full access to the SIEM, Splunk, web application firewalls, and a few other items that let me see what ...