Skip to Content

Who’s behind the keyboard? 🔐

Hey, I’m Al‑Waleed—a security-minded computer science student at UIUC passionate about offensive security, cloud infrastructure, and giving back to the infosec community. I enjoy building sleek, purposeful systems — whether it's exploiting misconfigs in an AD lab, writing better pentest tooling, or sharing what I learn on my blog.

Offensive Ops

Hands-on experience with internal and external network exploitation through Hackthebox labs, TryHackMe, custom machines, and simulated real-world assessments. PJPT + PNPT certified, aiming next for OSCP.

Defensive Ops

Familiar with threat detection and log analysis using Splunk and Wireshark. Built foundational knowledge in cloud and cybersecurity through the AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification, Google Cybersecurity Certificate, and SOC fundamentals training from ITI and BTL1.

Engineering

Building this site using Next.js & Tailwind, and always experimenting with clean tooling to support red-team workflows. Working toward deeper expertise in IaC and secure deployment pipelines.

Continuous Learning

Committed to continuously expanding my skills and staying up-to-date with evolving technologies.

Community

Member of UIUC’s SigPwny club, previously placed 3rd in PwnyCTF. Engaging more in CTFs and hoping to contribute to open-source security tooling soon.

Journey so far

  1. Discovered cybersecurity and passed Blue Team Level 1 (BTL1), gaining foundational experience in SIEMs, threat intel, and incident response.

  2. Earned AWS SAA-C03 and built a secure, scalable VPC lab with automated incident response workflows and security monitoring.

  3. Completed hands-on red-team certifications (PJPT & PNPT), wrote 100+ page pentest report, and expanded into Active Directory, privilege escalation, and lateral movement.

Off‑the‑clock & Currently hacking on

  • ☕ Always experimenting with better espresso extractions.
  • 🧠 Rebuilding a personal lab to sharpen privilege escalation, AD, and pivoting techniques.
  • 📜 Writing guides and reflections on cybersecurity
  • 🌍 Growing, and building toward a cross-border future in security.