SecurityStories

View on GitHub

SecurityStories - 52 Weeks, 52 Stories

Story - 4: Featuring Luke Stephens

Luke Stephens

Through the SecurityStories series, Today, we are excited to bring forward the story of Luke Stephens, a highly skilled ethical hacker and security content creator from Australia who needs no introductions and is widely known for his work in the community. So let’s jump straight into learning more about him and from his experience.

Question: Could you briefly introduce yourself?

Luke: I’m Luke Stephens. I go by hakluke online. I’m a computer hacker and indie founder. I’m a pentester and bug bounty hunter, but these days I spend most of my time running my businesses, Haksec.io (a pentesting consultancy) and HackerContent.com (a marketing agency for cybersecurity businesses)

Question: How did you get started in Cyber Security?

Luke: I started hacking at a very young age - I can’t really remember precisely what drew me to it, but I know that the movie “The Matrix” had a significant part to play.

Question: What were the initial challenges and blockers you faced?

Luke: When I learned to hack, minimal resources were available on the internet. Today we are spoiled for choice!

Question: What is the learning methodology you followed or still follow?

Luke: ❌ Learn, learn, learn, learn, do. ✅ Learn, do, learn, do, learn, do.

I only really learn things if I need to know them for the project that I’m currently on. That way, my learning always has a purpose and a goal. I rarely sit down and watch tutorials about something because I might need it at some point in future.

Question: What all certifications do you hold, and what certificates would you recommend to the readers?

Luke: I have a Bachelor of Music and OSCP.

I would recommend something other than the Bachelor of Music. It hasn’t advanced my career in cybersecurity. It was fun, though.

Question: What is your favourite thing to hack on?

Luke: I love to hack on web applications.

Question: What does your tool arsenal look like - Could you share some?

Luke: A lot of my tools are ones I have written myself. I open source most of them on my GitHub, https://github.com/hakluke.

Other than that, I use Burp Suite and a bunch of tools from ProjectDiscovery.

Question: How do you cope with Burn Outs?

Luke: I stop doing whatever is burning me out. I also review the basics: Am I sleeping enough? Am I eating good food? Am I exercising? Am I giving myself time to relax?

Question: What would you advise the newcomers in Cyber Security?

Luke: Don’t lose your creativity. As soon as people get a cybersecurity job, they lose their curiosity and creativity.

Try to keep your fire burning.

Question: How do you keep up with the latest trends in Cyber Security - Could you share your go-to resources?

Luke: Mostly Twitter, but I also sign up for several good newsletters. Namely Securibee’s “Hive Five Newsletter” and Daniel Meissler’s newsletter.

Question: What’s your life outside hacking?

Luke: When I am not hacking, I mostly enjoy hanging out with my family.

Social Profiles

Did you find Luke’s story interesting and inspiring? Please share it with your friends and colleagues to spread the word.

We will be coming up with more exciting and inspiring stories Weekly.

Follow Me on Twitter