Joshua
Alwin

Breaking into systems and building the defenses that stop the next attacker

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About

Security is a mindset, not a checklist.

I'm a security engineer who thinks like an attacker. At Google and KPMG, I broke into web apps, APIs, cloud environments, and Active Directory networks, uncovering critical vulnerabilities across systems serving millions of users. Now, I'm channeling that same offensive mindset into a Master's in Cybersecurity Engineering at the University of Maryland, going deeper into AI security and the evolving threat landscape around machine learning.

I compete in CTFs under the alias T3rminux and recently won the Bugcrowd Student CTF. That same adversarial energy carries into my role as a graduate teaching assistant, where I design CTF challenges and hands-on labs for courses in penetration testing and cloud security.

Right now, I'm sharpening my offensive tradecraft across cloud, web, and AI attack surfaces. If your team needs someone who breaks things with purpose and builds things that last — let's make it happen.

Education
University of Maryland, College Park

M.S. in Cybersecurity Engineering

University of Maryland, College Park

2024 – Present
VIT, Vellore

B.E. in Electronics & Communication Engineering

VIT, Vellore

2018 – 2022
Highlights

Bugcrowd x HTB CTF Winner

Student CTF champion as T3rminux

UMD MAGE Feature

News story highlighting my journey

2× KPMG Awards

Applause & Encore Award recipient

TryHackMe Top 1500

Global ranking out of 3M+ users

Experience

> Professional Experience
> Teaching & Academic
Google LLC

Security Consultant Intern, Mandiant Red Team

@ Google LLC

May 2025 – Aug 2025

Worked as a Security Consultant Intern on Mandiant's Red Team conducting offensive security engagements against Fortune 500 clients. Developed internal tooling adopted in production red team operations and identified critical vulnerabilities across consumer platforms serving millions of users.

> cat README.md
University of Maryland

Teaching Assistant, Penetration Testing (ENPM634)

@ University of Maryland

Jan 2026 – Present

Supporting the graduate-level penetration testing coursework at the University of Maryland by assisting students with hands-on labs and technical concepts, while designing and building CTF challenges and practical lab environments across offensive security domains.

> cat README.md
KPMG

Associate Security Consultant

@ KPMG

Jul 2022 – Jul 2024

Worked as an Offensive Security Consultant delivering 100+ security assessments, red team engagements, and source code reviews across Web, Networks, API, mobile, Thick/Thin Client, and cloud environments for Fortune 500 clients based in Europe and Asia.

> cat README.md
University of Maryland

Teaching Assistant, Cloud Security (ENPM665)

@ University of Maryland

Jan 2025 – Jan 2026

Supported graduate-level cloud security coursework at the University of Maryland by developing hands-on labs and delivering lectures across AWS, GCP, and Azure, while curating practical assignments on cloud penetration testing, compliance benchmarking, and incident response.

> cat README.md

Projects

Internal

Phishing Analysis Pipeline

[Built @ Google]

Automated phishing deliverability analysis tool built for red teamers at Google. Uses Postfix for email ingestion, FastAPI backend integrating VirusTotal, Gemini, and SpamAssassin, with a React frontend for campaign effectiveness tracking.

PythonFastAPIReactPostfixVirusTotalGemini

ML Security Playground

Collection of ML security projects covering spam classification, network anomaly detection, and malware family classification using scikit-learn and transfer learning with ResNet50.

Pythonscikit-learnNLPResNet50Transfer Learning
View Source

WalkMyNFS

Bash utility for NFS reconnaissance during internal penetration tests. Auto-discovers and mounts network shares in read-only mode for safe enumeration of misconfigurations and sensitive files.

BashNFSPentestingRecon
View Source
Internal

Wario

[Built @ KPMG]

Breach simulation platform built on MITRE Caldera to automate red teaming capabilities. Developed at KPMG, enabling automated adversary emulation and attack chain execution by building custom Active Directory (AD) capabilities on top of Caldera's existing framework.

PythonCalderaMITRE ATT&CKRed TeamingActive Directory

Certifications

OffSec Certified Professional+ (OSCP+)

OffSec Certified Professional+ (OSCP+)

OffSec

Oct 2025Oct 2028
Penetration TestingActive Directory SecurityWeb Application Security+4
VerifyView Cert
OffSec Wireless Professional (OSWP)

OffSec Wireless Professional (OSWP)

OffSec

Nov 2025
Wireless SecurityWPA/WPA2 AttacksNetwork Penetration Testing+3
VerifyView Cert
Certified Red Team Professional (CRTP)

Certified Red Team Professional (CRTP)

Altered Security

Nov 2023Nov 2026
Red TeamingWindows & Kerberos ExploitationActive Directory Security+4
VerifyView Cert
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Feb 2026Feb 2029
AWS ArchitectureCloud SecurityHigh Availability & Scalability+4
VerifyView Cert
OffSec Certified Professional (OSCP)

OffSec Certified Professional (OSCP)

OffSec

Oct 2025
Penetration TestingVulnerability AssessmentActive Directory Security+4
VerifyView Cert
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Practical

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Practical

EC-Council

Apr 2022expired
Vulnerability Assessment & PentestingWeb Application SecurityCryptography+4
VerifyView Cert
eLearnSecurity Junior Penetration Tester (eJPT)

eLearnSecurity Junior Penetration Tester (eJPT)

INE Security

Nov 2021
Penetration TestingWeb Application PentestingSecurity Assessments+3
VerifyView Cert
Certified Mobile Pentester (CMPen) – iOS

Certified Mobile Pentester (CMPen) – iOS

The SecOps Group

Jun 2024
Mobile SecurityiOS Application SecurityNetwork Traffic Analysis+4
VerifyView Cert
Certified AppSec Practitioner (CAP)

Certified AppSec Practitioner (CAP)

The SecOps Group

Feb 2024
Application SecurityOWASP Top 10Web Application Security+3
VerifyView Cert
Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals

Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals

Microsoft

Oct 2022
Microsoft 365 SecurityMicrosoft AzureIAM Solutions+4
VerifyView Cert
Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals

Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals

Microsoft

Aug 2021
Azure Architecture & ServicesCloud ComputingCloud Security+4
VerifyView Cert

Contact

Let's connect and build something together.

Whether it's a security engagement, research collaboration, or just a conversation about offensive security, I'm always open to connect.

~/contact

$ cat status.txt

Open to Offensive Security & Security Engineering roles

Available for offensive security projects & collaborations

Open to speaking & workshop opportunities

$ echo $LOCATION

Based in DC | Open to relocation & remote

$ echo $RESPONSE_TIME

Faster than a reverse shell callback ⚡

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