Hallway

### Overview In this SAINTCON "Hallway" interview, a security professional named Kyle speaks about his entry into the cybersecurity field, his career progression, and his extensive involvement with community-driven conference villages and competitions. Kyle outlines how early hands-on troubleshooting led him to meet industry mentors, attend conferences like SAINTCON, and eventually manage major physical security and social engineering tracks.

### Key Topics - **Career Path and Mentorship**: Kyle started out repairing laptops and handling general IT tasks. When tasked with networking a store's point-of-sale (POS) system without prior infrastructure, he learned by trial and error. An acquaintance encouraged him to apply for a security position, leading him to meet Kevin Howard (kho). Under Kevin's mentorship, Kyle transitioned from a security analyst role into security engineering, DevOps, and related positions. - **The SAINTCON Vault**: Introduced to SAINTCON around 2018 by Kevin Howard, Kyle learned foundational physical security skills such as lock picking and soldering. He eventually took over organizing "The Vault," a physical security challenge village. The Vault annually features humorous themes honoring Kevin Howard—such as Cheap Sheep Enterprises, the Howard Family Vault (Indiana Jones-style Jade Idol retrieval), and the Howard Motel—along with intentionally unsolved "impossible mode" challenges. - **Social Engineering Community (DEF CON)**: Kyle describes co-running DEF CON's Social Engineering Community (SEC), originally conceived by Snow, Offensive, JC, and Stephanie. He highlights the logistical challenges of building soundproof calling booths, transporting flight cases, managing disruptions like a hotel bomb scare, and hosting themed vishing competitions.

### Technical Details - **Physical Security & Vault Challenges**: The Vault incorporates varied bypass and entry challenges, including lock picking, shimming, under-the-door tools, and canned air bypasses for Request to Exit (REX) sensors. To keep participants challenged, organizers feature an unsolved "white whale door" without known vulnerabilities. Past challenges included the Kaba X-09 high-security dial lock, while the current iteration introduces standalone ATMs to see if contestants can access the cash compartment. - **Social Engineering Tactics**: In DEF CON's "A Slice of Deception" competition, participants targeted pizza companies (e.g., Papa Murphy's, Papa John's). Contestants deployed varied pretexting techniques, costume changes (such as delivery drivers or factory workers), and background audio effects (e.g., ambient keyboard typing sounds) from soundproof phone booths to extract information. - **Hardware & Software Projects**: Outside of conference work, Kyle conducts Black Hat Python training, builds Python automation scripts, works with AWS, and attempts home automation projects, such as retrofitting window blinds with hardwired servo motors.

### Takeaways Kyle emphasizes that community involvement and safe practice environments are critical for developing defensive and offensive skill sets. While outsiders might question teaching techniques like lock picking or phone-based deception, Kyle notes that understanding adversary methodologies directly enables defenders to build more resilient controls. He encourages conference attendees to experiment across diverse domains—including physical security, Python programming, cloud engineering, and social engineering.