Powerlifting and PowerShell: A Discussion with Jake Hildreth

Powerlifting and PowerShell: A Discussion with Jake Hildreth

09/07/2023 | Phillip Wylie |

About The Guest:

Jake is a cybersecurity professional with a background in system administration. He has a deep understanding of Active Directory security and is currently the Active Directory Security Assessment Service Lead at Trimarc. Jake is also the head developer of the open-source tool Locksmith, which focuses on Active Directory Certificate Services misconfigurations.

Summary:

Jake shares his hacker origin story, starting from his early days tinkering with computers and discovering the world of IRC. He talks about his transition from a sysadmin role to focusing on security and his journey to becoming an Active Directory expert. Jake also discusses the importance of automation and scripting in his work and the role of PowerShell in his day-to-day tasks. He emphasizes the value of continuous learning and the parallels he sees between powerlifting and research in terms of setting goals and putting in consistent effort.

Key Takeaways:

  • Jake's transition from sysadmin to security professional was driven by his passion for tinkering with computers and his desire to secure his organization's systems.
  • PowerShell is a crucial tool for Active Directory security professionals, allowing for automation and scripting to streamline tasks.
  • Continuous learning and consistent effort are key to achieving goals, whether in powerlifting or cybersecurity research.

Quotes:

  • “I was one of those kids, age four, playing on my grandparents' Commodore 64 and typing in Basic from a magazine… anytime I was near a computer, I would play around with it.”
  • “PowerShell is are you familiar with Beto on security, the Twitter account? Okay, so he and I have become buddies, and he has a PowerShell tattoo. I'm not quite to that level, but yeah, PowerShell and I were… I have a red teamer named Spencer that works with me on locksmith. He's part of our core team. We got three guys, Spencer and Sam… we just all love PowerShell.”
  • “Do the work, put in a little bit of work every day, and before you know it, you're going to be to your goal or past your goal… just it wouldn't have felt like it doesn't really feel like anything.”
  • “Powerlifting taught me… you get out there and you do the work… usually if you're out there working, you're going to progressively build up over time and then eventually you're going to look back and see, holy hell, I just put 425 pounds on my back and went down into a squat and came back up.”

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