Hosam Gemei

My goal is as always to acquire as much knowledge in the fascinating cyber world we currently live in. I have obtained several skills throughout the years of my life; As I first started as a developer creating my first game ever when I was only 16 years old using action script. Then I learned several other programing languages like C# and Java which gave me the ability to build my own android applications from scratch, and to work as a part-time ASP.Net developer when I was still in collage. After that I started working as a security engineer implementing and interacting with several top notch cybersecurity solutions. This era of my life was crucial to build my perspective of how real world components interact with each other securely and efficiently.

During my time as security engineer I also gave strong attention to my academic goals; I have acquired a micro master’s degree in cybersecurity from Rochester Institute of Technology, and what a magnificent experience that was; I have encountered so many topics at this time, two of the most important are how to protect computer networks, and how to conduct forensics activities at time of incidences.

Currently I’m a penetration tester and bug bounty hunter, working with what I believe the best team of cybersecurity professionals in the MENA region, and in one of the best working environments I have encountered so far.

On the personal level, I’m a team player with the mentality of supporting my team and to always achieve the greater good for both my team and myself. I can thrive as a team leader as much as I can thrive as part of the team, as my goal is to always bring success to whomever I’m cooperating with.

I have worked in cybersecurity for more than 5 years by now. I started at an earl age by learning several programming languages like Java, action script 2, and C#. During my time in college I wanted to have practical experience in the development of applications, so I temporarily joined a startup company developing web applications for medical companies.

After graduation I joined the army as mandatory by Egypt’s laws. After completing my army services, I started working as a security engineer at HemayaIT. I learned a lot of concepts in cybersecurity during that time, like defense in depth, least privileged users, … etc. During my time in HemayaIT I was building my knowledge in penetration testing for web applications.

After a year and a half of working for HemayaIT, I went to work as an associate consultant doing penetration testing for web applications at Cysiv (formerly known as SecureMisr). During my time at Cysiv I have obtained my OSCP certifications and have also acquired knowledge in penetration testing for mobile applications and desktop applications. I have also learned doing penetration testing for networks and infrastructure.

I have been working as a penetration tester for more than 4 years now, and currently I hold the position of Senior Red Team Consultant.

I have acquired my bachelor’s degree in computer science and IT in 2015 from Arab Open University. During the time I was working as a part time ASP.NET developer for a startup company. I worked with them for a few months acquiring hands-on experience.

Later I have obtained OSCP certification in 2020. It was quite an experience, challenging and enjoyable at the same time. I have completed all the machines in the labs before the exam. In the exam itself I have completed 4 machines out of 5, and on the 5th one I managed to gain foothold but not root access. I have managed to complete the exam in about 7 hours.