Dahvid Schloss: From JSOC to Offensive Security

Summary

David Schloss shares his hacker origin story, starting with his military background and how he ended up in the field of cybersecurity. He talks about his time in the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and the unique missions he was involved in. He also discusses his transition to the private sector and his current role as a Hive Leader at Covert Swarm. The skills he acquired in JSOC have been highly transferable and valuable in his offensive security career. In this conversation, Dahvid Schloss discusses his experience at Seer, a practice prison camp that taught him transferable skills like lock picking and prison escape. He also talks about the challenges of transitioning from using malware and exploits to using his brain in the civilian world. Dahvid emphasizes the importance of finding your passion within offensive security and recommends exploring different areas to figure out what you enjoy. He also highlights the significance of building a personal brand in the cybersecurity field and encourages professionals to be more public about their skills and expertise.

Takeaways

• David Schloss has a military background and served in the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), where he was involved in unique and high-value missions.

• He transitioned to the private sector and currently works as a Hive Leader at Covert Swarm, focusing on continuous APT emulation.

• The skills he acquired in JSOC, such as threat emulation, malware development, and exploit development, have been highly transferable and valuable in his offensive security career.

• David emphasizes the importance of privacy and cybersecurity as basic human rights and aims to grow the field by helping individuals with no experience enter the industry and supporting specialization for those already in the field. Seer, a practice prison camp, taught Dahvid Schloss transferable skills like lock picking and prison escape, which he found helpful in the cybersecurity field.

• Transitioning from using malware and exploits to using his brain in the civilian world was challenging for Dahvid.

• Dahvid recommends exploring different areas within offensive security to find your passion and avoid pigeonholing yourself into a specific role.

• Building a personal brand is crucial in the cybersecurity field to showcase your skills and expertise.

• Dahvid encourages professionals to be more public about their personal brand and expertise to increase job opportunities and career growth.

Quotes

"I got through this course, I graduated, and I got to do the fun job of being a special operations communicator."

"Seer was amazing. So Seer is like practice prison camp, right? Which sounds why would that be amazing to cyber? And the reason is, is because they teach you some transferable skills, like how to pick locks and how to escape from prisons."

"Having access to really good malware, really good exploits was not at all. It sounds like it would be really helpful, but it was a hard transfer for me, especially because I'm so used to being able to go dot slash execute. And now I'm on a box and now I have to go, Oh, I have to use my brain."

"Offensive security is massive. It's like, there is no way you can be a master of all. Like there is only one and that's John Hammond so far. That's all I've seen. He's, know, he's got, he's got the chops, but we can't all be him. Right. So, um, really like my biggest recommendation."

Resources

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dahvidschloss/

https://x.com/DahvidSchloss

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

02:36 Military to Cybersecurity Transition

08:41 Learning Cybersecurity Skills

17:34 JSOC and Fighting High-Value Targets

26:34 Transferable Skills and Challenges in Offensive Security

29:55 Exploring Different Areas in Offensive Security

39:04 The Importance of Building a Personal Brand

46:41 Opportunities for Growth in Smaller Cybersecurity Startups

49:49 Taking the Time to Find Your Path in Cybersecurity