Akshat
Pandey
MSc Cybersecurity @ TU/e, Honors Program. Focused on offensive security and network defense. Chasing red teaming.
About
I break things
on purpose
now.
CS grad doing an MSc in Cybersecurity at TU/e. I hyperfixate. When something grabs me I go full send until I actually understand it. Papers, labs, forums at 2am. Right now that's offensive security, and honestly it's been a while coming.
I used to mod game files as a kid to unlock stuff I wanted. Used to run cheatengine, modify game files, and tinker with memory. The ILOVEYOU virus was my first "wait, people do this for real?" moment. Turns out I've been into testing systems for a long time. I just didn't have a name for it.
At TU/e I'm doing the hands-on stuff: Intrusion Detection Lab, Advanced Network Security, Cybercrimes and Defenses. Post-quantum crypto has been living rent-free in my head even though I haven't taken it yet. Outside class: building Honeypot Atlas, grinding TryHackMe and learning something new every day.
Education
Interests
Red Teaming
Started with modding game files and running CheatEngine as a kid. Now it's actual labs and TryHackMe. Jr. Pentesting Path in progress. Red Teaming is the goal.
K-Pop & Music
Got into it through Stray Kids and BTS. Still here cause of TWICE and LE SSERAFIM. I do listen to a variety of genres.
Gaming
Competitive to a fault. I don't stop until I hit whatever goal I set. Luckily shifted that to TryHackMe. I also enjoy playing co-op games with friends.
Homelabbing
Kali on a Raspberry Pi, VMs on my PC, all on a private network. Slowly turning it into a proper attack/defense lab.
Goals
Get through the TryHackMe Red Teaming Path and start doing real pentesting work. Preferably one that pays.
Projects
Selected work
All on GitHubHoneypot Atlas
Internet Attack Observatory
Global-scale Cowrie honeypot infrastructure capturing real-world SSH/Telnet brute-force and scanning attempts. Built automated ingestion pipelines into Elasticsearch with GeoIP mapping to correlate malicious traffic with known botnet campaigns.
100,000+ attacks captured
Interactive Portfolio
This very site
Security-focused portfolio with hidden flags, a secret terminal easter egg, and a real-time attack globe powered by Honeypot Atlas data. Demonstrates pentesting and cryptography concepts through interactive UI.
7 hidden CTF flags
Music for Mood
Spotify Mood-Based Recommender
Data-driven web app integrating the Spotify Web API with OAuth 2.0 for personalized mood-based recommendations.
1,300+ active users in month 1
Well Fed
Meal Planning Android App
Comprehensive Android app for meal planning, recipe management, inventory tracking, and shopping list generation with Firebase Realtime Database sync.
ActionKin
End-to-End Test Suite
Production-grade test suite for a live product using Selenium WebDriver and PyTest, integrated into CI/CD via GitHub Actions with headless browsers and screenshot reports.
Experience & Skills
The full picture
Technical Skills
Security & Network
Languages
Cloud & DevOps
Frameworks
Databases
Testing
Work History
DevOps Engineer
Blackbuck Insights
Jun 2023 – Jul 2024
Illinois, US
- Designed and maintained 7 production ETL pipelines in AWS Glue and S3, enforcing strict schema validation against TransUnion financial datasets with 100% column accuracy
- Refactored PostgreSQL transformation logic to reduce processing overhead and simplify attribute reconciliation across multi-source financial data
- Hardened pipeline reliability through GitLab CI/CD integration, automated regression checks, and structured code review practices across the data engineering team
Frontend Developer
Koalacademy
Jan 2023 – Apr 2023
Edmonton, AB
- Built and shipped a responsive React.js frontend with Firebase real-time database integration for a BCI-optimized learning platform targeting neuro-diverse learners
- Collaborated with UX designers and neuroscience researchers to translate EEG signal requirements into accessible, low-latency UI components
React Native Developer
Amelia
Sep 2022 – Jan 2023
Toronto, ON
- Developed and shipped cross-platform React Native features for a women-in-tech networking app, integrating AWS Amplify for auth flows and S3-backed media storage
- Diagnosed and resolved critical performance regressions and UI inconsistencies across iOS and Android, improving screen responsiveness and reducing crash-prone paths
Teaching Assistant
University of Alberta
Jan 2023 – Apr 2023
Edmonton, AB
- Ran weekly labs and office hours for 40+ students in a systems programming course covering C, memory management, and Unix tooling
- Graded and returned structured feedback on 70+ major assignments, maintaining consistency and turnaround standards across course sections
Volunteer Research Assistant
University of Alberta
Sep 2022 – Dec 2022
Edmonton, AB
- Automated test case generation in Python to accelerate evaluation of research tooling, cutting manual testing effort across multiple tool configurations
- Cleaned and restructured raw output data using Pandas, producing analysis-ready datasets that fed directly into faculty research pipelines
Math & CS Tutor
Paper
Nov 2021 – Sep 2022
Montreal, QC
- Delivered online tutoring sessions in mathematics and CS for high school and early university students, breaking down conceptual blocks in real time
- Adapted explanations to individual learning styles across a wide range of topics, from algebra and calculus to programming fundamentals
Education
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)
MSc in Cybersecurity (Information Security Technology)
Sep 2025 – Present
Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Honors Program
- Intrusion Detection Lab, Advanced Network Security, Cybercrimes, Attacks and Defenses, Verification of Security Protocols, Applied Cryptography
University of Alberta
BSc Computing Science (Software Practice Specialization)
Sep 2020 – May 2025
Edmonton, AB
- Dean's List (Fall 2020 – Winter 2021)
- Winner, DevCon 2021: Health Beta
- International Country Scholarship (2020)
Certifications
Learn Ethical Hacking From Scratch
Udemy · 2024The Complete Web Development Bootcamp
Udemy · 2022Contact
Let's connect
If you'd like to collaborate, say hi, or wanna hire me ♥️