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If mthreat's around he can give you some feedback on this. (He did 5 years) Honestly this really isn't a big deal and IMHO you should be talking to companies di

If mthreat's around he can give you some feedback on this. (He did 5 years) Honestly this really isn't a big deal and IMHO you should be talking to companies directly. Avoid larger corps and anywhere you require clearance. Other than that the world's your oyster. I run an infosec business and I can tell you that having done a little time is a badge of honor in some circles. My suggestion: Hit defcon in August in Vegas and network your ass off. Use your friends and their friends to get a job, not recruiters. Also start demonstrating that you've cleaned up your act by continuing infosec research and doing a few responsible disclosures. Showing that you've matured and have a track record of working with vendors to responsibly disclose vulnerabilities is a huge mark in your favor. Also ping me personally at mmaunder at gmail so I have your info - send your resume and what you're after and examples of some of your work.

sarciszewski 12y ago
I've already made a couple posts on FD, but usually I just send pull requests when I find issues in open source projects and don't really seek fanfare for anything. (I haven't evaluated any closed source stuff.)
- tptacek 12y ago
  Of all the career paths you have right now, information security is the thorniest. There are four big reasons for this: 1. Hiring managers on the defensive side of infosec tend to have an "us vs. them" attitude towards attackers. The people in the trenches in this field are young and open-minded, but management can tend towards grey-haired and conservative. 2. Infosec is closely tied to risk management. Nobody is allocating enough resources to security to properly mitigate threats, and everyone's acutely aware of that. Lots of large, smart firms are going to avoid hiring people with criminal backgrounds simply to avoid the possibility of an own-goal. 3. Relatedly: even firms that spent nosebleed amounts of capital on security are going to have high-profile security events, and when that happens, the rest of the organization is going to look to the infosec team for someone to blame. The backgrounds of everyone on the team will be relevant in those finger-pointing exercises. 4. Finally, and as I've said elsewhere: the offensive side of security is dominated by contractors, and contracting clients tend to background check as a matter of course. You can nurture an interest with software security as a developer, by being the developer on your team that knows the most about software security; you can keep doing the security stuff you like now without necessarily holding out for a role with "security" in the title.
  - sarciszewski 12y ago
    Yeah, I've been aiming for developer roles rather than security roles... mostly because exploitation is not my greatest strength.
    - tptacek 12y ago
      You're also very young. At some point in the not too distant future, it's likely that your entanglement with the law is going to stop mattering at all.
      - sarciszewski 12y ago
        I certainly hope you're right. That happened in 2011; it's already 2014 and the clock's only going to continue to move forward. Nothing can be gained from being stuck in the past forever. :)
clamprecht 12y ago
(mthreat here, on my not banned HN account) The OP said he's on probation. The most important thing is to complete the probation successfully (i.e., don't violate it and go to jail). Once he's finished probation, he may be able to get it removed from his record, or probation may not count as a "conviction" at all. I'm not sure how it works in Florida, but he should ask his lawyer about it. Never assume it's stuck on your (OP's) record forever. That said, even with a conviction for the kind of crime you describe, it shouldn't hold him back. My conviction did keep me from working at places like IBM (I was actually hired, but then unhired when they found out I had a conviction). So I went to work with startups, worked with really cool & smart people, and made about 100 times as much money as I would have made at IBM. Even if your record keeps you from 20% of the jobs, that leaves 80%.
- alt2319 12y ago
  It's a federal felony. There's only one way to expunge that, a Presidential pardon. It's a long process and kind of a long shot. I haven't even applied for mine. He should definitely apply for his rights restoration when eligible. I got mine done. Florida isn't currently restoring firearm ownership rights but that's good to get done if they ever start doing it again.
  - sarciszewski 12y ago
    I doubt the current administration would do that for me. :P

sarciszewski 12y ago

I've already made a couple posts on FD, but usually I just send pull requests when I find issues in open source projects and don't really seek fanfare for anything. (I haven't evaluated any closed source stuff.)

tptacek 12y ago
Of all the career paths you have right now, information security is the thorniest. There are four big reasons for this: 1. Hiring managers on the defensive side of infosec tend to have an "us vs. them" attitude towards attackers. The people in the trenches in this field are young and open-minded, but management can tend towards grey-haired and conservative. 2. Infosec is closely tied to risk management. Nobody is allocating enough resources to security to properly mitigate threats, and everyone's acutely aware of that. Lots of large, smart firms are going to avoid hiring people with criminal backgrounds simply to avoid the possibility of an own-goal. 3. Relatedly: even firms that spent nosebleed amounts of capital on security are going to have high-profile security events, and when that happens, the rest of the organization is going to look to the infosec team for someone to blame. The backgrounds of everyone on the team will be relevant in those finger-pointing exercises. 4. Finally, and as I've said elsewhere: the offensive side of security is dominated by contractors, and contracting clients tend to background check as a matter of course. You can nurture an interest with software security as a developer, by being the developer on your team that knows the most about software security; you can keep doing the security stuff you like now without necessarily holding out for a role with "security" in the title.
- sarciszewski 12y ago
  Yeah, I've been aiming for developer roles rather than security roles... mostly because exploitation is not my greatest strength.
  - tptacek 12y ago
    You're also very young. At some point in the not too distant future, it's likely that your entanglement with the law is going to stop mattering at all.
    - sarciszewski 12y ago
      I certainly hope you're right. That happened in 2011; it's already 2014 and the clock's only going to continue to move forward. Nothing can be gained from being stuck in the past forever. :)

clamprecht 12y ago

(mthreat here, on my not banned HN account) The OP said he's on probation. The most important thing is to complete the probation successfully (i.e., don't violate it and go to jail). Once he's finished probation, he may be able to get it removed from his record, or probation may not count as a "conviction" at all. I'm not sure how it works in Florida, but he should ask his lawyer about it. Never assume it's stuck on your (OP's) record forever. That said, even with a conviction for the kind of crime you describe, it shouldn't hold him back. My conviction did keep me from working at places like IBM (I was actually hired, but then unhired when they found out I had a conviction). So I went to work with startups, worked with really cool & smart people, and made about 100 times as much money as I would have made at IBM. Even if your record keeps you from 20% of the jobs, that leaves 80%.

alt2319 12y ago
It's a federal felony. There's only one way to expunge that, a Presidential pardon. It's a long process and kind of a long shot. I haven't even applied for mine. He should definitely apply for his rights restoration when eligible. I got mine done. Florida isn't currently restoring firearm ownership rights but that's good to get done if they ever start doing it again.
- sarciszewski 12y ago
  I doubt the current administration would do that for me. :P