mjcube1999@security:~$

MARIAN JOHN SECURITY ENGINEER

Houston, TX

Security Engineer specializing in endpoint security, cloud governance, and application security. Experienced in strengthening data protection, improving compliance rates, and implementing security hardening across enterprise environments.

3.8
GPA - MEng Cybersecurity
TOP 1%
TryHackMe Ranking
96%
Endpoint Compliance Rate

Experience

Security Engineer

Perfect Solutions Group Inc
July 2025 - Present

Application Security Engineer

Bright Mind Enrichment and Schooling (BME)
Aug 2024 - July 2025

System Engineer - DevSecOps

Tata Consultancy Services
Aug 2020 - Aug 2022

Projects

IBM Clicked Incident Management

Jan 2024 - May 2024

Developed and implemented an enterprise security program for an ed-tech startup, ensuring strong cybersecurity. Managed Incident Response for a phishing attack, swiftly mitigating threats and minimizing damage. Developed a security plan and roadmap integrating SIEM, IDS, firewalls, and compliance with NIST, ISO, and cyber laws.

TOOLS USED:
IP Quality Score URL Scan Virus Hash Total Virus Talos Intelligence IP Location
→ View on GitHub

Information Assurance

Jan 2024 - May 2024

Led the development and implementation of an integrated security solution using IPS, IDS, and EDR technologies. Performed network security assessments, identified vulnerabilities, deployed endpoint security, and enforced DLP strategies. Implemented SOAR tools for efficient incident response and disaster recovery.

TOOLS USED:
Snort Suricata CrowdStrike Falcon Microsoft Defender Microsoft Sentinel Qualys Nessus Wireshark
→ View on GitHub

Cloud Security (AWS & Azure)

University of Maryland

Comprehensive cloud security implementation covering IAM, AWS GuardDuty, WAF configurations, and security hardening across AWS and Azure environments. Focused on cloud security compliance and best practices.

TOOLS USED:
AWS IAM AWS GuardDuty AWS WAF Azure Security Center
→ View on GitHub

Penetration Testing

University of Maryland

Hands-on penetration testing projects covering web application exploitation, network attacks, privilege escalation, and post-exploitation techniques using industry-standard tools.

TOOLS USED:
Metasploit Burp Suite Nmap Hydra SQLmap
→ View on GitHub

Secure Coding & Software Engineering

University of Maryland

Implementation of secure coding practices, vulnerability analysis, and building secure applications. Focus on preventing common vulnerabilities like SQL injection, XSS, and CSRF.

TECHNOLOGIES:
Python C/C++ JavaScript OWASP
→ View on GitHub

Hacking of C Programming and Unix Binaries

University of Maryland

Low-level binary exploitation, reverse engineering, and vulnerability research in C programs and Unix systems. Includes buffer overflow, format string exploits, and return-oriented programming.

TOOLS USED:
GDB Ghidra Pwn-dbg Radare2
→ View on GitHub

Network Security

University of Maryland

Network security implementations including packet analysis, intrusion detection, firewall configurations, and network-based attacks and defenses.

TOOLS USED:
Wireshark Snort Nmap Cisco Packet Tracer
→ View on GitHub

Security Tools for Information Security

University of Maryland

Comprehensive exploration of security tools and frameworks used in information security, including SIEM, vulnerability scanners, and security automation.

TOOLS COVERED:
Splunk Nessus OpenVAS OSSEC
→ View on GitHub

Embedded Systems Security and Hacking

University of Maryland

Security analysis and exploitation of embedded systems, IoT devices, and hardware security including firmware analysis and hardware hacking techniques.

FOCUS AREAS:
Firmware Analysis IoT Security Hardware Hacking ARM Assembly
→ View on GitHub

Education

Master of Engineering in Cybersecurity

University of Maryland, College Park
2022 - 2024 • Cum Laude
GPA: 3.8/4.0
RELEVANT COURSES:

Secure Coding, Cloud Security, Penetration Testing, Security Tools for Information Security, Network Security & Hacking of C and Unix Binaries

B. Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore
2016 - 2020
GPA: 7.28/10.0
RELEVANT COURSES:

Network and Protocols, Wireless Communication, Embedded Systems, Linear Integrated Systems, Control Systems & Object-Oriented Programming

Published thesis at International Conference on Communication & Signal Processing (ICCSP) 2020

Technical Skills

Cybersecurity Domain Skills

Risk Assessment & Management
Digital Forensics
IT Compliance
Packet Sniffing & Spoofing
Log Analysis
Threat Analysis & Management
Enumeration & Exploitation
Cryptography
Linux Security
Kerberos

Security Tools

Microsoft Sentinel
CrowdStrike Falcon
Qualys
Mimecast
Microsoft Defender
Intune
Ghidra
Wireshark
Burp Suite
SQLmap
Nmap
Splunk SIEM
Snort
John the Ripper
Hydra
Pwn-dbg
Cisco Packet Tracer
Nessus

Programming & Databases

Python
PowerShell
Sigma
Yara
C/C++
JavaScript
HTML/CSS
MongoDB
MySQL

Achievements

TryHackMe

Hands-on cybersecurity training and challenges

TOP 1% GLOBAL
→ View TryHackMe Profile

NCL Spring 2025 CTF

Achieved Top 11% rank (918 out of 8487) in the National Cyber League Spring 2025 Capture the Flag Individual Game

NCL Fall 2024 CTF

Achieved Top 12% rank (1038 out of 8484) in the National Cyber League Fall 2024 Capture the Flag Individual Game

TryHackMe Writeups

TryHackMe Writeups

Detailed documentation of my security challenges and CTF solutions

View All Writeups

I maintain comprehensive writeups of TryHackMe rooms on my Notion page, covering various cybersecurity topics including penetration testing, web exploitation, privilege escalation, and network security. Each writeup includes detailed methodology, tool usage, and key learnings from the challenges.

OWASP Top 10

Medium

Comprehensive exploration of the OWASP Top 10 web application security risks, including injection attacks, broken authentication, XSS, and security misconfigurations.

→ Read Writeup

Penetration Testing Basics

Easy

Introduction to penetration testing methodology covering reconnaissance, scanning, enumeration, exploitation, and post-exploitation techniques.

→ Read Writeup

Buffer Overflow Exploitation

Hard

Advanced buffer overflow exploitation techniques including stack analysis, shellcode development, and bypassing modern protections like DEP and ASLR.

→ Read Writeup

Linux Privilege Escalation

Medium

Common Linux privilege escalation vectors including SUID binaries, kernel exploits, cron jobs, and misconfigured services with practical examples.

→ Read Writeup

Web Application Exploitation

Medium

SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, and other web vulnerabilities with hands-on exploitation techniques and mitigation strategies.

→ Read Writeup

Active Directory Attacks

Hard

Advanced AD exploitation covering Kerberoasting, Golden Tickets, Pass-the-Hash, and domain enumeration using tools like BloodHound and Mimikatz.

→ Read Writeup

Certifications

CompTIA Security+

eJPTv2

eLearning Junior Penetration Tester

NSE 1

Network Security Associate - Fortinet