Thomas Hayen

In this role, I oversee offensive security operations, driving high-impact engagements while advancing our team’s capabilities. My core responsibilities include: Leadership & Strategy - Direct a team of penetration testers and red team operators, ensuring technical excellence and adherence to best practices (MITRE ATT&CK, NIST, etc.). - Define engagement scope, rules of engagement, and reporting standards for complex assessments. - Mentor team members, conduct performance reviews, and foster professional growth in offensive security. Technical Execution - Lead advanced penetration tests and red team operations, including: - Infrastructure and network-level attacks. - Custom tool/implant development for adversarial simulations. - Social engineering campaigns (phishing, physical security, etc.). - Maintain and evolve red team infrastructure, ensuring operational security and reliability. Client & Stakeholder Engagement - Serve as the technical escalation point for high-stakes findings and client discussions. - Translate technical risks into business context for executives and stakeholders. - Review and approve deliverables, ensuring actionable remediation guidance. Innovation & Tradecraft Development - Research emerging threats, vulnerabilities, and adversary TTPs to keep our methodologies ahead of the curve. - Develop and refine internal tools, playbooks, and attack simulations. - Contribute to business development through proposals, capability demonstrations, and thought leadership. - Explore the use of AI to facilitate document creation, review, and related processes ;)

In my role as a Senior Penetration Tester and Red Team Operator, my daily responsibilities are varied and dynamic. I continuously share my knowledge and experience with junior team members, fostering a culture of shared learning. I dedicate a significant part of my time to staying updated on new and emerging technologies, and developing tools and methodologies to assess their security. A key part of my role involves leading penetration testing projects. This includes creating and executing testing plans for complex environments, as well as an array of red team operations, from toolset development and creation of custom implants to infrastructure-level penetration testing. My responsibilities also extend to the development and implementation of red teaming infrastructure and planning social engineering campaigns. Additionally, I work on maintaining and enhancing our red teaming methodology, ensuring we stay ahead of evolving threats. To round off these tasks, I write and review detailed reports on our testing results, presenting and explaining them to clients at a technical level. This role enables me to leverage my skills and passion for cybersecurity, contributing to a safer digital environment.

Some but not all tasks include: - Conducting ethical hacking and penetration testing to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in systems and networks - Analyzing network and system configurations to identify security vulnerabilities - Developing and executing test plans to validate the effectiveness of security measures - Writing reports detailing findings and providing recommendations for improving security - Collaborating with the security team to implement best practices for secure systems and networks

Teaching Windows Server Hybrid: Active Directory, Intune & Autopilot

Granted ambassadorship of Hack The Box. Elevating the Belgian ethical hacking community.