A Pentesting journey with SecureLayer7: An experience of a lifetime

I started my pentesting journey with SecureLayer7 in December 2019 after completing the seventh semester of my college degree. While I was in my seventh semester, I tried finding some good companies to do internships. That was when, while scrolling LinkedIn I came across SecureLayer7. After researching a bit about the company, I was quite interested in working with the cybersecurity team of SecureLayer7.

Eventually, I jotted a small message explaining about myself and my intent to join the company to one of the associates of SecureLayer7, Himanshu Giri. He promptly forwarded my resume to the HR team and I quickly got an introduction call from Kanchan Ma’am from the HR team. After a few rounds of technical and HR interviews, I was selected as an Intern – Security Consultant. 

The very first impression I got for the SecureLayer7 team was of their helpful nature. I have interned with two other companies in the past but the way I got help from relocation to starting off on a client project was extraordinary. I am from Delhi and even before traveling to Pune they helped me with my traveling, stay & food which was so unexpected and nice on their part. Within two three days of joining, I realized that I am working with a group of super talented colleagues and I had so much to learn from all of them. From my mentor, Himanshu Giri to my lead Rajasekar sir, and my managers Akshay sir & Nayan sir, everyone was keen to help me with any of my issues. I felt really welcomed and confident with the support of everyone at SecureLayer7.

I got my first pentesting project within one week of joining the team which in my opinion was the best thing that happened at that time. Because of the early assignment of the project, I got ample time to fully understand various methodologies of Penetration Testing and Reporting standards. Though I had some experience with pentesting previously, reporting was something which I never really paid heed to much. This perception of mine was changed while working with the team and clients of SecureLayer7. Later I understood the importance of a good report. I took help from my managers and team leads for effective report writing and I must thank them for relentlessly helping me with each of my major and minor doubts. I even engaged with my lead for various Penetration Testing doubts which I had for so long but couldn’t exactly understand. I felt they had some special practical approach for making others understand even the most difficult technical topics in the field of cybersecurity. 

Later, I got the opportunity to work with one of the Senior Security Engineers, Hridyesh sir, in an on-site project for one of the clients of SecureLayer7. This was also something that became a milestone for me. The feeling of going all the way to the client’s location for testing their assets was top-notch. I learned the way to present oneself and the company while working with the client and the coordination among the team of SecureLayer7 and members of the client. I also learned the Pentesting methodology used in on-site activity along with the strict reporting standards of SecureLayer7 which were essential for successfully completing the tasks. 

Soon after this on-site opportunity, unfortunately, we were hit by the corona pandemic. Here, I must thank our CEO Sandeep sir, for implementing Work from Home for all the employees even before the official announcement of lockdown from the government. This really helped all of us in realizing the caring nature of the company and putting employee’s interests and safety above their own and we got much courage to deal with this pandemic together while working from the safety and comfort of our home. 

During this corona pandemic, with the news of huge layovers and down-sizing, I was skeptical about my conversion too, but later after an interview, I got to know that my internship got converted to full-time employment which was very relaxing, to be honest. It was a wonderful experience to on-board as a full-time employee and work with the position of Associate Security Consultant. As a full-time employee, I got to perform various tasks like pentesting on Network, Website, and Mobile along with writing blogs about the latest and interesting topics related to security.

During this time, I also started expanding my circle of competence to Mobile Penetration Testing which was something new for me. I saw various colleagues who had excellent knowledge in this domain and needless to say, they helped with all their zeal and enthusiasm. Along with all the enhancements in technical skills, my lead also gave me an opportunity for developing my research and soft skills. I was presented with the opportunity to give a presentation on “Building Custom Extenders of Burpsuite” and I grabbed this opportunity as fast as I could. While preparing for this presentation, I was wholeheartedly supported by my seniors from debugging the code to tips on presentation skills which really helped me while presenting it on the decided day. 

Finally, I’d conclude by saying that the work environment one gets in SecureLayer7 is outstanding and the support bestowed upon us from the management as well as team members really enhances the curiosity to learn new techniques and methodology to improve our skills and give better results to our clients. I can proudly say that I had an absolutely amazing time learning and working in SecureLayer7.