EXPERIENCE
Costa Petros began his IT career by covering many facets from the ground up. While in college studying construction management, Costa’s ability to communicate, problem-solve, and collaborate awarded him his first job in IT as a dial-up Internet technical support representative.

As his career progressed, he worked his way up through technical and operational support, PC and IT infrastructure administration, compliance, and consulting roles. Costa held a position as an IT administrator at a branch of a publicly traded company that focused on reselling both Cisco and security services. Costa’s communication skills, technical aptitude, and ‘security-first’ approach opened the door to becoming a penetration tester consultant. As a penetration tester at TrustedSec, Costa specializes in social engineering and physical security assessments. He approaches his work with a ‘hope for the best, prepare for the worst’ mentality.

EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS

• GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN)
• Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
• VMware VCA-DCV

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• InfraGard Northern Ohio Chapter

INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTIONS

• DerbyCon staff and security, 2017-19

PASSION FOR SECURITY
Costa’s passion for security was evoked at a young age. Growing up in the family takeout business, Costa was taught to protect what you have. This meant locking up at all hours of the day at the family business and at home. As a kid, running in and out of the house was frustrating when he found the doors locked. It didn’t take long for him to find other ways into the house, sometimes climbing onto the roof to bypass a window lock. A curious boy, Costa constantly took apart household items in order to fix, understand, and improve them. This curiosity, his ‘prepare for the worst’ mentality, and ‘protect what you have’ focus drive him to understand and further advance secure implementations.