Beyond the books: Success stories from USF students

Their story

The Hack The Box (HTB) team recently had the opportunity to sit down with seven University of South Florida (USF) students to learn more about how they’re using the platform to achieve success in their studies, their internships, and their future careers.

Each student has been taught by Marbin Pazos Revilla, Assistant Professor and interim coach of the USF CyberHerd competition team, who shared what led him to supplement traditional classroom material with HTB Enterprise Platform content and Labs in a previous blog post.

Beyond Marbin’s accomplishments of reducing time spent building course material as well as increasing enrollment and engagement in cybersecurity classes, he’s transformed the way his students are learning, allowing them to be more successful than ever before.

Check out the video below to get a behind-the-scenes look at how USF students are using HTB, and keep reading to see what they've accomplished!

Their goal

For students like Enes Bulut, a USF senior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity and CyberHerd member, getting started in cybersecurity was a challenge. “Coming into this industry, I had no knowledge. In cybersecurity, there’s so much to learn and getting access to being able to learn is important,” he said.

Jacob Hammargren, also a USF senior and CyberHerd member pursuing a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity, had more familiarity with the tech industry, but struggled to find educational resources that were up-to-date. “I think one of the huge issues with teaching cybersecurity is it’s so dynamic and changes so much,” he noted. “The necessity to be dynamic is a complete shift in how cybersecurity is being taught.”

Recognizing the challenges faced by his fellow classmates, Waseem Albaba, a graduate student at USF and current team captain of the CyberHerd, knew something needed to change. And as a tenured member on the HTB platform who got his start watching IppSec videos on YouTube, he had a solution in mind. “I feel like I learned everything off of HTB. I tell people I’m self-taught but I’m HTB-taught,” he said.

Their solution

After encouraging Marbin to explore how the HTB Enterprise Platform could be used by university professors and students, Waseem helped make the decision to integrate HTB into the USF cybersecurity curriculum an easy one.

Since then, hundreds of students have had the opportunity to enhance their skills and resumes with the work they’re doing on the platform. This includes USF CyberHerd member Jason Rodriguez who was introduced to HTB a year-and-a-half ago after signing up for a class with Marbin. “With HTB, you guys emphasize a lot of not just understanding and completing sections that are offered, but learning the tools in depth and how to report properly,” he said.

Hailee Ricks is a USF senior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity in addition to serving as external vice president of ArtemisNet, a USF organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of women in technology. Hailee is also an active member of USF CyberHerd and was able to see benefits from using the platform beyond the work being done in the classroom. “It hits every aspect of how we can use it. For jobs, for fun, for school, or for competitions. You never have to struggle to fit it in, and we want to use the platform, so we always make time to.”

Other students, including graduating USF cyber student and CyberHerd member Logan Mastin, have used the platform to help narrow their career focus and guide their studies. Having started in the cybersecurity world several years before college, he knew how difficult it could be to decide what path his career should take. “Not knowing what you’re doing or having a direction is a really hard place to be in when you have to dedicate years to a job and realize you don't like it,” he said. “Being on HTB, you can dip your toe in all these different topics and directions to figure out what you actually like doing.”

Their success

Since the introduction of HTB into the USF curriculum and CyberHerd team meetings, students have raved about their positive experiences and the impact it has had on their education and future careers.

“I feel that it’s [the platform] been instrumental in me getting job offers. During interviews they ask if you’re doing anything outside of school or if you have projects to showcase, and it’s the perfect opportunity for me to bring up that I do HTB and show them my write ups and walkthroughs,” said Logan.

USF CyberHerd member Jason Rodriguez said he was also able to apply what he learned through the platform in his work outside of school. “I’ve mentioned working on the HTB platform as an extracurricular, and having that has already helped me in the field with upskilling and keeping up with what’s going on in the security industry,” he said. “It contributes in interviews that you understand the tools and methodologies, but also how to document and showcase your answers. Even in my internship I was able to work on assessments in a more professional way.”

Jacob Hammargren shared a very similar experience during his internship as a SOC professional. “HTB gave me the confidence going into the interview that I knew what I was talking about and Sherlocks are great with being able to do things efficiently,” he said. “A majority of the stuff I would see during my internship was stuff I had done in Sherlocks. And having that wide experience with things like powershell especially, it challenges you and allows you to test your skills.”

For Abir Limon, USF CyberHerd team member pursuing a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity who was introduced to the platform by Marbin a little over a year ago, his continuous work on the platform helped him receive an internship as a Security Analyst at Synack.

Their advice

With many of the USF CyberHerd team members graduating in the coming school year, they wanted to share some words of advice for any students interested in or currently pursuing a career in cybersecurity.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Take it piece by piece. Even if it’s little, try to be consistent” said Enes Bulut. “Not every day is the same and not every day you feel 100% motivated. But even on those days when you aren’t motivated, try to learn something new and be intentional.”

Recalling his own difficulties working through content in a previous University CTF hosted by HTB, Logan Mastin said “Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Being able to ask what’s going on and having the opportunity to ask for an explanation was important to me. By talking to people, you leverage your own skills and knowledge, as well as their own.” He added, “A majority of the time we have a shared interest and they’re willing to share. You pass down that knowledge and that’s why cybersecurity is. HTB is helping pass down that knowledge.”

Jason Rodriguez suggested “Know the basics and don’t overwhelm yourself. Cybersecurity spans a lot and there’s a ton to work through on the HTB platform. Just find something that helps diversify your learning experience and covers different topics so you can keep up-to-date with the latest trends.”

For CyberHerd Team Captain Waseem Albaba, his advice was simple. “Watch IppSec. If you like what you’re doing, HTB is the place to be.”

At Hack The Box, we love our global hacking community and we strive to support other communities all over the world as we continue working toward our mission to make cybersecurity training accessible to everyone - and we’d love to do the same for you. Get in touch today to see how we can help.

Products Used

HTB Academy

• Cybersecurity upskilling that combines theory with real-world practice

• Professional development with guided cybersecurity training, integrated certification and fully customizable development paths

Dedicated Labs

• Allow students to learn beyond classroom premises with cloud-based labs available 24/7

• Create your own isolated VPN environment complete with leaderboards, user progress monitoring and an easy-to-use admin panel

Professional Labs

• Assess the performance, skills, and effectiveness of cyber teams against industry standards or best practices

• Improve workforce skills with advanced enterprise infrastructure activities inspired by the latest TTPs and technologies

About Hack The Box

HTB helps hundreds of educational institutions such as the University of South Florida to attract, train, develop, and engage cybersecurity students all from a single platform, and we’d love to do the same for you. Get in touch today to see how we can help.

Author bio: ReAnn Molinas, B2B Marketing Specialist, Hack The Box. ReAnn has worked in marketing and content creation for more than seven years. She entered the cybersecurity industry in 2021 and has driven brand awareness through a vast portfolio of content, including blogs, emails, web pages, and more. In addition, she has developed material for major projects including product launches, keynote events, and large promotional campaigns while continuing to produce meaningful content to help grow the careers of cybersecurity professionals around the world. If you’d like to connect with her on LinkedIn, please click here.