I recognize this github from some fun c puzzles! The developer is intelligent. What gives? I don't understand why it is difficult for someone like that to find employment. Could someone from the bay area give some insight into this kind of thing? The scene is different than that in Boston.
Being able to write good and cool code is nice. Though there is more then coding skills to be a nice person to work with.
Wild (personal opinion, though many corporate would see the same https://avatars1.githubusercontent.com/u/125894?v=3&s=360), erratic(see post and his GitHub history) communication; You can be the fanciest rocket science software coder, but i'm not surprised he has an employment issue. (do not read this as, i think its correct he has an employment issue)
With that said, some people just don't work in a team but on their own they can do miracles. I wish we could start a small pateron or flattr fund for these guys and let them do whatever they want. While there would be no immediate ROI, the world be a much more interesting and fun place to live...
Social anxiety. Embarrassed by the stigma and reputation, don't really want to bump into or be noticed by any LE who may be present. Frustrations like that tend to work against me when considering doing this.
I'm slowly -very slowly and cautiously- approaching the local infosec community. For me to do that it has to be piecemeal.
I don't really enjoy taking the time to make things look pretty. I'm not very good at that part of the design process and it takes too long for me (imho) to produce some aesthetic that will never really be functional outside the scope of organization.
I have done it when I've needed money though. Just aggravates me.
:) These are the types of posts I was hoping for when I created this thread. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this -both of you. It's just been really shitty to think about lately as far as my future is concerned. I am at a point where I'm beginning to question whether or not the choices I am making now are worth the investment of time (or not) before it's too late to change course. your experiences give me a modicum of hope which serves to reinforce my initial belief that everything I have been doing isn't a complete waste of time.
There's a paucity of information about these circumstances (compu fraud + compu pro) available online and most of the information available is presented from accounts of felons who are not in the same boat as I am.
I feel your case and I can't imagine how hard it is. Though being a developer gives you more opportunities and freedom than you think you have. All you have to do is to be amazing at what you do. You made the mistake once, you paid you dues, so life goes on. I agree with the parent post -- you should build a great online presence to bury the past, to prove that you are a new person.
I once worked with a friend I made online. He's a great designer. I refered him to another good friend for some work, and this other friend found out the designer had been on the news for a felony a few years back ( long story short, he pretty much used his design/photoshop skills and got into trouble with the laws). His case got cleared afterward, but searching for his name on Google still returns the articles from the past.
My other friend didn't work with the guy because of this, but in the end, my designer friend is still happy because he got his life in order. He's a great guy and he didn't let his past impact him too much. He even helped me when I needed some money to survive, he was there to send me some work for the badly needed few hundred bucks.
Good luck. Life is too short to worry too much about the past. Learn new skills, make new friends, become an awesome developer to create more values for society. Look at rappers like JayZ or 50Cents for inspirations. They were put in jails, shots multiple times, and yet they are hugely successful entrepreneurs now.
If you're good, people can't ignore you for long. Email me your resume, I always look for good developers to connect.
It will be hard at times. That's just the way things are. But there are definitely ways to make things work. I think the odds of getting a decent job with strangers are pretty low, but the more time passes, the easier it is for them to consider it a "youthful indiscretion". I've tried really hard to just suck it up and explain everything as how I made a mistake but took full responsibility and did everything I could to make it right.
I've mentioned on other threads that every single time I bring up my background, people have stories about other people they know or coworkers with criminal records. I have two friends with vehicular manslaughter convictions (one a DUI) and both hold decent jobs in the IT field. It hasn't been easy for them either, but they've fought their way back into the field with help from friends.
Thanks rietta. Unfortunately presidential pardons are difficult to get without help from a political connection.
Based on the data (http://www.justice.gov/pardon/statistics.htm) in addition to the cumulative experience of those who have turned their lives around for decades and still been denied, I made a decision to try that later when I have a better history to present in my petition.
As you can see, the odds are scary. My chances of getting one without a friend in government (or part of a lobbying body) are really slim.
Unfortunately true. I've encountered that problem where I am now and have had to sign so many agreements with legal dept heads from other agencies that I've lost count. My employer (work in NPO sector) has really assumed some really huge risks by having my on board. The approach for me being exposed to certain at-risk data (at my work there are ssn from clients, login credentials to affiliated networks ran by my state) is routinely addressed by sign NDA as a group of lawyers threaten to destroy me if anything should go awry.
The director of the agency where I work has been tremendously instrumental in arguing and supporting me in these instances.
Thank you for your response. After reading many of the other responses it is nice to have this perspective here for other posters to see -- because it is very real to me.
This is essentially what someone like me encounters every time they try. It's a really unfortunate part of my reality and other posters should understand that it's not simply "just a felony" -- not when equally qualified applicants do not have any "issues" like this.
Aweee, don't feel bad for me. NBD. People like me are really good at not failing. I'm measuring with this thread before I make a decision to do something. Internet advice as a collective unit of measurement is still useful and valuable. It is a sin to ignore useful information. Every little bit helps ;)
I've also found it incredibly difficult to ask google this type of complex question. So I posted it here instead.
Penn-testing today is growing into something it wasn't when I was having fun. The community consists of mixed talent and a trend is growing as more ease-of-use [e.g: nessus, metasploit] tools become available to infosec "pros". That emergent trend (SaaS?) disgusts and repels me because it eliminates one of the more captivating and rewarding elements of vulnerability hunting (the delicious, delicious, research experience). Reverse engineers, devs who are able create on-the-fly solutions, and vx community notwithstanding.
Also, as said in a previous post: my experiences with independent private disclosure is most often a futile waste of time - 'thanks' || ignored || threatened with LE.
WRT building an income generating product: I don't have many unique ideas or any marketing experience. I'm currently working with a friend exploring android os internals and platform development. We're going to throw our project into that market and see how it pans out.
I generally only create things I need to try out an idea or get something done. This project strays away from that principle so it will be interesting to see whether or not the venture is fruitful.
