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$ whoami

Israel
Fernandez

Systems Software Engineer

Eight-plus years writing systems software. Embedded firmware, Linux kernel drivers, computer vision on custom ARM hardware. Now I point that same low-level depth at breaking things: building offensive tooling and ramping on reverse engineering. You can't reliably break a system you don't already know how to build.

// currently: Apple silicon by day, offensive tooling and reverse engineering on my own time

Open to full-time red team & offensive security roles

Get in touch See my work Resume
role
Hardware Systems SWE
prior
Defense AI · 8 yrs
stack
C · C++ · Linux · ARM
target
Android · red team

01 / ABOUT

Who I am

I'm moving into Android security and red teaming: the same instinct that drove the systems work, now pointed at where systems break instead of how they run. If it's low-level, I want to understand it well enough to take it apart.

I shipped my first Linux kernel module in 2018 and have worked low in the stack ever since: embedded firmware, kernel drivers, real-time computer vision on custom ARM hardware. Bootloader to user-space, hardware bring-up to field deployment. Knowing exactly how something is built turns out to be most of knowing how it falls over.

Today I'm at Apple (contract via Sasken Technologies) on hardware and firmware integration. Before that, eight years at Gantz-Mountain, a defense AI startup in Monterey building low-level systems on custom embedded hardware.

After Gantz-Mountain I finished my B.S. at CSUMB (graduated with honors, May 2025), took cybersecurity coursework, and went deep on offensive security: building a C2 framework from scratch, ramping on reverse engineering, and preparing for a full-time move into red teaming.

// WHAT I'M GOOD FOR

  • ▸ Linux kernel & driver dev
  • ▸ ARM / embedded firmware
  • ▸ Android reverse engineering (ramping)
  • ▸ Low-level network protocols
Open to work

Looking for red team / offensive security roles, full-time. Email me at israelfernandez96@gmail.com.

Location
California, USA
Education
B.S. Computer Science, CSUMB

02 / SKILLS

Toolkit

// grouped by depth, not a star rating

Systems & Embedded

Where eight-plus years went. Production firmware, kernel work, real-time.

  • Embedded Systems Working
  • Linux Kernel Working
  • C / C++ Building
  • ARM Assembly Building
  • RTOS / FreeRTOS Working
  • Device Drivers Working

Security & Offensive

The newest stuff here, and where most of my off-hours go right now.

  • C2 / RAT design Working
  • Network protocols Working
  • Reverse Engineering Building
  • IDA / Ghidra Building
  • Wireshark Building

Languages & Tools

What I reach for outside deep-systems work: automation, web, tooling.

  • Python Working
  • Bash / Shell Working
  • Git / GitHub Working
  • TypeScript Building
  • Docker Building
  • SvelteKit Building

03 / EXPERIENCE

Track record

Independent Security Research

Research
Self-directed 2024 – Present Remote

The pivot, made concrete. Started during the final year of my B.S., building offensive tooling and ramping on reverse engineering from an attacker's point of view.

  • Built BeaconUI, a 3-transport educational C2 framework (raw TCP, mTLS HTTPS, beacon/callback) with a Python and C implant and a Svelte operator dashboard
  • Ramping on reverse engineering and Android security analysis
  • Published a long-form technical writeup on C2 architecture and protocol design

stack: Python · C · mTLS · SQLite · Svelte 5

Hardware Systems Software Engineer

Contract
Apple via Sasken Technologies 2025 – Present Cupertino, CA

Systems software, automation, and diagnostics across hardware platforms: bring-up, validation, the unglamorous integration work. It keeps me sharp on real silicon while the security side ramps up.

  • Python diagnostic + automation tooling adopted across multiple hardware platforms
  • Triaged firmware-init and bring-up regressions with firmware and hardware teams
  • Software and firmware integration on Apple silicon: bring-up support, validation, regression analysis

stack: C · C++ · Python · Linux · Shell

Systems Software Engineer

Full-time
Gantz-Mountain Intelligence Automation Systems 2016 – 2024 Monterey, CA

Eight years at a defense AI startup, where I learned the low level for real: bare-metal firmware, kernel drivers, BSP customization, and real-time computer vision on custom embedded ARM hardware.

  • Designed and implemented efficient algorithms that increased computer-vision processing performance by 40% on the ARM target
  • Collaborated with the Electrical Engineering team to diagnose thermal issues using specialized instrumentation; improved hardware efficiency by 15% and reduced cooling costs by 20%
  • Linux kernel driver development and BSP customization for custom ARM platforms
  • Mentored interns porting CV algorithms from MATLAB to C
  • Hardware-in-the-loop testing and low-level networking for field deployments

stack: C · C++ · Linux · ARM · MATLAB · Lua

04 / PROJECTS

Selected work

Personal projects I'd actually point a hiring manager at. Each links to its source, or says when it's private.

Flagship project

BeaconUI

Beacon-model command-and-control (C2): the server-and-agent system used to control remote machines. Dual Python and C implants (29 and 28 task types), mTLS transport, AES-256-GCM encryption, a Svelte operator dashboard, and a from-scratch shellcode stager. I built it to understand modern C2 architecture at every layer.

Educational / authorized targets only · source on request
PythonCSvelte 5mTLSSQLitelibcurl
writeup
Python / C task types
29 / 28
implant platforms
3
app-layer crypto
AES-256-GCM

// under the hood

  • ▸ mTLS transport with HMAC-SHA256-derived endpoints
  • ▸ Cross-platform C implant: Linux, Windows
  • ▸ Persistent PTY shell, SOCKS5 pivot, in-memory shellcode stager
  • ▸ HTML-smuggling dropper with XOR obfuscation
  • ▸ SQLite (WAL) persistence, SSE live operator dashboard
  • ▸ Reliability-tested: 581 tests (pytest unit/integration + Playwright E2E)

Offensive Security Bootcamp Portal

Local labs only · source on request

A searchable SvelteKit portal for a Markdown-first offensive security curriculum: modules, CTF prep, labs, Android material, progress tracking, and review paths.

SvelteKitTypeScriptMarkdownSecurity Education

CDN from First Principles

A toy content delivery network: UDP-based load balancer distributing requests across edge servers with local caching and origin pull. Built to understand CDN internals from the ground up.

PythonUDPNetworkingCaching
source

DNS Resolver

An educational DNS resolver simulating iterative resolution (root to TLD to authoritative) with an LRU cache. Built to understand the DNS hierarchy hands-on.

PythonDNSNetworking
source

Home Security Dashboard

A local-only console for home cameras and sensors with real-time alerts and a plain web interface. Self-hosted, no cloud round-trip.

SvelteKitTypeScriptWebSocketsIoT
source
See all repos

05 / CONTACT

Let's talk

I'm hunting for offensive security and red team roles, full-time. Also up for systems, embedded, or anything close to the metal. And if you just want to talk shop about kernels, C2 internals, or Android RE, I'll happily make time even if there's no job attached.

// a real note gets a real reply, usually within a day

Email me
iFernandez96 ifernandez96 PDF download

$ thanks for scrolling this far. // Israel

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