CYBERSECURITY PORTFOLIO

Max Allee

Cybersecurity Student Aspiring Security Analyst

Former public-safety professional building practical experience in security operations, Linux, networking, threat hunting, system administration, and penetration testing.

  • Focus Security Operations and Blue Team
  • Location North Carolina
  • Status Building hands-on cybersecurity experience

ABOUT ME

Public-safety experience meets cybersecurity

I am transitioning into cybersecurity after developing strong investigative, communication, and decision-making skills through law enforcement, emergency communications, military service, and other public-safety roles.

My current training combines cybersecurity coursework with hands-on labs involving Windows event logs, Sysmon, Elastic, Linux, networking, packet analysis, vulnerability assessment, and controlled penetration testing.

I am especially interested in security operations, threat detection, incident response, and defensive security. My goal is to bring technical ability, sound judgment, and calm decision-making to a security team.

01

Investigate

Gather evidence, identify patterns, and avoid conclusions that are not supported by the data.

02

Document

Record methods, findings, and remediation steps so that technical work is understandable and repeatable.

03

Improve

Turn each lab, investigation, and mistake into a stronger process for the next challenge.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Tools and technologies

Technologies I have used through coursework, cybersecurity labs, personal projects, and home-lab administration.

Security Operations

  • Elastic
  • Windows Event Logs
  • Sysmon
  • Threat Hunting
  • Incident Analysis
  • MITRE ATT&CK

Systems

  • Linux
  • Windows
  • SSH
  • UFW
  • PowerShell
  • System Hardening

Networking

  • TCP/IP
  • DNS
  • Nmap
  • Wireshark
  • TShark
  • VPNs

Security Testing

  • Service Enumeration
  • Web Enumeration
  • Gobuster
  • Hashcat
  • Metasploit
  • Privilege Escalation

Development

  • Python
  • Java
  • C++
  • HTML
  • CSS
  • Git

Professional Skills

  • Technical Writing
  • Investigation
  • Communication
  • Decision-Making
  • Documentation
  • Teamwork

FEATURED PROJECTS

Hands-on cybersecurity work

Projects are presented as sanitized case studies. Passwords, flags, private information, and prohibited lab solutions are not published.

01 Case study in progress

Stuxbot Threat Hunt

Investigated simulated malicious activity using Elastic, Windows audit logs, Sysmon, and PowerShell telemetry. Focused on suspicious file deployment, registry-based persistence, and PowerShell Remoting activity.

  • Elastic
  • Sysmon
  • PowerShell
  • Windows Logs
  • Threat Hunting

Demonstrates: log analysis, hypothesis-driven hunting, event correlation, and attacker-behavior identification.

02 Case study in progress

Web Application Penetration Test

Completed a controlled training assessment of a Linux web server. Enumerated services, identified an exposed content-management system, analyzed credential data, gained an initial foothold, and identified a privilege-escalation path.

  • Nmap
  • Gobuster
  • Hashcat
  • Metasploit
  • Linux

Demonstrates: reconnaissance, service enumeration, vulnerability validation, exploitation methodology, and privilege-escalation analysis.

03 Case study available

Linux Security Home Lab

Built and administered a Raspberry Pi-based Linux lab for remote access, security experimentation, networking practice, and system administration. Configured SSH keys, firewall rules, remote connectivity, service monitoring, and command-line security tools.

  • Debian Linux
  • SSH
  • UFW
  • Tailscale
  • Systemd

Demonstrates: Linux administration, access control, firewall configuration, troubleshooting, and secure remote connectivity.

Read full case study
04 Ongoing project

Network Traffic Analysis

Captured and analyzed network traffic to better understand TCP/IP behavior, DNS resolution, SSH sessions, encrypted traffic, service communications, and connectivity problems.

  • Wireshark
  • TShark
  • TCP/IP
  • DNS
  • Packet Analysis

Demonstrates: packet filtering, protocol analysis, traffic interpretation, and network troubleshooting.

CYBERSECURITY HOME LAB

A multi-system environment for offensive and defensive practice

My cybersecurity home lab is a multi-node environment designed for hands-on practice with offensive security, defensive monitoring, Linux administration, networking, and incident analysis. Each system has a dedicated role, allowing me to generate activity, investigate it, and practice securing Linux infrastructure.

OFFENSIVE

Attacker-Pi

Dedicated system for controlled reconnaissance, network scanning, enumeration, and authorized security testing against systems within my lab.

  • Linux
  • Nmap
  • Enumeration
  • Security Testing

TARGET

Target-Pi

Isolated Linux target used to practice service enumeration, security testing, system hardening, firewall configuration, and detection techniques.

  • Debian Linux
  • SSH
  • UFW
  • Services

DEFENSIVE

Defender-Pi

Defensive system used for monitoring, log analysis, network visibility, security tooling, and investigation of activity generated throughout the lab.

  • Linux
  • Monitoring
  • Log Analysis
  • Threat Detection
INTERNET-FACING ENVIRONMENT

CLOUD

Cloud Server

Internet-facing Linux server used to practice secure administration, service monitoring, log analysis, and investigation of real-world internet activity such as automated scanning and authentication attempts.

  • Linux
  • SSH
  • Logging
  • Internet Exposure

LAB WORKFLOW

Generate. Observe. Investigate. Harden.

The environment lets me practice both sides of a security event: generating controlled activity from an attacker system, observing its effect on a target, investigating available telemetry, and applying defensive controls.

  • Linux administration and troubleshooting
  • Network and service enumeration
  • SSH authentication and access control
  • Host-based firewall configuration
  • Log review and security monitoring
  • Network traffic analysis
  • Secure remote connectivity
  • Controlled offensive-security testing

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Building technical knowledge on a strong professional foundation

CYBERSECURITY TRAINING

VET TEC 2.0 — Technology Professional Track

Hands-on preparation covering security operations, networking, Linux, threat hunting, penetration testing, Security+, Network+, and CySA+ concepts.

CURRENT EDUCATION

Bachelor's Studies in Computer Science

Coursework includes programming, databases, data structures, algorithms, computer networking, computer systems, and software development. Current GPA: 4.0.

PREVIOUS EDUCATION

Old Dominion University

Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology. Graduated with a 4.0 GPA as the top graduate.

CONTACT

Let's connect

I am building toward cybersecurity internship and entry-level security analyst opportunities. My GitHub contains current projects, documentation, and technical practice.