I am Robert Svensson and I'm computer security human with a passsion for tinkering with python code.
Robert Svensson - Computer security expert living in Berlin, Germany

About Me

I have more than 15 years of experience in the security field. My hands-on know-how comes from working in large multi-national environments and networks taking care of security incidents and maintaining security systems such as proxy servers, firewalls and VPNs. I’ve also carried out numerous pen tests to make sure that systems and networks are compliant against the PCI-DSS standard.

I successfully ran my own security consulting company for a number of years. In one of my assignments, I worked for one of the world’s largest clothing retailers, H&M, at their Security Operations Center. My responsibilities included digging through log files to analyze and sort out potential threats as well as fine-tuning Network Intrusion Prevention Systems and Vulnerability Management Solutions. My responsibilities also included on-call duty to quickly respond to global security incidents. The environment was fast-paced and in co-operation with a remote SOC team in Hong Kong.

My constant desire to participate in the security community lead me to create DasMalwerk.eu — a web service dedicated to providing fresh malware samples to fellow security researchers in a safe way. As I believe that nothing beats having hands-on experience with malicious software once disaster strikes.

When it comes to operating systems I can get things done on anything from my Commodore 64 to Windows, Linux, macOS and in worst case even NT4 and Novell NetWare.

I also have a deep passion for the written word. In fact, I used that passion to write a book called From hacking to report writing — an introduction to security and penetration testing. Released in late 2016 by Apress, the book has helped many aspiring penetration testers to turn IT-security into a career.

Here’s my GitHub profile and my LinkedIn page.

Experience

Product Owner - Security and Authentication at FlixBus, Berlin, Germany
2018-11 — Present

As the Product Owner of Security and Authentication I make sure that all of the organization's security efforts are in sync with the highest security standards. This includes working hands-on with technical solutions, as well as setting the long term vision for all things security-related.

IT Security Manager, Telefonica Next, Berlin, Germany
2018-06 — 2018-11

I oversaw the protection the organization's computers, networks and data against threats, such as security breaches, computer viruses or attacks by cyber-criminals. I also worked on making sure that out IoT platfrom was developed as secure as possible.

Technical Copywriter, Contentful, Berlin, Germany
2017-04 — 2018-06

I was responsible for communicating the company’s bug bounty program as well as writing readable and technically correct blog posts and landing pages on API architecture, SDK development, developer trends and more.

Independent Security Consultant, Art & Hacks, Berlin, Germany
2015-03 — 2017-04

My role as an independent security consultant includes carrying out on-site penetration tests, helping customers with PCI-related matters such as preparing for upcoming reviews and making sure that the proper processes are in place, policy recommendations, developing security related software and integrations.

Author, Apress, Berlin, Germany
2015-03 — 2016-10

I was under contract to write a book called From Hacking To Report Writing - an introduction to security and penetration testing. The book was published by Apress in December of 2016.

Security Operations Technician, H&M, Stockholm, Sweden
2014-08 — 2015-03

As a security operations technician I was responsible for the technical management, surveillance and troubleshooting of internet proxy services, Linux servers, anti-virus solutions and the cryptography infrastructure for the organisation’s most critical data. My duties also included managing and analysing the security event logs of the global spanning network together with a team of international experts.

Founder, Das Malwerk, Berlin, Germany
2014-04 — 2014-08

DasMalwerk.eu is an online service that provides the security community with the latest “in the wild” viruses and malware samples so that we can all get a better understanding of today’s digital threats. I designed and programmed both the front and the backend system.

Security Incident Response Technician, H&M, Stockholm, Sweden
2012-03 — 2014-08

My role in the security incident response team was to investigate deviations from the organisation’s security policy. This regularly involved tasks such as forensics investigations, reverse engineering of viruses and other types of unwanted software and responding to suspected security breaches on a wide variety of platforms such as Microsoft windows systems, Apple macOS and PCI-related payment solutions.

IT Teacher and Program Founder, Musoma, Tanzania
2011-12 — 2012-03

IT Teacher and Program Founder, Musoma, Tanzania As the founder of an IT education program in Musoma, Tanzania, I worked as an IT teacher for children and teenagers teaching them computer usage and repair. Sharing no common language, I successfully managed to teach classes using body language and very basic Swahili.

Other Information

Formal education

Stockholm University – Bachelor of Computer and Systems Sciences

Recent courses
  • Python data structures — Michigan University
  • Software security — University Of Maryland
Security certification

Comptia Security+ earned 2014-12

Nationality

Swedish

Languages
  • English - Full working proficiency
  • Swedish - Native speaker
  • German - Pretty good
  • Norwegian - Full working proficiency
  • Danish - Full working proficiency
  • Swahili - Limited understanding
Interests and hobbies

I enjoy abstract expressionism and Russian avant garde within art as much as I enjoy a game of football at the pub. I also write and play a lot of music with the best of friends.

My tag cloud

Computer and network forensics. Investigating suspected fraud or information leakage. Great communication and presentation skills. System and network penetration testing. Information classification of business critical systems. Linux such as RedHat and Ubuntu. Windows client and server operating systems. OSX. Proxies such as Bluecoat, Microsoft ISA/TMG and Squid. Firewall, networking and routing technologies such as Cisco, IP tables. Enterprise wide anti- malware solutions such as McAfee and Symantec. SIEM solutions such as Splunk. Programming and scripting using languages such as C# .NET, NodeJS, Python, and Bash. DBMS such as MsSQL, MySQL and MongoDB. Process and life cycle management using frameworks such as ITIL. Virus and malware behavioural analysis.

References

Available upon request.

Contact information

Robert Svensson
Berlin
Germany

robert@artandhacks.se

PGP key

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

mQGNBF+Fg6oBDADHO4vrZ+DpooGxHMp6VcKw1OWd+Zo5oB8xpaLfGFEN/NrJ/qlz FFzIRcBvOAUeY3XbtN/uNa2v8oR4Nl3/SLO1f1XAMvrWsEMINvegX4XL6whvGk12 BtqWA5U3XqoPbVZYAL7DAURkRykfJTUKhJg43ugDN+0Ug/aTUq6XnsUPRyq4aI6m /xaQzktAGltSC7q9PWcbb061e3O94SSD+DpPS1tTon3+V9UwagAS19J5KTlrVWuv XXko5D6QwMOh96edYRhFPb3aV1LlGGvja+4CyTpLkrSBu8KvG0oWCTAebn6OM99C yGh9qSS0IgKsHWJvPsnQnUG66/AldxAtNjYFcP+McGXv0g3CcON++v139suuDzuT CFyOQvtWarloPpM/lqlkXv4NIViCrUeKqOvpEAud7x/ZvH2UNg2nOdPA1B1j8fMO F3J6u3EVhUMXD+Ji4Sa72HAoV2NFf0YJhog0frxgi16B5l+J4lQcTVpyDnzyjhz+ pv3UHKmccp0xRIcAEQEAAbQnUm9iZXJ0IFN2ZW5zc29uIDxyb2JlcnRAYXJ0YW5k aGFja3Muc2U+iQHUBBMBCAA+FiEEQONtJB2NfoCG+t01E92H4euIBIsFAl+Fg6oC GwMFCQPCZwAFCwkIBwIGFQoJCAsCBBYCAwECHgECF4AACgkQE92H4euIBIs29gwA oGw+1erbB+eVussUubRNxbSbyzWpM8qxYoI0XvVKUmKTMiuuTVLz7gb5uNI94ohH oUOWl57NUczbtp/kVJcIOOyrA6PtOJxCBWBC33v5KGwTiJhhaY0XtRmbv3gsk6YM svv2lx3R5g4J7PbdxE4sIulg1U3SoqCOIiSlBgPNlHp/JemSiTHlkId+SYO11JUH EkiAOfAqdFyrv+Zc2U1NAXDucvZFbXxUSdU9BXzNJHLkHp63kSOuZmzXtGbJqt7O H6EKhxmboGsmk2d88o0q6b+wKpkg8ztQ9dQKV+qRLg71xLUzcZESs6NP3K7uTT/U K/2JisfM8m5qppbIVw/6CDYBs4LDQr60Ob2EYF2XcgypfBTEsoUtXBF64GxMMIkL RWx/WzymtWIP1is84YRU4fnw8MofPUToo2wFlH519GWQ73SbbhedgCCITdTyw5/4 oSMaSb/3XfJL50mq5tusXUnnTzo0iXrbTN8ICzVx3gOgVZpzMawLKY1HllCytCEg uQGNBF+Fg6oBDACywO35tcONXV7+N1KhMspDhImE0o9OXIfK6Uaa3nVgGMtFaAdE VIYx6xoJ3znRlVL7wMoFDO1pKykrUPb7y5uuDybRTGdN43YxuTQvL+jOt/J5KXmc SAzlwV2oBoZQm+7IX7hLbuihn4YiV4BZW8uDyGdDkufHYUBU89hH5t7v9Ntiur+O 3b12NGTH0JuBuE3ZJgGj7mNvuFgrqa7+8VVxaFRH+m4GpGR2OmoEl1n3YiRchzjQ PbHN4qqe6qsrpEGiAbKdbg7o3I3j5J54q+eW0NK27cdWEGVHiQZ2N3za5yXFCBrv mKTCo798CteCCPXAapSM13BbvbDd/y6CRAbNxgqSFs5GhF2EG76C+jFiNEIt29f0 QxwTZSO7bGl6j24f4MOIwjCkaTDXOHIw2YojsgPBdrWS8x6NZExZ4ORjIdU1ULy3 WxOwKt+hO4KWeHG6OCHEFNQmYF7jJW+2QgLtzHl5O0XdjldYqyo2j074Yc5K1mWK xSRjiUR0/q+bWfEAEQEAAYkBvAQYAQgAJhYhBEDjbSQdjX6AhvrdNRPdh+HriASL BQJfhYOqAhsMBQkDwmcAAAoJEBPdh+HriASLmeML/09KPT6qn6Mlf4krf9zN8/Rv Js4tUxhpkpnGS0/btu+zskke181yzP+jU1KPzC0/wjCiwMkIOUF+CouPlpbqWjxd /omf5UvYFIzUt3/mh9HASrlB8Ft3gWCYC1z6hQ0mNBoczOtyNEnDuYSX7lUZdQzG vbYJjCozDopO2TfOp2+WGGgyn7D4rMI5y1k63WX9Plgxr/o1m+yJeWB05c0Wt2tz 9aFvnmAwbh4iju4L10d7ahttOMgWah2Vlr9s2sfe5cmEDv3FDUpgmlggl/K3+IFK uBssT7QFtWCjRqw0jbmHSeNX1Atr8UHKGXVvCHZ+TChTVEzeHk2sfbc0ngTPwPxV Xb9SkPjsTkKK9BVpmRASLSAhxW8YPLkCBfHwYPB19Nccxy1ii/RyDzhpE7DtreL2 JU/zF6gMV9mmUPSvphC2f4Of4Oy/idZScW2OOVsbnfPPCkf6hNe4EGLxD6iSovsZ HXr8T4TZzA5w/W6ILjY0ZQbB0V4ZNemBk7CpCPC+cA== =k9Wb -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----