Alumnus Chris Truncer graduated from Florida State as an Information Technology major with a passion for doing good; but not in the most traditional sense.
Chris is a White-Hat Hacker. He belongs to a community of professionals that turn the malicious connotation of hacking on its head. The title is used to describe a hacker that breaks into companies to steal data, then shows the company the different flaws that were exploited in the process and how they can be fixed.
“Ever since attending school at FSU, I always knew I wanted to work in computer security,” said Truncer. To achieve his goal, he began as a systems administrator; for two years he managed Windows and Linux servers. A step he took to gain a solid technical background before moving into purely security work. Today, Chris is a Penetration Tester for Veris Group, LLC. “We are hired to break into networks, and show our customer how they can fix any of the security issues we find,” said Truncer.
Chris is living in a metropolitan area of Washington D.C. and working for Veris Group, LLC, an award-winning company trusted by Fortune 500 corporations and Federal Agencies to achieve solutions to cyber challenges.
I love my job, because I get to legally attempt to break into a variety of different companies or government agencies, and I get to do it with a ‘get of out jail free’ card,” says Truncer. Every test is a new puzzle for me, and I really enjoy trying to figure out how to manipulate computers, servers, etc. to do what I’m not supposed to do.”
In addition to his primary job, Chris also co-develops a tool called the Veil-Framework, which is used to makes viruses undetectable by antivirus programs. The tool seems malicious at first, but like White Hat Hacking, it is also meant for good. According to Truncer, it will help the industry perform security assessments better. It lets the White-Hat community emulate the black-hats (bad guys) that are trying to hack into people’s networks.
“Florida State’s Information Technology program helped give me a solid foundation to build upon for my current career in IT Security. The professors/teachers encouraged research in areas that interested us, and helped foster an interest in the IT field that continues in my career today,” says Truncer.