Alexander
North
Founder | Cybersecurity Builder | Product Security
Solo founder and cybersecurity practitioner. My path has moved through different environments, but the constant has been building systems and understanding how they work. I design software and tools to solve real problems, then refine them through direct use. LabList started as a personal solution for tracking hands-on work and continues to evolve through that process.
I build web applications, think in systems, and treat security as foundational rather than optional. I enjoy analyzing risk and evaluating mitigations. I stay hands-on through projects, labs, and certifications, continuously iterating in practice.
Always building. Always learning. Always improving.
Areas of Focus
“I design for failure, so systems succeed in practice.”
3
Writeups
PART I
ABOUT
About the Author
Solo founder and cybersecurity practitioner. My path has moved through different environments, but the constant has been building systems and understanding how they work. I design software and tools to solve real problems, then refine them through direct use. LabList started as a personal solution for tracking hands-on work and continues to evolve through that process.
I build web applications, think in systems, and treat security as foundational rather than optional. I enjoy analyzing risk and evaluating mitigations. I stay hands-on through projects, labs, and certifications, continuously iterating in practice.
Always building. Always learning. Always improving.
PART IV
ACTIVITY LOG
— It’s been a busy semester, but it’s finally wrapped up. This semester, I earned my ITIL 4 Foundation certification and wrapped up courses in Digital Forensics and Cryptography. My biggest challenge, though, came from the two Database Management courses. At first, MySQL felt like my nemesis, but once everything started to click, I realized how powerful and even enjoyable it could be....
— My name is Alex, and I am a current student at Western Governors University, working on my Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity. I’ve been on this journey for a little over a year now. One thing I’ve learned about the industry is that cybersecurity and certifications seem to be synonymous with one another. Certifications are a great way to evaluate and demonstrate your level of knowledge on a specific topic. It provides a rewarding feeling and allows you to display your hard work for others to see....
— Cybersecurity is a massive field — tons of niches, each with its own tools and skills. I’m a student working toward my Cybersecurity and Information Assurance degree at Western Governors University, picking up certs like A+, Net+, and Sec+ along the way (and aiming for more!). The theory’s great, but I needed a way to get hands-on experience to really lock it in. That’s where a homelab comes in — a scalable setup that mimics a small enterprise network. After some research, I went with EVE-NG Community Edition: it’s free, flexible, and has a solid community behind it. Everything used in the guide is free and just requires your time to set up. Let’s get building!...
PART V