Our speaker for the event was Robbe Verwilghen, an accomplished alumnus of Howest University of Applied Sciences. Hailing from Lebbeke, Robbe earned the prestigious title of “Ethical Government Hacker of 2024,” which came with an incredible prize—a training course from the SANS Institute, along with the Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) exam valued at over €10,000. Adding a humorous touch to the accolades, he was also crowned “The Dupe King,” recognized for submitting the most duplicates during the competition.

Key Insights

Robbe’s talk centered around his experiences during Belgium’s government hacking tournament, offering insights and practical advice. One of his standout tips was to "act dumb and click on everything"—a surprisingly effective strategy for uncovering vulnerabilities. He emphasized understanding an application’s use case before attempting to exploit it, a valuable perspective I hadn’t considered during my own cybersecurity courses.

From Bug Bounty to Pentesting

Robbe shared stories from his journey as a bug bounty hunter, QA engineer, and pentester. His experiences with Intigriti, a renowned cybersecurity company, highlighted the practical aspects of ethical hacking and security testing. He introduced techniques such as SQL injection, payload crafting, and useful resources for finding scripts to test vulnerabilities. Robbe also explained how these payloads interact with servers and how to analyze their responses, providing a glimpse into the hacker’s mindset.

My Impressions

While the session was informative, I had hoped for more interactive elements—a live demonstration of hacking techniques would have been thrilling and added an engaging dynamic to the presentation. Though his PowerPoint slides were detailed, a real-time example would have showcased the application of his methods more effectively.

Additionally, while Robbe’s presentation skills were solid, they left room for improvement. That said, it’s clear his expertise lies in ethical hacking, not public speaking, and his technical depth more than compensated for any shortcomings.

Conclusion

Overall, the Tech&Meet event offered a unique opportunity to learn from one of Belgium’s top ethical hackers. Robbe Verwilghen’s journey is both inspiring and educational, shedding light on the exciting and challenging world of cybersecurity. I left the session with a newfound appreciation for ethical hacking techniques and strategies, and I look forward to applying some of his insights in my future studies.