Juan Monarrez-Gonzalez

CS @ UW–Madison · Offensive security

Cybersecurity

About Me

I'm a Computer Science student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with a passion for cybersecurity, working toward a career in offensive security. Most of my time outside class goes into breaking into vulnerable machines, focusing on enumeration, web exploitation, and privilege escalation, then turning each one into a writeup I share publicly.

I'm a CTF Lead and Content Developer with Cybersecurity UW, developing challenges across web, forensics, cryptography, reverse engineering, and Linux, including hints and solutions. I'm also helping build a CTFd-based cyber range.

Day-to-day, I practice on Hack The Box while working toward the HTB CPTS. I hold the Security+, CySA+, and GFACT certifications, and compete regularly in CTFs.

In my free time, I repair electronics for fun: deep cleaning devices, diagnosing faults, finding the root cause, and doing board-level soldering work like HDMI port replacements.

Juan Monarrez-Gonzalez

Education

University of Wisconsin—Madison

B.S. Computer Science

Expected Graduation: May 2028

Current Courses · Fall 2026

COMP SCI 642 - Introduction to Information Security

Course topics include authentication, access control, memory safety, hardware side channels, web security, cryptography, TLS and network security, privacy, AI security, social engineering, and physical security.

LIS 640 - Securing Information Networks

Studying network structure, addressing, subnetting, switching, routing, and protocols through Packet Tracer and Wireshark labs. The course also covers firewalls, VPNs, cryptographic protocols, emerging technologies, and evaluating network vulnerabilities and breach scenarios.

Completed Courses

COMP SCI 537 - Introduction to Operating Systems

Covered processes, concurrency, memory management, scheduling, and virtualization.

MATH 435 - Cryptography

Studied ciphers, hash functions, perfect secrecy, digital signatures, and hardness assumptions.

COMP SCI 400 - Programming II

Built data structures including graphs, hash tables, and red-black trees; covered testing and Java development.

COMP SCI 577 - Introduction to Algorithms

Covered algorithm design and analysis, including greedy, divide-and-conquer, and dynamic programming approaches.

Certifications

CompTIA CySA+
CompTIA

CompTIA CySA+

Issued February 23, 2026•Expires February 23, 2029
Threat HuntingLog AnalysisIncident Response
Verify on Credly ↗
CompTIA Security+
CompTIA

CompTIA Security+

Issued June 30, 2024•Expires February 23, 2029
Threat DetectionNetwork SecurityDisaster Recovery
Verify on Credly ↗
GFACT
GIAC

GFACT

Issued March 12, 2024•Expires March 31, 2028
Linux FundamentalsPython ScriptingExploitation
Verify on Credly ↗
HTB Certified Penetration Testing Specialist
Hack The BoxIn Progress

HTB Certified Penetration Testing Specialist

In progress
Penetration TestingActive DirectoryPrivilege EscalationWeb Exploitation
Soon...

Get In Touch

Open to cybersecurity internships and entry-level roles.