November 29, 2023 at 05:43PM
At just 13, Marco Liberale presented at Black Hat MEA on ransomware, showing early brilliance with lockpicking at 3 and coding at 5. After self-teaching in cybersecurity, he aims to gain Security+ certification and has eye on tech startups, while collaborating with industry experts like Chris Roberts.
Meeting Takeaways:
1. Marco Liberale is a prodigious 13-year-old from Saudi Arabia who gained recognition with his presentation at the Black Hat Middle East and Africa conference, where he spoke about ransomware.
2. He has been interested in security since he was young, teaching himself lockpicking at the age of 3, Python coding at 5, and malware writing.
3. His presentation caught the attention and praise of Chris Roberts, CISO of Boom Supersonic, who highlighted Marco’s insights into ransomware.
4. Marco and his mother, Caterina Carna, were interviewed to discuss his interest in cybersecurity and what the future holds for this young talent.
5. Despite his young age, Marco has been passionate about security, eventually shifting his focus to cybersecurity.
6. Caterina supported Marco’s interest from an early age, despite the challenges it brought, such as him locking every room in the house.
7. He is currently studying at Kings Interhigh online school and is preparing for Comptia Security+ certification, despite his young age.
8. Marco has opportunities to learn and network at events, having made connections at KAUST and within the broader IT community.
9. So far, Marco’s peers do not share his interest in cybersecurity, with most preferring activities like playing soccer.
10. Marco has ambitions to potentially create a startup, mentioning that he learns much through self-teaching and collaboration with Chris Roberts.
11. Marco’s conference involvement for Black Hat was facilitated by Ed Sleiman, head of cybersecurity at KAUST, who recognized Marco’s talent and connected him with the conference organizers.
12. For the future, Marco remains open to learning new things without setting specific plans.
Attendees should keep an eye on Marco Liberale’s future endeavors in the cybersecurity field, as his passion and skill set at such a young age position him as a notable figure to watch in the industry.