Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
"Getting Into Cybersecurity" is a series where Tib3rius interviews several people about breaking into the industry. In this episode, Michelle Eggers shares her career journey and how she broke into one of pentesting's most niche specialties: hacking mainframes.
Michelle's links:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/m-eggers
Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks podcast episode: open.spotify.com/episode/1qq09D9O8QbR23np8vLsqS
AppSec Village Talk on Mainframe Security: youtube.com/watch?v=UV8oFSg8OK8
BSides Saskatoon Talk on Hunting for Critical Vulns: youtube.com/watch?v=RjuBnRpwoHU
0:00 Intro
1:01 What motivated you to get into Cybersecurity, or pentesting specifically, and does this job feel any different to the ones you've had before?
2:27 Do you think you were able to bring skills from previous roles across into Cybersecurity that perhaps are harder to develop for those of us whose entire careers were in tech?
6:41 Of bootcamps, networking, free training, CTFs, certs, which do you think had the most immediate return on investment, and which was more of a slow burner?
12:37 Can you describe how the NetSPI U program works, your experiences, and how it prepared you for your pentesting career?
17:47 What were some of the challenges you faced when you transitioned from the training program into performing actual pentests for customers?
21:10 What sparked your interest in mainframe hacking, and why is it such a unique area in cybersecurity?
26:18 How would you recommend someone interested in mainframe hacking get started?
28:29 What first made you think about giving talks at cons, and how did you approach your first talk?
35:24 How can the industry and community get better at making women and minorities feel more welcome?
37:59 What keeps you motivated and excited about working in Cybersecurity today and do you have any long term goals in the industry?
41:14 Outro
X: https://x.com/0xTib3rius
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tib3rius.bsky.social
Twitch: twitch.tv/0xTib3rius
InfoSec Exchange: https://infosec.exchange/@tib3rius
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tib3rius
Courses: courses.tib3rius.com
Udemy: udemy.com/user/tib3rius
Discord: discord.com/invite/4qrvKMh
TikTok: tiktok.com/@0xtib3rius
Instagram: instagram.com/0xtib3rius
Threads: threads.net/@0xtib3rius
Facebook: facebook.com/0xTib3rius
"Getting Into Cybersecurity" is a series where Tib3rius interviews several people about breaking into the industry. In this episode, Michelle Eggers shares her career journey and how she broke into one of pentesting's most niche specialties: hacking mainframes.
Michelle's links:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/m-eggers
Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks podcast episode: open.spotify.com/episode/1qq09D9O8QbR23np8vLsqS
AppSec Village Talk on Mainframe Security: youtube.com/watch?v=UV8oFSg8OK8
BSides Saskatoon Talk on Hunting for Critical Vulns: youtube.com/watch?v=RjuBnRpwoHU
0:00 Intro
1:01 What motivated you to get into Cybersecurity, or pentesting specifically, and does this job feel any different to the ones you've had before?
2:27 Do you think you were able to bring skills from previous roles across into Cybersecurity that perhaps are harder to develop for those of us whose entire careers were in tech?
6:41 Of bootcamps, networking, free training, CTFs, certs, which do you think had the most immediate return on investment, and which was more of a slow burner?
12:37 Can you describe how the NetSPI U program works, your experiences, and how it prepared you for your pentesting career?
17:47 What were some of the challenges you faced when you transitioned from the training program into performing actual pentests for customers?
21:10 What sparked your interest in mainframe hacking, and why is it such a unique area in cybersecurity?
26:18 How would you recommend someone interested in mainframe hacking get started?
28:29 What first made you think about giving talks at cons, and how did you approach your first talk?
35:24 How can the industry and community get better at making women and minorities feel more welcome?
37:59 What keeps you motivated and excited about working in Cybersecurity today and do you have any long term goals in the industry?
41:14 Outro
X: https://x.com/0xTib3rius
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tib3rius.bsky.social
Twitch: twitch.tv/0xTib3rius
InfoSec Exchange: https://infosec.exchange/@tib3rius
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tib3rius
Courses: courses.tib3rius.com
Udemy: udemy.com/user/tib3rius
Discord: discord.com/invite/4qrvKMh
TikTok: tiktok.com/@0xtib3rius
Instagram: instagram.com/0xtib3rius
Threads: threads.net/@0xtib3rius
Facebook: facebook.com/0xTib3rius
