Evan Booth

Evan’s path into security was unconventional—writing hacking tools and modding Quake before he was old enough to drive. He spent years as a software engineer and freelance developer before channeling that background into offensive security, and that instinct for taking things apart and building something new has carried through more than a decade of penetration testing, offensive security research, and challenge development. His hardware security research includes Terminal Cornucopia, which demonstrated that weapons could be built from items purchased past airport security checkpoints, and Hedberg, a fully functional bionic hand built entirely from a single Keurig coffee maker—both covered by Wired, Forbes, Popular Mechanics, and Vice. He holds a Master of Science in Digital Media from East Tennessee State University and has presented original research at DEF CON, Hack in the Box, DerbyCon, and OSCon, among many others.

Outside of work, Evan teaches a co-op class for young people focused on building hard projects, maintains an active interest in lockpicking and hardware tinkering, and lives by a simple motto: “Always building.”

Qualifications Summary

• Builder and Architect at Counter Hack, designing and engineering cybersecurity curriculum, cyber ranges, and hands-on challenges
• Co-author, SEC543: AI-Assisted Source Code Analysis and Exploitation for Penetration Testers
• Worldsmith, SANS Holiday Hack Challenge
• A decade of experience in penetration testing, offensive security, challenge design, and range development
• Master of Science in Digital Media, East Tennessee State University
• Speaker at DEF CON, Hack in the Box, DerbyCon, and OSCon, among many others
• Hardware security researcher; projects covered by Wired, Forbes, Popular Mechanics, and Vice

Press and Media Spotlight

• Evan has presented original research at DEF CON, Hack in the Box, DerbyCon, and OSCon, among many others, spanning topics in hardware hacking and security research.
• He is a Worldsmith for the SANS Holiday Hack Challenge, one of the most recognized annual cybersecurity competitions in the industry, and a contributor for the SANS NetWars cyber range platform.
• Hedberg, a bionic hand built from a Keurig coffee maker, was covered by Popular Mechanics, Forbes, Vice, and New York Magazine.
• Terminal Cornucopia was featured in Wired, Al Jazeera, Forbes, and Fast Company for its demonstration of vulnerabilities in airport security strategy.