I am Arkadii Yakovets (Ark), an information security and GRC professional with a background in secure application development, DevOps, and operations. My open-source security work includes leading and maintaining OWASP projects such as Nest, Nettacker, and DockSec, with a focus on project health, process, and contributor experience. I speak at conferences and regional cybersecurity events such as OWASP Global AppSec and SnowFROC. I have mentored 20+ contributors across multiple years and projects at OWASP and the Python Software Foundation, through Google Summer of Code and other paid internship programs.
Before cybersecurity, I worked as a system administrator, network administrator, SRE, and software engineer. That path still shapes how I think about operations and the design of systems people actually use. Hands-on software development spans for-profit and nonprofit teams, with working knowledge of advertising, bioinformatics, cloud resource management, crisis response, e-commerce, education, hosting infrastructure, and payroll domains. Credentials include a Master of Science in Information Technology, as well as CCSP, CISSP, and CSSLP certifications, along with GitHub Actions, GitHub Administration, and GitHub Advanced Security.
I write here about information security, GRC, secure development, mentorship, and related craft, with open-source security as a recurring focus. The longer bio, projects, and talks are on arkid15r.com.