Loïc James McKeever

Introduction

Welcome to my personal website! I work as a Cyber Security Engineer at Darktrace although my day-to-day activities are more related to networking than cyber security. I majored in Math and Physics in college which I am still very interested so in my spare time I often work on personal projects, mostly in Python, relating to math and physics.

I started using Bokeh a few months ago. It's a Python module that allows you to output graphs and data tables and various other widgets as an HTML file. You can also add JavaScript for more functionality such as sliders and buttons which allow for more interactive plots. I'm working on two bigger personal projects in Bokeh and I realized I didn't have an easy way of sharing them. I decided this would be a good opportunity to learn how to set up a website so I spun up an Ubuntu EC2 instance in AWS, installed Nginx and cert-bot, bought a domain and built this main page in HTML, CSS and a little bit of JavaScript.

Overall I believe this is a good representation of my talents as a jack-of-all trades; to make this site I needed to use data analysis in Python with Bokeh, JavaScript with Bokeh to add the interactive functionality, HTML and CSS for the overall design, Nginx in Ubuntu to host the site, networking in AWS and cert-bot with Nginx to allow the proper encrypted access and finally configuring the A record to route the domain I bought to the public IP. I even learned a little bit of Batch to help automate pushing updates to the site via SCP.

Programming Projects








Tools and Frameworks

Change Management
Git GitHub GitLab

- I use GitHub with GitHub Desktop for all my personal coding projects.

- At work we use GitLab integrated with VS Code, used to use Atom but that has be depreceated.

Cloud
AWS

- This website runs on an Ubunutu 20.04 EC2 instance using Nginx. I configured the proper security settings to allow HTTPS and set up the key-pair for SSH access. I also set up the Elastic IP to then point my domain A record to.

- A few of the software solutions offered at Darktrace can be used to monitor network traffic going in and out of EC2 instances. The main solution is a VM that can be used with either VPC mirroring or endpoint agents. I often assist clients with setting up these VMs, endpoint agents as well as the VPC mirroring if needed.

Azure

- The same software solutions used for AWS instances can be used to monitor network traffic going in and out of Azure VMs. The main solution is a VM that can be used with endpoint agents, although supposedly Microsoft is working on a "vTAP" which would work similarly to VPC mirroring in AWS.

- I also use Azure at work for testing various things, either the various software solutions we have or special projects. For example a client needed to integrate with Elasticsearch and Kibana and I was able to test both on an Azure instance.

Containerization
Docker

- I use Docker to run Pihole on Ubuntu 20.04 on a Raspberry Pi. This lets me filter out a lot of advertising domains in my home network.

- One of the software solutions Darktrace offers is a container installed in Docker to monitor network traffic to and from the other containers within the engine. Part of my responsibilities is assisting clients with the installation and YAML file configuration of this solution.

- Lately I've been working on a side project at work involving Docker Compose. I'm using nginx and bokeh containers to ingest and visualize data. The nginx side manages the upload of data via curl as well as displaying the live web page. The bokeh container generates the live page as well as handles the backend for user interactions with the data.

Virtualization
VMWare

- The same VM based software solution Darktrace has for AWS and Azure can also be used in VMWare. It can be used either to monitor traffic between VMs, either through a standard vSwitch or a distributed vSwitch, or it can be used to monitor traffic from a physical switch by linking it to a physical interface on the ESXi host.

Hyper-V

- The same VM based software solution Darktrace has for AWS and Azure can also be used in Hyper-V. It can be used either to monitor traffic between VMs, using Hyper-V's port mirroring capabilities, or it can be used to monitor traffic from a physical switch by linking it to a physical interface on the host,

VirtualBox

- In preparation for our company's CTF tournament we used VirtualBox along with Kali Linux to break into a variety of different practice VMs. We used tools such as Nmap, Metasploit and Burp Suite.

- I also use VirtualBox to run tests and practice various Darktrace software solutions such as the VM solution, the endpoint solution as well as the Docker container solution.

- I prefer Linux for most things but Windows is a bit easier when it comes to gaming so I use VirtualBox to run an Ubuntu VM for most things, like coding, and then use Windows for games. I have been considering dual booting but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Programming Languages
Python

- I'd used Python a bit in a few classes such as Fourier Series and PEDs as well as Complex Networks(we used the networkx module which is actually very interesting) but during the pandemic I really started using as my main language. For personal projects I use mostly math and physics module such as numpy, sympy and scipy. As mentioned in the introduction I've also been using bokeh a lot lately to make interactive grphs in HTML and JavaScript.

- At work I'm part of the development team for an internal CLI program we use with our software's API. The API responses are in JSON format so it requires working with dictionaries a lot. One of the tools of our software involves an Elasticsearch based query system so a lot of base64 encoded search strings. We use a wide range of modules such as inquirer for easier user input options, re for RegEx parsing, requests and base54 for the API calls.

HTMLJSCSS

- Obviously this site was written in HTML and CSS with a little bit of JavaScript. I'd used them a little bit before on a small Flask project but this site is definitely more involved. As mentioned in the Python section I've been using Bokeh lately which outputs an HTML file but can also include custom JavaScript for more functionality.

- In the Docker Compose project the bokeh server outputs a live webpage which I heavily edited using CSS from the default bokeh look, mainly to create a dark theme since I find that much easier on the eyes.

MatLab

- I used MatLab a lot in college, mostly for lab courses. Most of the programs I wrote involved taking data from csv or Excel files and then manipulating it in some way or another and then plotting the data for the lab reports.

- At Eink part of my job involved taking daily color measurements from a couple of their technical demo screens. I would then import the data into Excel which would then be imported into MatLab to track the color quality over time and in different lighting conditions.

- At the University of Milan I took absorption data from Lumerical FDTD, which is simulation software for nanophotonic processes, and plotted it using MatLab. The goal was to compare the rate of absorption in Perovskite solar cells when surface plasmon polaritons were interfering with each other in different ways.

LaTex

- I used LaTex in college for all my physics lab reports and some math and physics homeworks. I also used it to make my resume.

C C++

- These are the languages I have the least experience in but have used them. I used C++ in an engineering course and I used C in my physics lab capstone course.

Work Experience

Darktrace

Principal Cybersecurity Engineer | Mar 2023 - Present | Reston, VA

- Act as an escalation resource for other Cyber Engineers for more complex installs and issues.
- Developing internal web app, using ECS and S3, designed to track usage of internal Python/Bash CLI tool.
- Assist the Integrations team with a variety of things such as creating documentation, reaching out to potential partners and testing integrations.
- Lead development of Python SDK for product.

Senior Cybersecurity Engineer | Aug 2021 - Mar 2023 | Reston, VA

- Contribute to the development of Python based internal CLI application, hosted on GitLab, that integrates with our product’s API.
- Run tests on various software sensors in VirtualBox, Azure and AWS.
- Have lead multiple training sessions for new hires, including Networking and Virtualization courses.

Cybersecurity Engineer | Jan 2020 - Aug - 2021 | Reston, VA

- Perform installs of physical appliances with clients; configure network settings and confirm data ingestion.
- Perform installs of virtual sensors in VMWare, Hyper-V, AWS, GCP and Azure with clients; configure network settings and confirm data ingestion.
- Create GROK patterns to parse various syslogs ingested by our software such as DHCP and VPN logs.
- Assist clients with configuring scheduled backups on their appliances via SMB and SCP.
- Lead a Capture The Flag training workshop using Kali Linux tools such as Metasploit and Nmap.

Milano

Nanophotonics Reseach Assistant | Jan 2018 - Jun 2018 | Milano, Italia

- Executed simulations using FDTD software to study the effects of plasmon interactions on the absorption of light in various semi-conductors.
- Analyzed simulation data using Lumerical and MATLAB scripts leading to the publication of a paper.
- Generated 3D models in Blender of the simulation structures used as a visual aid for the paper.
- Cut glass and ITO samples in preparation for cluster source deposition.
- Performed thin film depositions of gold and silicon on samples using a cluster source for use in material testing and solar cell development.
- Assisted in the maintenance of a cluster source including changing targets, cleaning components, replacing the vacuum pump and installing a water cooling system.

Eink

Color Science R&D Intern | Jul 2016 - Dec 2016 | Billerica, MA

- Collected color data from test panels with a spectrophotometer .
- Analyzed color data with Excel and MatLab to study the color quality of test panels over time and in different lighting conditions.
- Assembled test panels which included soldering electrical components and testing circuits.
- Curated content to be displayed on tech demos for presentations in Photoshop and GIMP.
- Generated ICC profiles for test panels using an Xrite i1IO table and i1 Profiler to optimize color selection and quality of future tech demos.

Education

Northeastern

Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics | Sep 2014 - May 2019 | Boston, MA

Activities: Society of Physics Students, The Art Collaborative and Men's Rugby Club

Coursework: Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Fourier Series, Statistics and Stochastic Processes, Group Theory, Real Analysis, Topology, Classical Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Electricity and Magnetism, Waves and Optics, Complex Networks, Quantum Mechanics and Advanced Writing in the Sciences.

Labs: Electronics, General Chemistry 1, Advanced Physics Lab, Principles of Experimental Physics (capstone)

Electives: Art History: Ancient to Medieval, Art History: Renaissance to Modern, World War II in the Pacific, Observational Drawing

Publications

Certifications

Contact Info

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