I’m Paul, a software engineer with a passion for building systems that are secure, scalable, and elegant. Over the past 17 years, I’ve worked across the full spectrum of software development; from kernel-level security work to distributed backend services, and I’ve developed a deep appreciation for clean code and thoughtful system design.

The Journey#

My career began at the NSA, where I spent seven years doing what amounted to “controlled chaos”, building the infrastructure and tools that enabled offensive security operations. I started as a systems engineer managing 130+ enterprise servers and eventually moved into Red Team development, designing browser exploitation frameworks and backend systems that processed millions of data points. That work taught me how systems break, how to think like an attacker, and the importance of security-first design.

After the NSA, I moved into more specialized security roles at Parsons and Kyrus Tech, where I worked on process injection, API abuse, covert communications, endpoint security, and encryption at scale. These positions deepened my understanding of cryptography, multi-threaded systems, and the art of writing code that works reliably in hostile environments.

Most recently, I spent three years at Binary Defense as a Senior Software Engineer developing endpoint security agents. The kind of software that protects thousands of customer endpoints across Windows, Linux, and macOS. That role forced me to master Rust for performance-critical code and Python for rapid iteration and writing sophisticated testing infrastructure. It was wonderful collaborating with teams of talented engineers building distributed systems that handled massive scale.

What I Build#

I’m drawn to problems that require both depth and breadth. Systems where security, performance, and reliability can’t be separated. My primary languages are Rust (for systems-level work), Python (for everything else), and Go (for distributed services), with solid foundations in C, C++, and modern web technologies.

A few projects that represent my interests:

heimwatch is a resource monitoring application I built in Rust. It’s the kind of tool that’s deceptively simple, just wanting to know what’s happening on your system, but getting it right requires understanding OS-level APIs, efficient data structures, and thoughtful UX. It’s a project I return to when I want to sharpen my systems programming skills.

sjles-pta-vote is a full-stack voting platform I built for a school PTA organization. It started as a way to streamline community decisions, but it became a case study in leveraging Claude Code for planning, code reviews, and development. Built with Go and TypeScript/React, it demonstrated how modern AI tooling can accelerate development without sacrificing code quality.

date-scanned-pics is a utility that solves a surprisingly common problem: organizing scanned photo collections. It automatically processes JPG files, extracts or infers dates from filenames, and updates their EXIF metadata. It’s simple but illustrative, sometimes the most useful code is the code that automates away tedious manual work.

baseball-nn was my initial exploration into machine learning, attempting to predict baseball game outcomes with neural networks. Beyond the domain itself, this project was valuable because it was my first deep dive into AI-assisted development with Claude Code, exploring how an AI can help shape architecture and accelerate the learning process.

What I Care About#

I’m fundamentally interested in solving hard problems with good engineering. I’m drawn to security-focused work, but only in contexts where the security serves a purpose; defensive security, legitimate research, and authorized pentesting. I’ve spent enough time in the red team space to know the difference, and I have no interest in destruction for its own sake.

I believe in writing code that’s maintainable, well-tested, and documented where it matters. I’ve led design reviews, written RFCs and ADRs to drive architectural decisions, and mentored developers coming up through the ranks. I enjoy working in small, focused teams where everyone brings expertise and can have meaningful input on direction.

The Setup#

I work remotely from, Maryland with a dedicated home office, that I’ve improved over the years with; ethernet to the desk, large monitor for programming, switches between personal and work, and artwork from my family all over my walls. I maintain a homelab running Proxmox with services ranging from email and cloud storage (TrueNAS/Nextcloud) to self-hosted infrastructure (gitea, DNS, Pi-hole, Home Assistant). It’s part learning environment, part playground for testing infrastructure ideas.

Education#

I hold a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Maryland Baltimore Campus, where my thesis focused on “Stateless Detection of Malicious Traffic: Emphasis on User Privacy.” My undergraduate degree is from Salisbury University (Magna Cum Laude). I’ve also completed specialized training in OpenBSD development and administration at the Royal Military College of Canada, and I stay current with security research through SANS courses and security conferences.

If you’re interested in talking about distributed systems, security architecture, or the challenges of scaling backend services, I’m always up for a conversation. You can find me on GitHub or LinkedIn, or read more of my thoughts on this blog.