Bridging the gap between technical complexity and executive strategy.

About Me:

The Intersection of Psychology & Cyber Warfare

Authored by AJ Montano, Updated 2025.

A distinguished cybersecurity professional with a beard and dark hair standing against a brick wall, wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and purple patterned tie, smiling at the camera.

My immersion in the technical community began in childhood, building computers and learning Java. Growing up during the "Wild West" era of the internet, I became fascinated by the adversarial mindset—studying how systems were exploited and the psychological impact on victims. That early exposure to the chaotic side of cyberspace ignited a lifelong passion: to bring order to chaos and protect the vulnerable.

What sets me apart from a standard engineer is my deep focus on Human Psychology. Early in my career, I studied the research of Paul Ekman, achieving expert-level certification in Micro-Expression Analysis. In Cybersecurity, this translates to elite Social Engineering and Insider Threat detection capabilities. I understand that the most critical vulnerability in any system isn't code—it's the human behind the keyboard.

My career is built on a foundation of operational leadership and technical rigor:

  • At Geek Squad, I led territory operations in a complex environment, earned Platinum Certifications across all domains and completed the entire Harvard ManageMentor leadership curriculum (40+ certifications).

  • Currently, I serve as a Lead Infrastructure & Security Engineer in the public sector. I act as a trusted advisor to officials and forensic investigators, bridging the gap between complex digital forensics and legal defensibility.

I recently completed my B.S. in Cybersecurity & Information Assurance at Western Governors University and am pursuing my Master’s Degree. I believe in aggressive continuous learning, supplementing my formal education with hands-on research in Generative AI, Cyber Warfare, and 3D design.

Technical Arsenal
Offensive Security (OffSec): Penetration Testing, Social Engineering, Red/Purple Teaming, Vulnerability Exploitation, Burp Suite, Metasploit, Adversary Analysis (MITRE ATT&CK).

Defensive Operations: Incident Response, Digital Forensics (Cellebrite/GreyKey), Threat Mitigation, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), NIST Frameworks.

Infrastructure & Cloud: Zero Trust Architecture, Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), Conditional Access, Cisco Networking, Linux (Kali/Ubuntu), Virtualization.

Development & Scripting: Python, PowerShell, C#, SQL, HTML5/CSS3.

Emerging Tech: Generative AI (LLM integration), 3D Simulation (Unreal/Unity).

The Human Side
I believe that resilience is built through both professional challenges and personal journeys. On May 6th, 2022, I lost my mother and younger brother. Navigating that grief reshaped my perspective on life and drove me to find clarity through creativity. I use digital art as a way to process complex emotions and maintain balance in a high-stress industry. You can view my creative design studio at AJMdesign.com.

Community & Contact
I believe that success requires a comprehensive support system. My network includes a diverse group of experts covering nearly every aspect of technology. If you are interested in communities that make a positive impact, check out the Community Page on this site.

Let’s Connect I am actively seeking opportunities to apply my strategic vision and technical depth to new challenges in Cybersecurity, OffSec, and Architecture.

Contact Me