Cybersecurity professional with an academic background from the University of Porto, currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Information Security after completing a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science in 2021.

As a veteran member of the xSTF team, he has taken part in dozens of Capture-the-Flag (CTF) competitions, both on-site and online, most notably being selected to represent Portugal at the European Cyber Security Challenge 2019 in Romania.

His track record includes public acknowledgment for the responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities to leading organizations such as CISA.gov, CERT-EU, CNCS-PT, ASUS Security and Check Point, alongside participation in several bug bounty programs on platforms such as HackerOne.

He joined VisionWare in 2021 and currently serves as a Senior Cybersecurity Consultant. He leads and delivers penetration testing, red teaming and security assessment engagements across applications and infrastructure for clients in critical sectors, supporting their teams through remediation while contributing to the company’s methodology and to the technical team’s training and development.

He holds a broad set of well-regarded industry certifications, including OffSec Experienced Pentester (OSEP), OffSec Web Expert (OSWE), OffSec Certified Professional (OSCP), Certified Red Team Lead/Operator (CRTL/CRTO), Burp Suite Certified Practitioner (BSCP), CompTIA Security+, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900), among others.

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Based in Portugal · joaomvarelas@gmail.com