The Ethical Hacker Network is an online magazine with a focus on those in the profession. It’s wonderful to have technical content, videos, book reviews and an active discussion forum, but what good does it do if we can’t help our readers achieve their career goals? Being an “online” magazine also means that we have a wide audience not confined within the borders of the United States. How can we also help our international audience? One way to answer both questions is to continue our ongoing series of interviews with ethical hacking movers and shakers. So here is another conversation with someone who can provide some quality insight to the questions posed above, because he did it. He became a professional ethical hacker in Europe.

Ilia Kolochenko is the CEO of High-Tech Bridge, a security services and research outfit in Geneva, Switzerland. But clearly he wasn’t born a chief executive. Just like most of us, he grew up dreaming of being a hacker, even if he had no idea it was an actual profession. This is his story, and it was quite surprising to see just how similar it sounds. But that’s not a bad thing. He took his passions, combined them with his military skills, added in a little workplace frustration, and… Well you’ll just have to find out for yourself.