Eli Array Minkoff

Cybersecurity Operations Specialist and Linux Sysadmin

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I am a passionate technology enthusiast with a particular interest in computer systems, and a great deal of experience with managing Linux systems, both servers and personal computers. Computers and particularly computer security and online privacy are my passions.

I have done a lot of advanced work with Linux systems, with a particular focus on the Debian GNU/Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux families. I have worked with servers running Debian, Ubuntu, Turnkey Linux, CentOS 7, CentOS 8, Rocky Linux, and various Linux Desktop systems based on Debian and/or Ubuntu. Additionally, I have some experience with the pfSense, OpenWRT, and VyOS firewall/router systems, as well as Windows Server and Active Directory. In short, cybersecurity and system administration are among my greatest passions, and I look forward to making them into my career.



Work Experience

IT Engineer

Leahy Center · March 2022 to March 2023

Worked as an IT Engineer as part of the Senator Patrick Leahy Center for Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity’s Managed Support Service. Provided tech support for both the Leahy Center’s internal infrastructure and for 3rd-party client organizations

  • Utilized both graphical utilities and Powershell to manage account issues in Active Directory
  • Worked as part of a team to manage clients’ infrastructure, including Cisco routers, corporate VPNs, Windows 10, Windows Server, and Microsoft Exchange Online
  • Worked to maintain and improve documentation for the Managed Support Service, to allow for more efficient navigation and management of both internal and client systems
  • Communicated with clients to address issues as efficiently as possible, and quickly get to the root of problems
  • Worked with VMware VSphere and QEMU/KVM virtualisation stacks to create efficient testing environments for projects

Helpdesk Analyst

Inspiritec · May 2024 to August 2024

Helped callers who were having trouble with the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Information Solution, a website used to apply for child abuse history background checks and report suspected abuse. Worked with callers to figure out the best approach to get clearances in time, and work around bureaucratic roadblocks and site glitches.

Consultant

Gratz College · September 2023 to February 2024

Worked to catalog old paper student records and prepare them to be digitized. Developed a workflow powered primarily around Bash scripts and Vim to catch potential duplicate records and prepare information for the 3rd-party digitization service.

Summer Technical Research Internship

Leahy Center · Summer 2021

Interned as part of a research team at the Senator Patrick Leahy Center for Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity, and worked on researching cloud services and technologies. Effectively navigated around technical challenges and utilized remote working technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Developed a website explaining cloud architecture in simple terms, geared towards a tech-savvy audience
  • Researched and utilized Microsoft Azure Cloud and Amazon Web Services to host websites
  • Made use of Trello to plan out projects as part of a team
  • Communicated with manager and coworkers to create a cohesive environment
  • Worked with a variety of tools, and managed 3 different web servers running completely different software stacks

Projects

ArrayNet Personal Network

Networking/Open Source/ArrayNet

I manage a personal, private network accessible locally or via VPN. Within it, I have a number of systems running various services, including a logging server which sends daily reports of authentication activity which I actively monitor, and an external jump box to administer it. I make effective use of limited hardware by running multiple services on each server, but I use strict sandboxing, firewalls, and monitoring to mitigate the security risks that setup brings. I use robust, well-audited, modern cryptographic authentication and encryption to limit the potential attack surface as much as possible while enabling remote access, including WireGuard, OpenSSH, and Dropbear. Within the network, I manage a personal, self-hosted open-source cloud platform with alternatives to Google Cloud services like Drive, Calendar, and Keep, and integrations with Github, GMail, and the KeepassWeb open-source password manager, as part of the ArrayNet network. I use it as a backup server for my laptops and phone, and to sync various documents between them.

Automatic Apt Repository

Networking/Open Source/ArrayNet

I managed an apt repository that would automatically download the latest builds of various software, managed through an automated, extensible set of python scripts.

Supply Chain Attack Research

Security/Open Source/Research

I have researched various supply-chain attack techniques, specifically the possible impact of a malicious compiler, and potential mitigations

Tech Journal

Informational/Educational

I maintain a journal documenting various technologies I’ve used for various classes and hobby projects, and how to use them. The current version is available on GitHub.

BF Compilers

Programming/Research

In order to better understand C and Rust, I wrote an optimizing compiler for a notoriously difficult to use esoteric programming language in each of those languages, and have added features and worked to maintain feature parity between the two implementations.