DANE FORTUN

Cybersecurity Student | Offensive Security | Drexel University

I find what breaks.
Then I document why.

I'm Dane Fortun, a Drexel CST student whose path has been shaped by community college, student leadership, technical projects, and a 3.66 GPA. I'm building toward security work that is careful, reproducible, clearly documented, and grounded in real understanding.

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Dane Fortun in a suit
  • 3.66Drexel GPA
  • 4×Dean's List
  • 2028Expected Grad
  • $35KGrant Secured

Selected Work

Offensive Security Linux Privilege Escalation Lab Enumerated attack surface, identified misconfigurations, and documented a full privilege escalation path in a controlled environment. Secure Development Python Exploitation Automation Built automation for recon and exploitation workflows to reduce manual repetition and improve repeatability during testing. Infrastructure Segmented Enterprise Network Designed VLAN-based architecture with ACLs and controlled inter-VLAN communication built on real Cisco hardware.

Education

Universities, grades, coursework, and honors.

2025 – 2028

Drexel University

B.S. in Computer Information and Security
Concentration: Computing Security

  • Anticipated graduation: May 2028
  • GPA: 3.66 — Pennoni Honors College
  • Drexel Promise Recipient
  • Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship Recipient
  • Dean's List, 2026

2022 – 2025

Northampton Community College

A.A.S. in Information Security

  • Graduated with Honors — GPA: 3.63
  • Dean's List, 2024
  • Student Senate President, 2025
  • Club Officer of the Year, 2025
  • Honors Club Vice President, 2025

Relevant Coursework

Ethical Hacking & Pen Testing Computer Forensics I Network Administration II IT Security II IT Security Policies II Open Server II Mobile Applications Social Aspects of Information Systems

Projects

Security work with concrete outcomes.

Penetration Testing

Penetration Testing Lab

Built to go beyond running tools — the goal was to simulate a real engagement: enumerate the surface, identify misconfigurations, escalate, and write it up like someone's security team would actually read it.

  • Engineered privilege escalation paths targeting SUID misconfigurations and weak sudo policies — documented each step so the finding was reproducible
  • Built Python automation around credential review and hash-cracking setup to eliminate inconsistency
  • Produced a full report with attack path, proof-of-concept notes, and remediation guidance

$ python3 enum_assist.py --target lab-host

[+] services mapped | users reviewed | hashes staged

$ john --wordlist=rockyou.txt lab-hashes.txt

[+] credential match documented

$ python3 privesc_notes.py --suid --sudo

[+] privilege escalation path confirmed

$ report --poc --remediation

Python John Escalate Report

Secure Development

BiteSwipe

Co-built a full-stack web app — HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, the whole thing. Built 12+ user-facing features, then found our own security holes after the fact.

  • Identified and patched SQL injection, XSS, and input validation weaknesses I'd introduced myself — humbling and useful
  • Debugged 30+ issues across the stack; the security fixes weren't glamorous but were the most important
github.com/danefortun/biteswipe
GitHub repository preview for BiteSwipe
SQLi fixed XSS fixed Validation fixed

Infrastructure

Demo Enterprise Network

Led the design and physical build of a segmented network architecture on real Cisco hardware — configured for security, scalability, and resilience.

  • Configured VLANs, ACLs, routing logic, and secure inter-VLAN communication across Catalyst 2960 and 3560 switches
  • Implemented redundancy and high-availability concepts
  • Reduced lateral movement risk through stronger segmentation — each VLAN isolated with controlled communication paths
Cisco network rack with labeled switches: R2_LAN_SW_FL1, R2_LAN_SW_FL2, R2_LAN_MAIN_SW, R1_LAN_SW1 Close-up of Cisco Catalyst 2960 switches with color-coded patch cables R1 router IOS CLI showing routing configuration
Cisco 2960 Series Cisco 3560 Series VLAN 10 / 20 / 30 Real Hardware

Skills

Languages, tooling, systems, and security concepts.

Languages

Python, JavaScript, PHP, HTML/CSS

Security Tools

Metasploit, Burp Suite, Nmap, Wireshark, Netcat, Hashcat, John the Ripper

Systems & Platforms

Linux (Kali, Ubuntu), Git, REST APIs, SQL databases

Core Concepts

Penetration testing, privilege escalation, threat modeling, social engineering, VLANs, ACLs, credential exploitation, network segmentation

Leadership & Awards

Execution under pressure, on campus and beyond.

$35,000

State Farm grant secured as Student Senate President to improve student life through student-driven initiatives.

300%

Increase in student engagement through outreach, restructuring, and more intentional programming.

Student Senate President

Led initiatives that improved campus accessibility and drove stronger student participation across the college.

Competitive Esports

Top 0.05% in North America in VALORANT and top 2,000 globally in Fortnite — reinforcing communication, pattern recognition, and rapid decision-making.

Honors Club Vice President

Organized college tours in collaboration with Ivy League universities and their advisors, including Princeton.

Club Officer of the Year

Annual honor recognizing a student leader who demonstrated exceptional dedication, leadership, and impact within a registered student organization.

Computer Club Member

Repaired PCs, participated in BYOD LAN parties, and collaborated with other students on technical troubleshooting.

President's Award for Educational Excellence

Recognition for strong academic achievement, consistent performance, and commitment to academic success (2022).

Contact

Let's connect.

Contact Information

Open to Cybersecurity Opportunities

I am interested in internships, entry-level security work, technical student leadership, and collaborative projects around offensive security or secure systems.

Email Dane View GitHub