Hi, I'm Jeric Aminola

My journey into strategic thinking began at Rizal Elementary School. From 4th grade, when I got my first phone, I was fascinated by how technology worked. That curiosity ran parallel to my competitive nature in strategy games and team activities.

I played Damath from 2nd to 6th grade, competing at municipal and provincial levels. Chess from 4th to 6th grade took me to regional competitions and Batang Pinoy. I also joined Boy Scouts from 3rd grade onward, learning teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving.

These experiences taught me pattern recognition, strategic planning, and analytical thinking. The same skills that would later become the foundation of my cybersecurity expertise.

During junior high at Rizal (3) National High School, I continued Chess until 7th grade, maintaining my regional-level competitive edge. More importantly, this period marked significant personal growth, particularly in 10th grade, where I became more socially active and extroverted.

My technical curiosity deepened. I spent countless hours exploring how software worked, understanding application protection mechanisms, and learning about system vulnerabilities. This self-taught journey into reverse engineering and software security would later evolve into ethical hacking and professional penetration testing.

The combination of strategic thinking from chess, social development, and technical exploration shaped my problem-solving approach, analyzing systems both technically and from a human perspective.

Senior high at Banga National High School was transformative. I developed confidence and leadership skills, serving as Vice President of the Media Team for the Supreme Student Government (SSG).

Our media team won at the Division (Provincial) SSG Camp in the Advocacy category, a testament to our teamwork, creativity, and communication skills. This experience taught me how to lead technical teams, present ideas effectively, and advocate for important causes.

Behind the scenes, I continued expanding my technical knowledge, exploring web technologies, understanding security concepts, and building foundational programming skills that would prepare me for university-level IT studies.

My journey into cybersecurity began during my Information Technology studies at Mindanao State University, where a deep curiosity about how digital systems work, and more importantly, how to protect them, shaped my career path.

The strategic thinking skills I developed through chess and damath translated perfectly into cybersecurity. The same mindset that helped me anticipate opponent moves now helps me think like an attacker when securing systems.

Through national and regional CTF (Capture The Flag) competitions, I developed hands-on offensive security skills that complement my academic foundation. View my CTF writeups and security projects for detailed analysis. Key victories include:

• Trend Micro University CTF 2024 Semi-Finals Winner - Competed against 140+ teams nationwide
• 2× DICT Regional Champion - Back-to-back regional cybersecurity victories
• Multiple podium finishes in national-level security competitions

These competitions weren't just about winning. They were intense learning experiences in OSINT, reverse engineering, web exploitation, cryptography, and digital forensics.

Interned as a Cyber Security Consultant at R.G. Manabat & Co. (KPMG Philippines), conducting black box and grey box vulnerability assessments across diverse client environments. Learn more about my professional experience.

I identified critical security gaps using advanced security tools like Burp Suite, Nmap, and Metasploit, provided actionable remediation strategies, and helped organizations strengthen their security posture. This experience gave me real-world insight into enterprise security challenges and best practices in the financial, healthcare, and corporate sectors.

Key achievements: Conducted comprehensive penetration tests, discovered high-impact vulnerabilities, and delivered detailed security reports with executive-level recommendations.

Currently working as a Freelance Web Developer, specializing in WordPress development with Divi Builder and Elementor, while implementing security best practices and optimizing sites for performance and SEO.

My approach is simple: security shouldn't be an afterthought. It should be built into every line of code from the start.

My academic foundation in Information Technology, combined with hands-on experience in Laravel, Django, FlutterFlow, and Python, enables me to build secure, scalable applications. Notable projects include:

• Crossroad Emergency Management System (2023-2025) - Multi-platform emergency response application
• n8n Workflow Automation - AI/ML integrations with Whisper, Gemini, OpenAI
• Secure WordPress Sites - Enterprise-level security implementations

Based in South Cotabato, Philippines, I'm always excited to take on new challenges and collaborate on projects that make the digital world safer and more accessible.