CyberVoices

By the time most teens were downloading games, William was rewriting them. What began as an after-school hobby cracking Xbox consoles has now evolved into a career designing security tools and co-managed services that protect organizations across Canada. His story is a lesson in hustle, curiosity, and never waiting for permission to build the future.

While many cybersecurity professionals trace their careers back to degrees or certifications, William’s journey began at just 14 years old, armed not with credentials, but with curiosity and an Xbox 360. "I was doing the RGH reset glitch hack,” he recalls, referencing a now-legendary console exploit. “There was no ChatGPT back then. You had to learn the good old way, documentation and YouTube.”

That early experimentation sparked something deeper. “I wanted to know how things worked, not just to break them, but to understand them at the root,” he says. This led to self-taught mastery of reverse engineering, RAM architectures, and eventually malware decompilation. It wasn’t long before William was diving into the guts of malicious code to understand how threat actors exploit systems.

Skipping School, Building Skills

By 18, William had started college and was pursuing his OSCP, but quickly realized school wasn’t keeping pace with what he could learn and earn on the job. He took an internship at Giro, a transportation software company, and it was supposed to last two months. He stayed eight.

“I already had years of programming under my belt,” William explains. “School was working for me, but not so much. I wasn’t learning anything new. So I kept working and making some good money instead.” It was a controversial move, leaving education behind in favor of experience, but one that defined his future. William believed that doing the work was more powerful than studying it.

Turning Challenges Into Tools at Assurance IT

Today, William is a key player at Assurance IT, where he’s helped evolve the company’s model from simply reselling cybersecurity software to delivering hands-on, co-managed services. "Customers would buy tools like SentinelOne but wouldn’t know how to apply them in their environment," he says. He saw a common gap: companies had the software, but no strategy or structure to ensure it was working. So William built a solution. He developed a custom Grafana dashboard that pulls real-time data from SentinelOne, Microsoft 365, and FortiGate into a single pane of glass. “We review everything daily. We’re not full MDR, but we’re proactive. We catch misconfigurations and alert clients before it becomes a problem,” he explains.

More than a dashboard, it’s a mindset shift. Instead of selling products, his team partners with clients, guiding them through complex security environments. It was this project, surprisingly, that reignited his love for coding. “Building something that actually helps customers, not just to say I built it, but to make a real impact, that brought the spark back.”

A Hustler’s Playbook for Getting Hired in Cyber

William doesn’t hide the fact that he didn’t take the traditional path. And he’s passionate about showing others that they don’t have to either. “If you didn’t go to school like me, then you have to prove yourself, do projects, build tools, get experience. That’s what shows employers you’re serious.” But his #1 tip for job seekers? Get out from behind the keyboard. “Go to events. Be present. Network. The successful interns I see are the ones who show up, not just send in applications on LinkedIn or Indeed. You need human connection in this field.”

He also champions the power of technical sales skills, being able to communicate fluently with both executives and engineers. “If you can explain complex tools in simple terms and show business value, you become indispensable,” he says. “That’s pushed my career forward tremendously.”

Looking Ahead: Startup Dreams and Security Leadership

William’s ambition doesn’t stop at innovation inside a company, he plans to build one of his own. "Yeah, I want to start a consulting or services company one day,” he says without hesitation. “I love my current team, but entrepreneurship is definitely in my future.”

His story, part hacker, part builder, part communicator, embodies the modern cybersecurity professional: one who starts early, learns fast, adapts constantly, and isn’t afraid to challenge the rules. For those just starting out, he offers one last thought:

“Don’t wait for permission. Build something. Show up. And always be learning.”

William Mailhot is a security analyst at AssuranceIT. You can reach him via Linkedin.