Fill the gaps.
Land the role.
A structured learning map for Aditya Kumar targeting offensive security and product security engineering roles at FAANG / top-tier companies. Based on gap analysis against current resume.
The #1 filter at FAANG security interviews. You need to write scripts, automate exploitation, and build tooling. Start with the basics, then immediately apply to security contexts — socket programming, file I/O, HTTP requests.
Build tools from scratch: a port scanner, a subdomain enumerator, a SQLi fuzzer, a password sprayer. This is what separates a tester from an engineer. FAANG interviews often ask you to write or explain a custom tool.
Writing PoC exploits is essential for red team roles. Learn to craft payloads, handle binary protocols, interact with services programmatically. Even basic buffer overflow PoC in Python demonstrates engineering depth.
Many modern security tools (nuclei, subfinder, httpx) are written in Go. Bash scripting is essential for automation in red team engagements. Being able to read and modify Go code is a big plus at tech companies.
FAANG runs on cloud. You must understand how attackers target cloud environments before you can defend or assess them. Learn the AWS attack surface from first principles — IAM is the crown jewel.
The most common cloud attack path in real engagements. Understanding how to escalate from a limited IAM role to admin is the single most-asked cloud security interview question at FAANG red teams.
All FAANG runs on Kubernetes. Container escape, RBAC misconfig, exposed dashboards, service account token theft — these are bread-and-butter findings in cloud pentests at top companies.
The AWS Security Specialty cert validates cloud security knowledge and is explicitly recognised by hiring managers at AWS security teams and adjacent FAANG roles. Take this after CloudGoat practice.
FAANG recruiters Google you before your interview. A verified HackerOne or Bugcrowd profile with even P3/P4 accepted reports is more convincing than any certification. Start with private programs and work up to public.
One CVE carries enormous weight in FAANG hiring. Find a vulnerability in an open-source project (GitHub, npm packages, Python libraries), responsibly disclose, and follow the CVE assignment process via MITRE or a CNA.
A public GitHub with custom tools and CTF writeups, combined with a blog documenting your methodology, is the single most-effective résumé upgrade. Recruiters at Google, Meta, and Apple actively look for this.
You have Android locked down — now add iOS. Apple's own security team and other FAANG companies test iOS extensively. The toolchain is different but your Frida & Objection knowledge transfers significantly.
Going deeper than dynamic analysis — understanding Objective-C runtime, Swift reversing, and binary analysis of iOS apps differentiates you from the hundreds of basic mobile testers in the job market.
FAANG Product Security Engineers review PRs, audit code, and triage internally-reported bugs. You need to read Python, JavaScript, and Java and identify vulnerability patterns without running the code. This is white-box security.
FAANG security teams use Semgrep and CodeQL to automate code review at scale. Knowing how to write custom rules puts you in a tiny minority of candidates. This is the "toolsmith" skill that engineering-focused security roles prize.
Product Security Engineers at FAANG join design reviews and produce threat models. STRIDE methodology, data flow diagrams, and trust boundary analysis are standard. This shifts your profile from "tester" to "security advisor".
CRTA is a good foundation. Now go deeper — BloodHound enumeration, Kerberoasting, Pass-the-Ticket, DCSync, LAPS bypass, and constrained delegation abuse. These are standard red team interview scenarios at FAANG.
Zero-Point Security's CRTO is the most respected red team operations cert after CRTO. It covers Cobalt Strike, C2 infrastructure, evasion, and full adversary simulation — directly relevant to FAANG red team roles.
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