About Me 👋

Hello there! I'm Brian, a Backend Engineer on the 🔒 Security Insights team at GitLab. I work on Vulnerability Management, and Dependency Management (in particular, lots of things involving SBoMs). I'm also passionate about contributing to authentication, authorization, and cryptography aspects of GitLab. My background includes 5 years as an Application Security Engineer, which gave me a strong foundation in application security, and I enjoy working on applied cryptography.

Some fun cryptography projects I've worked on:

• tlstools - Basically openssl s_client, but better
• ssh_sig - Pure ruby implementation of SSH signature verification

Availability

I'm based in Austin, Texas, USA 🇺🇸 (UTC -5 or -6, depending on the season) and I'm typically online around 12:00 UTC to 21:00 UTC Monday through Friday, but my schedule changes frequently.

Code reviews

I prioritize my most important tasks first thing in the day, which often varies based on team and project needs. Code reviews come only after my most imporant tasks have been completed. If you are waiting on a review from me and need it expedited, please ping me directly on the MR or in Slack.

Communication

I am profoundly deaf and have historically relied on speech recognition software to communicate. As of February 2025, I've undergone a cochlear implant procedure and can now understand speech without accommodations. That said, captions are still highly preferred and will help ensure clear communication.

I value thoughtful written communication:

• I prefer communicating through issues and merge requests where possible.
• I genuinely appreciate well-constructed written messages over a "quick chat" request. Please don't hesitate to write a 1-3 page comment if needed - I'll read it carefully and appreciate your thoroughness!
• If you're hosting a Zoom meeting with me, please enable captions and live transcription.