---
title: "About"
---

# Ian Andwati

## Some things about me:

- I'm a software engineer by day. Cyber Security is my hobby and my side work.
- I have a degree in computer science, and most of what I do for fun still centres on it.
- I'm the captain of the [**binarysith**](https://ctftime.org/team/379200) CTF team. I play CTFs on the weekends under the alias **mockingspectre**.
- I like infrastructure-level software: the code that other code runs on.
- I write essays on software development, from personal experience to opinion pieces (with varying degrees of "success"). The blog has been going since 2021 and has moved around a lot: different domains, Medium, dev.to, Hashnode. This site is where I keep the originals.

## Some things I'm interested in:

- The intersection of software engineering and cyber security.
- Low-level programming, because it's where performance and security meet.
- Distributed systems and performance at scale.
- Compiler design.
- Database internals.
- Reading, fiction and non-fiction alike, especially the classics.
- Art, history and science.

Check out my [reading](/reading), [writing](/writing) and [portfolio](/portfolio).

### PGP

For anything sensitive, you can reach me encrypted.

- Fingerprint: `AD58 AAB7 A20D 8523 CBF5  9A79 1F20 FED0 AA05 B0DA`
- Public key: [/.well-known/pgp-key.txt](/.well-known/pgp-key.txt)
- Also on: [keys.openpgp.org](https://keys.openpgp.org/search?q=AD58AAB7A20D8523CBF59A791F20FED0AA05B0DA) and [keyserver.ubuntu.com](https://keyserver.ubuntu.com/pks/lookup?op=vindex&search=0xAD58AAB7A20D8523CBF59A791F20FED0AA05B0DA)