Robert Ressl_

Ethical Hacker | Offensive Security Leader | DORA Contributor

About Me

I built a global offensive security practice from zero. What started as a one-person operation is now a team across 11 countries, running 100+ penetration tests, red team engagements, and security audits for Fortune 500 clients in banking, insurance, automotive, and critical infrastructure.

Before security leadership, I spent 15+ years as a Linux architect and DevOps engineer, designing and automating large-scale infrastructure for organizations like Swisscom, the United Nations (CTBTO), and UBS. This hands-on background is what makes my offensive security work different: I break what I used to build.

I contributed to the EU DORA regulation draft as part of the AmChamEU Working Group in Brussels, and I conduct FINMA-regulated penetration tests and TLPT (Threat-Led Penetration Testing) engagements for Swiss financial institutions.

Key Achievements

Network & Peering

I operate my own Autonomous System and maintain an open peering policy.

[PeeringDB]

Career Timeline

2023-now Associate Director, Offensive Security Global @ Kyndryl
Global practice leadership. 100+ engagements. DORA, FINMA, TLPT. C-Level reporting.
2022-2023 Senior Red Team Lead Engineer, Global @ Kyndryl
APT simulation for Fortune 500. Custom tooling (40% efficiency gain).
2021-2022 Associate Partner Security @ Kyndryl
Security consulting practice and GTM strategy after IBM spin-off.
2019-2021 Security Consultant & Cloud Architect @ IBM
Cloud transformations (AWS, GCP, OpenShift, K8s). Built consulting security division.
2018-2019 DevOps Engineer Expert @ Avectris AG
Founded Linux department. Backend automation in Go (80% workload reduction). Scrum Master.
2016-2017 DevOps Engineer @ Swisscom AG
Automation for Swisscom TV (300+ channels). Voice control system. 35+ staff trained.
2013-2014 Linux DevOps Engineer @ CTBTO (United Nations)
Migrated 600 nodes from CFEngine to Puppet. Near 100% config automation.
2014-2016 Linux Architect @ EveryWare AG
Enterprise infrastructure for Allianz, JobCloud, UBS AG.
2009-2012 Lead Solution Architect @ Schrack Seconet AG
Rebuilt global IT (HQ + 16 branches). 100% security audit pass. ERP RPO from 1 day to 15 min.
2004-2008 Linux Engineer @ Freelance
HA systems in Interxion datacenters. 99.99% uptime.

Open Source Projects

MCP Security Toolkit

Security tools for AI agent infrastructure (Model Context Protocol).

Source: [GitHub: mcp-firewall] | [GitHub: mcpwn]

iOS Apps

Educational apps for kids, published on the Apple App Store.

Education

MAS Information Security | HSLU Lucerne (2016-2022)

Grade: 5.5/6.0 | Thesis: "7-Day SLA - Cyber Security Recovery"

Includes: CAS Information Security Technology, CAS Business Process Engineering, CAS Information Security Management

Certifications (42)

Security & Offensive (9)

CompTIA (8)

Red Hat (13)

Linux Foundation & LPI (4)

Cloud & IT Service Management (3)

Chef / DevOps (5)

Publications

Memberships

Contact