What's the motivation behind Greenbridge?
There is a massive shortage of human resources in the Information Security field. While this is so, employers are still reluctant to hire people without experience. The result is that there is a large number of talented cybersecurity enthusiasts with strong skills and potential who have nevertheless been unable to penetrate into the Cybersecurity market. Greenbridge is our attempt to change this state of affairs and help create a more accessible Industry by shifting candidates towards a more desirable curriculum and employers towards a different mentality about remote junior hires.
Who qualifies as a junior?
Anyone who wants to work in information security and has no professional experience. It is not essential to be a young person to qualify as a junior. Some of the best juniors are people who have worked different jobs for decades and got interested in cybersecurity late(r) in life.
How does the process work?
We offer three types of mentorship via the MentorCruise platform. The free version works very well for most people looking for some advice and guidance, while the pro version is better suited for companies who are looking for consultancy about their products or services. We also offer a mentee-in-residence program in our physical space in central Greece!
Once accepted into our mentorship program, each student is in full control of their progress and personal development. Stelios and a few more veterans are happy to provide support via our discord channel, but the students are the ones doing all the work and propelling themselves forward.
How long does it take on average to complete the curriculum?
It varies enormously depending on the student's current skills and how much time they are willing to invest. Having said that, most juniors need between three and six months to go through the material.
It is our humble opinion that students should create a slow work plan spanning several months, and avoid the temptation of rushing into the project like a tornado. We have noticed that when people are impatient and push too hard, they are more likely to learn superficially, make mistakes, dislike the whole process and burn out early.
It is important to note that the curriculum has been created for students to use, but it is not necessary to follow everything in the recommended order or complete every single item. Greenbridge mentees are welcome, in true hacker spirit, to adjust the material to fit their personal circumstances and make things work for them.
What on earth do creative arts & aspiring hackers have in common?
We have noticed that many of the most talented hackers do not come from typical Computer Science & engineering backgrounds. A foundation in Computer Science and a familiarity with basic security concepts are essential but besides that, it takes a creative, analytical mind willing to explore unchartered territory.
This realisation gave birth to the idea of the Greenbridge Space. Our vision is to use this space as an incubator where people interested in information security and people with creative arts backgrounds can meet. We see tremendous potential in introducing these two communities. We've done something similar, at a much smaller scale, in the past.
How does Cybersecurity connect to Animal Welfare?
We are geeks who love animals. Information Security has come a long way from a small, obscure network of specialists to a massive, influential Industry that has only recently started addressing its shortcomings regarding social responsibility. We aim to be the missing link between animal welfare and information security.
Why Animal Welfare?
We feel that the way we treat nonhuman animals is one of the most significant pitfalls of our era. There are plenty of resources on the web about animal welfare, should the reader want to further read up on this matter, but we’d like to note that the animal welfare we are more interested in supporting is about farmed animals. An excellent starting point, not just on Animal Welfare, but on many urgent, important issues of our times is Effective Altruism.
Our stated commitment is to financially support Effective Altruism's Animal welfare Fund: in 2021 & 2022, we donated €11,5000 to them. But we are very open to contributing to Animal Welfare in other ways, such as research projects and innovative ideas which somehow use information security techniques to help alleviate animal suffering. Hit us up with your ideas!
Is the Greenbridge team vegan or vegetarian?
Most of us prefer to skip meat whenever possible, but will eat meat when in the company of meat eaters. This is known as flexitarianism.
It's difficult to keep the balance in these matters. Greece is a country where meat eating is deeply engrained into the social fabric, particularly in the countryside. By assuming a hardline stance and refusing to eat meat at all, or even dairy, you risk being dismissed as a weirdo with fringe views. To paraphrase Peter Singer, we feel that the main point is not personal purity, but reducing animal abuse to the extent possible while adjusting to the environment and one's weaknesses.
In a more general sense, one can support a cause either by funding it, propagating it or living it. Of these three, the last one has the smallest effect when it comes to absolute numbers of reducing animal suffering. Smaller perhaps, but not negligible. At the end of the day, we are flawed humans making an effort, no question about this.
Why does your website look amateurish?
Greenbridge is DIY. We rolled the website ourselves from scratch in pure HTML/CSS. It doesn't look like the majority of websites out there but we feel that it contains all the information necessary, it's lightning fast, and in *BSD spirit, it runs in every conceivable device in the history of the universe.
In a more general sense, we try to keep a grassroots approach to everything related to Greenbridge and do everything ourselves on a next-to-zero budget. This means that web design, graphics, templates, legal, web development, communication, networking, SEO, assessment methodologies, research, writeups, accounting, promotion, recommended curricula, procedures and everything in between are all done by a handful of people in a DIY and rather primitive manner. We believe in doing things slowly and organically in order to have solid foundations at the beginning of most projects, including this one.
Great stuff. How do I get in touch?
Start with our website. You can also find us @ hackerspaces, bewelcome, couchsurfing, mentorcruise, facebook, LinkedIn or by e-mail.