Donavan Cheah

Hi! I’m Donavan, a senior cybersecurity consultant and ethical hacker. After graduating from the National University of Singapore with a Physics degree, I transitioned into cybersecurity, focusing on risk consulting, penetration testing, and education. I advise businesses on cybersecurity solutions that ensure compliance, confidence, and cost-effectiveness.

I contribute to the open-source community, speak at conferences, and mentor aspiring cybersecurity professionals. Examples of my contributions include technical advisory for ISC2, publications on eclectic cybersecurity topics with ISACA (https://www.isaca.org/resources/news-and-trends/isaca-now-blog/2024/an-introduction-to-post-quantum-cryptographic-risks), conducting security workshops for Div 0 (https://www.meetup.com/div0_sg/events/303461387/) and advising security conferences (https://vulncon.in/advisory-board).

As a prospective mentee, you may ask how I broke into the field from a Physics background. I spent two full years of my fledgling career studying after work each night to understand IT, applications and network to be able to understand cybersecurity. I hope to pay it forward, by making sure you can make the transition faster, with the benefit of my hindsight.

Having successfully pivoted from Physics to cybersecurity, I help others navigate similar transitions. Learn more on my LinkedIn or visit my homepage at https://donavan.sg.

One of the more unique offerings I have for mentees is to track their learning through one-to-one discussions with mentees on their learning journey. Have a look at https://donavan.sg/materials/sample-discussion-questions.pdf for a sample of the pedagogical approaches I take to guiding mentees on their journey.