MARK
BLAZE
.DEV

A natural guardian — driven to learn, build, and protect.

This journey represents my path toward building a future cybersecurity practice dedicated to protecting systems, data, and people.

A mission to master defense, automation, and ethical hacking through focused study and hands-on projects.

PHASE 1
PHASE 2
PHASE 3
PHASE 4

ABOUT
ME

I’m Mark, from Ottawa, and I’ve never stopped exploring.
As a kid, electronics fascinated me, especially electric cars and robots.
Today, I use computers, networks, code, and logistics experience to build Orléans Direct.

Portrait of Mark Blaze

PROJECTS

BlueCore:
Computing & System Foundations

PHASE 1

BlueWatch:
SOC Monitoring & Automation

PHASE 2

BlueShield:
Incident Response & Defensive Operations

PHASE 3

RedStrike:
Ethical Hacking & Offense-Informed Defense

PHASE 4

ROADMAP

  • Locked Mission

    Arithmetic | Khan Academy

    Mastering arithmetic will strengthen my precision, logic, and attention to detail. These skills form the mental foundation needed for scripting, troubleshooting, and understanding technical relationships. This is the first brick in a long technical foundation.

  • Locked Mission

    Pre-Algebra | Khan Academy

    Pre-algebra will help me develop structured problem-solving skills. This prepares me for more advanced mathematical thinking used in networking and automation. Building this layer now makes future technical topics easier to absorb.

  • Locked Mission

    Algebra Basics | Khan Academy

    Algebra basics will sharpen my analytical thinking and pattern recognition. These abilities are essential in cybersecurity for identifying cause-and-effect relationships in systems and logs. Strengthening this skill prepares me for deeper technical work.

  • Locked Mission

    Basic Geometry | Khan Academy

    Geometry will improve my spatial reasoning and ability to visualize complex systems. This directly supports understanding network diagrams, architecture, and infrastructure layouts. Learning geometry now strengthens concept mapping later.

  • Locked Mission

    Windows OS | Microsoft

    Studying Windows will prepare me to understand how enterprise endpoints operate at a fundamental level. This will help me recognize misconfigurations, common attack points, and log patterns. Windows knowledge is essential for almost every blue-team role.

  • Locked Mission

    Linux LPIC-0 | Linux Professional Institute

    LPIC-0 will give me the foundation I need for Linux, which powers most servers and security tools. Learning the terminal and file system structure early will accelerate all future phases. This milestone sets the stage for becoming a strong operator.

  • Locked Mission

    Fundamentals | Python Programming

    Python will become my main tool for automation, analysis, and building custom security scripts. Starting early will allow me to scale my skills naturally across all future phases. Learning Python now makes every technical challenge easier later.

  • Locked Mission

    VS Code | Microsoft

    Setting up VS Code will give me a professional environment for coding, note-taking, and workflow organization. This will increase my productivity and efficiency as my projects get larger. A clean development environment builds good long-term habits.

  • Locked Mission

    PROJECT #1
    BlueCore:
    Computing & System Foundations

    BlueCore is my foundational project, built to demonstrate how I understand and work with operating systems, file structures, processes, and early scripting. It focuses on Windows fundamentals, Linux essentials, Python basics, and the development workflow I’ll use for the entire roadmap. This project represents the disciplined foundation required for everything that comes after.

  • Locked Mission

    Algebra 1 | Khan Academy

    Algebra 1 will help me develop structured reasoning and logical precision. These skills support scripting, detection logic, and network problem-solving. Strengthening this now will improve my performance in every future security discipline.

  • Locked Mission

    Intermediate | Python Programming

    Intermediate Python will prepare me for automation, log parsing, and tool development. It will help me understand how attackers and defenders both use scripting. This milestone builds the foundation for real-world security engineering.

  • Locked Mission

    LPIC-1 | Linux Professional Institute

    LPIC-1 will give me the skills to manage Linux systems confidently. This will prepare me for server administration, hardening, and troubleshooting. Strong Linux skills are essential for SOC work, red teaming, and secure infrastructure.

  • Locked Mission

    CCNA | Cisco

    CCNA will give me real networking competence—routing, switching, segmentation, and protocols. Networking knowledge is a critical pillar of cybersecurity. Understanding how data moves will make me a better defender and later a better attacker.

  • Locked Mission

    SOC-1 | TryHackMe

    SOC-1 will introduce me to real alert triage, log investigation, and defensive workflows. It’s a guided entry into the defender role. This milestone prepares me for higher-level SOC tasks later.

  • Locked Mission

    CDSA | HackTheBox

    CDSA will push me into deeper, hands-on defensive analysis. It will help me learn to investigate threats with less guidance and more independence. This prepares me for the complexity of Phase 3 blue-team work.

  • Locked Mission

    Statistics | Khan Academy

    I completed Statistics to strengthen my ability to identify anomalies, trends, and patterns in security data. Statistics supports threat hunting, detection engineering, and SOC automation. This final math milestone prepared me for the data-heavy work of Phase 3.

  • Locked Mission

    PROJECT #2
    BlueWatch:
    SOC Monitoring & Automation

    BlueWatch develops my early defender skillset through SOC workflows, log interpretation, packet inspection, and beginner automation using Python. Built on LPIC-1, CCNA, TryHackMe SOC-1, and statistical reasoning, it teaches me how to “watch” systems, identify anomalies, and build basic detection logic. This project marks my transition from foundational learning into applied security operations.

  • Locked Mission

    Blue Team BTL1 | Security Blue Team

    BTL1 will build my fundamentals in detection logic, log analysis, and attacker behavior. It’s designed to strengthen my defensive mindset. This milestone prepares me for more advanced SOC operations.

  • Locked Mission

    SOC-2 | TryHackMe

    SOC-2 will expose me to more realistic attacks and deeper investigations. It will improve my pattern recognition and analytical confidence. This builds the experience needed to operate effectively in a real SOC.

  • Locked Mission

    SC-200 | Microsoft

    SC-200 will teach me how to operate cloud-native SIEM systems like Microsoft Sentinel. It will help me understand enterprise-scale visibility and automated detection. This milestone strengthens my skills for modern blue-team environments.

  • Locked Mission

    LPIC-2 | Linux Professional Institute

    LPIC-2 will give me advanced Linux administration and troubleshooting capabilities. This is crucial for system hardening, defensive architecture, and incident response. It lays the groundwork for senior-level security roles.

  • Locked Mission

    OSDA SOC-200 | OffSec

    OSDA will train me in real-world defensive investigations using OffSec’s rigorous methodology. It will help me understand attacker behavior, validate alerts, and perform deep analysis with precision. This milestone strengthens my defensive instincts and prepares me for advanced security engineering.

  • Locked Mission

    MySQL DBA | Oracle

    MySQL DBA will help me store, organize, and query security data at scale. After learning how real attacks and detections work, understanding databases will allow me to support automation, correlation, and IOC management. This skill gives me the backend power needed to build effective defensive tools.

  • Locked Mission

    Blue Team BTL2 | Security Blue Team

    BTL2 will refine my advanced blue-team skills—threat hunting, correlation, and complex analysis. It’s the step that turns a defender into a specialist. This prepares me for Phase 4 offensive and architecture work.

  • Locked Mission

    PROJECT #3
    BlueShield:
    Hardening & Defensive Engineering

    BlueShield focuses on strengthening systems through hardening, auditing, secure configuration, and reduction of attack surface. Using skills from LPIC-2, SC-200, OSDA, MySQL, and SOC-2, I build defense mechanisms that protect systems before attacks happen. This project represents my evolution into a capable defensive engineer who can secure infrastructure at a deeper level.

  • Locked Mission

    LPIC-3 | Linux Professional Institute

    LPIC-3 will give me mastery-level Linux security skills: SELinux, auditing, PKI, and secure services. It prepares me to design and secure enterprise architecture. This is the foundation for becoming a security architect.

  • Locked Mission

    Advanced & Automation | Python Programming

    Advanced Python will allow me to build red-team tools, automate reconnaissance, and simulate attacks. Understanding offensive automation will make me a stronger defender. This skill connects offense, defense, and architecture.

  • Locked Mission

    CCNP Security | Cisco

    CCNP Security will teach me how to design and defend large-scale network architectures. It will help me understand segmentation, VPNs, firewalls, and secure routing. This milestone strengthens my ability to build resilient infrastructures.

  • Locked Mission

    CPTS | HackTheBox

    CPTS will give me hands-on experience in exploitation, privilege escalation, AD attacks, and reporting. It’s the perfect stepping stone before OSCP+. This milestone builds my confidence as an ethical hacker.

  • Locked Mission

    OSCP+ PEN-200 | OffSec

    OSCP+ will train me to think like an adversary—creative, methodical, and persistent. It will sharpen my ability to break into systems and understand vulnerabilities deeply. This certification completes the offensive component of my roadmap.

  • Locked Mission

    PROJECT #4
    RedStrike:
    Ethical Hacking & Offense-Informed Defense

    RedStrike is my offensive capstone, combining exploitation, privilege escalation, enumeration, and reporting with secure architecture principles. It applies methodologies from HTB CPTS, OSCP+, LPIC-3 Security, and CCNP Security. This project demonstrates full-spectrum capability: I can design secure systems, attack them ethically, and understand the entire lifecycle of defense and offense.

Mark Blaze banner artwork

CONTACT