Projects

I am listing some things preemptively—as I am functionally working three jobs.

Physically migrating and moving all my personal infrastructure, preparing for four certifications, pre-writing all my WGU papers, preparing six community education courses, and two independent programming courses… on top of my day jobs.

Personal

CPE Learning Modules
WIP

• Independently developed a C++ course structured around the C++ institute’s Certified Entry-Level Programmer certification.

PCAP Learning Modules
January, 2026

• Independently developed a Python course structured around the Python Institute’s Certified Associate Python Programmer (PCAP) certification.

Home Lab
August, 2025

• Deployed and configured OPNsense as the main router and firewall, setting up VLANs, appropriate subnets, DHCP, and firewall rules to segment and secure home lab traffic.
• Utilized Proxmox to host virtual machines for labs and services, resource allocation, and snapshot management—accomplished utilizing LXC containers (Podman) and KVM virtual machines.
• Created a SOC lab environment using Kali Linux for vulnerability assessment, a Windows target for exploitation, and a full Wazuh stack for real-time detection and prevention.
• Configured OPNsense firewalling with strict baselines—ensuring inter-VLAN traffic is strict and within scope.
• Utilized WireGuard to secure sensitive traffic from self-hosted services to VPS proxy—terminated with TLS 1.2/1.3 certificates.

VPS
August, 2025

• Deployed a strict firewall policy: default-deny incoming, a strict iptables ruleset only allowing essential ports (non-standard IP-bound SSH port), with Tor service bound to localhost and isolated from public interfaces.
• Obtained an A+ SSL Labs Score, perfect PageSpeed Insights scores, configured Let’s Encrypt TLS (TLS 1.2/1.3) with strong AEAD ciphers, implemented HSTS preload, instituted DNSSEC to prevent MITM attacks, and restrictive CAA policies to prevent rogue issuance.
• Secured Nginx with tight content security policies, method restrictions (GET/HEAD only), rate-limiting, appropriate header limits, and privacy-respecting security headers.
• Deployed kernel-level security via extensive sysctl settings, unused protocol and module blacklisting (modprobe blocklist), and AppArmor confinement for Nginx and Tor to limit post-exploit impact.
• Incorporated a strong chain of trust: a signed Tor mirror statement, mirrored public GPG keys, and SHA-512 checksum proofs—all implemented across DNS TXT records and a GitHub mirror.

Verification

 1### Web Hosting (Headers) ###
 2# ! Clearnet ! #
 3curl -vkI https://masontuckett.xyz
 4
 5# ! Tor ! #
 6curl -vI --socks5-hostname 127.0.0.1:9050 http://mtuckod2ooelmftsiaxps3uod2fqwri5fmlh3opftl3aslk2jun3sgqd.onion
 7
 8### DNS ###
 9# ! Main Domain ! #
10dig @9.9.9.9 masontuckett.xyz any +dnssec
11
12# ! Self-Hosted Services ! #
13dig @9.9.9.9 tuckettlab.xyz any +dnssec
14
15# ! Email ! #
16dig @9.9.9.9 tuckett.xyz any +dnssec
17
18### Documentation ###
19Write Up: https://github.com/masontuckett/home-lab

Volunteering

Active Mentorship (High School Student)
July, 2025

• Following my role as an instructor in the Ken Garff Esports Summer Tech Track—I continued to mentor an outstanding student who showed exceptional curiosity in the cybersecurity field.
• To further his learning, I designed and implemented a home lab tailored around a loosely inspired real-world enterprise environment—reproducing and mirroring my personal configurations.
• I offered continuous support—guiding my mentee through the process of studying/obtaining foundational IT certifications, and exploring his area of interest (penetration testing).
• A fully air-gapped SOC lab was created in Proxmox—allowing my mentee to gain exposure to critical industry toolsets (SIEM/IDS/IPS - majority Wazuh).
• 802.1Q VLANs were implemented ensuring a secure and realistic learning environment with appropriate WireGuard tunneling (TLS 1.2/1.3) for public services.
• DNSSEC, CAA hardening, Nginx hardening (CSP/rate-limiting, UA-gating), UFW firewalling, and MAC/sysctl tuning was utilized to ensure excellent availability and a reliable security posture.

A Brief Write Up May Be Found Here.

Verification

 1### Web Hosting (Headers) ###
 2# ! Clearnet ! #
 3curl -vkI https://smithbarlow.net
 4
 5# ! Tor ! #
 6curl -vI --socks5-hostname 127.0.0.1:9050 http://3xem3fnyur2igj2ldd7vqp7lmecxlwxm4kdcmsbcqrqv2i3gn7e4y4id.onion
 7
 8### DNS ###
 9dig @9.9.9.9 smithbarlow.net any +dnssec
10
11### Site Repo ###
12https://github.com/smithbarlow/smithbarlow.net

Active Mentorship (College Student)
October, 2025

• As a mutual friend of mine returned from his mission (LDS), he confided in me that he was unsure of what path he wanted to take with his career.
• Understanding what his goals, aims, and ambitions were—I recommended that he seek Weber State University’s Management Information Systems (MIS) program.
• I closely advised his transition from Economics to MIS, with the context of his propensity for working closely under tech startups; he is prime Carnegie Mellon material.
• I offered continuous support, discussing his prospects on many multiple-hour calls—building an academic road map for achieving his goals.
• I mirrored my configuration and setup of my high school mentee—constructing an enterprise-grade lab and an online portfolio template.
• I adamantly emphasized the significance of improving his technical skill set with a certification game plan before MIS enrollment.

Verification