Melusi Shoko, CISSP - Cybersecurity Specialist

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

CISSP-certified Cybersecurity Specialist with 4+ years of hands-on SOC experience in threat detection, vulnerability management, and incident response. Ranked #1 on the LetsDefend Zimbabwe leaderboard (3,548 pts, 77% alert success rate) with 100+ real-world alerts investigated across malware, web attacks, ransomware, phishing, and privilege escalation scenarios. Proven ability to automate security workflows using Python, build threat intelligence pipelines, and communicate risk clearly to both technical teams and executive leadership.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

SOC Analyst (Cybersecurity Specialist)
FBC Holdings Limited | Harare, Zimbabwe | Oct 2021 - Present

Lead enterprise-wide VAPT activities across web portals, applications, and infrastructure using Nessus and OWASP ZAP; collaborate with infrastructure and application teams to prioritize remediation by CVSS severity and business impact, reducing exposure window by an estimated 40% per quarter.
Engineered a Python/Pandas automation pipeline to parse FortiSIEM and CSV incident logs, reducing manual vulnerability reporting time by ~12 hours per week and accelerating report delivery by 3 days per cycle.
Championed ISO 27001 compliance remediation, developing all documentation, evidence artifacts, and technical workflows to fulfill Control 5.7 (Threat Intelligence) - contributing directly to the organization's audit readiness.
Applied CTI principles to analyze emerging zero-day threats and security advisories; built custom ELK Stack correlation rules to detect threats missed by standard signatures, reducing false-negative rate on targeted financial sector campaigns.
Maintained 24/7 incident response accountability - contained high-impact credential-harvesting campaigns targeting the financial sector by implementing strategic M365 mail flow rules and endpoint containment actions, achieving containment within SLA on all critical incidents.
Engineered a proprietary Python-based phishing simulation tool used in corporate security awareness exercises, providing objective telemetry data on human-layer risk to senior management.
Investigated and closed 100+ real-world security alerts on LetsDefend (77% success rate, 4,132 SLA score) covering malware, ransomware, web attacks, privilege escalation, data leakage, and phishing - including CVE-2025-53770 (SharePoint RCE), Lumma Stealer DLL side-loading, and Palo Alto PAN-OS command injection (CVE-2024-3400).

Information Security Intern
FBC Holdings Limited | Harare, Zimbabwe | Aug 2019 - Jul 2020

Designed and deployed a secure Windows Remote Desktop (RD) Gateway, eliminating exposed endpoints and enabling secure remote access for 200+ users.
Developed Python scripts to automate security monitoring and log parsing, saving the core engineering team ~5 hours/week in manual effort.
Assisted in deployment, policy configuration, and testing of enterprise NAC and DLP solutions.

CORE COMPETENCIES & TECHNICAL SKILLS

SECURITY OPERATIONS

SOC Alert Triage Incident Lifecycle Management ELK Stack EDR Darktrace FortiSIEM SIEM Alert Tuning Wireshark Log Analysis with Sysmon

THREAT INTELLIGENCE & MALWARE ANALYSIS

CTI Frameworks OSINT (Shodan, VirusTotal) Malware Analysis Fundamentals NTFS Forensics YARA Rules Sandboxing Obfuscated JavaScript PowerShell Keylogger Analysis Steganography Kernel Exploits

VULNERABILITY & RISK MANAGEMENT

VAPT (Nessus, OWASP ZAP) CVSS Framework Risk-Based Remediation Attack Surface Reduction ISO 27001 (Control 5.7) Infrastructure Hardening

AUTOMATION & SCRIPTING

Python (Pandas) Log Parsing Phishing Simulation Ransomware Simulation PowerShell Bash Base64 Decoding Scripts VirusTotal IP Scanning

CLOUD & EMAIL SECURITY

Microsoft 365 Security Proofpoint AI Email Security Email Header Analysis Phishing Analysis & Detection Social Engineering Defense

PLATFORMS & TOOLS

LetsDefend (Rank #1 Zimbabwe) HackTheBox VirusTotal Shodan Gophish oletools Wireshark

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

CISSP

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Proofpoint AI Email Security

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Proofpoint Certified AI Data Security Specialist 2025

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LetsDefend Cyber Defense

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Mastering Cyber Threat Intelligence for SOC Analysts

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Fundamentals Of Darkweb Training

Advanced Threat Intelligence Certificate

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Certified Cybersecurity Educator Professional (CCEP)

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SECURITY BADGES & CREDENTIALS

Proofpoint AI Email

Specialist

Proofpoint Certified AI Email Security Specialist

2024 Credly

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Proofpoint AI Data

Specialist 2025

Proofpoint Certified AI Data Security Specialist 2025

2025 Credly

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CISSP

Expert

Certified Information Systems Security Professional

2024 Gold Tier

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CTI Master

Advanced

Mastering Cyber Threat Intelligence for SOC Analysts

2023 SOC Radar

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Dark Web

Specialist

Fundamentals of Dark Web Training

2023 OSINT

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Phishing Expert

Expert

Phishing Analysis & Detection Specialist

2023 LetsDefend

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Network Cable

Fundamentals

Network Fundamentals & Cable Analysis

2023 Networking

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HANDS-ON TRAINING & ACHIEVEMENTS

LetsDefend Platform

Ranked #1 in Zimbabwe with a 64-day streak. 77% alert success rate across 100+ investigated alerts spanning malware, web attacks, ransomware, phishing, brute force, privilege escalation, and data leakage.

Phishing Expert Web Attack Investigator Malware Analyzer Incident Handler SIEM 101 Wireshark Expert Windows Forensics Expert NTFS Forensics

View Full Transcript & Progress

HackTheBox

Active participant (SpartanCr0w) in hands-on offensive and defensive security challenges covering web exploitation, forensics, and cryptography.

Web Exploitation Forensics Cryptography

LetsDefend Leaderboard - Zimbabwe

1

shokom

3548 pts

2

btasara

3468 pts

3

mercedessibanda

2298 pts

Scripting & Analysis

Obfuscated JavaScript Bash Script PowerShell Keylogger Batch Downloader Chrome Extension Analysis

Malware & Forensics

Malware Analysis Fundamentals NTFS Forensics Malicious Document Analysis Kernel Exploit Steganography

Defense & Detection

Log Analysis With Sysmon Email Header Analysis Detecting Web Attacks IT Security Fundamentals Windows Operating System Fundamentals VoIP Security

Investigated Alert Types

Malware investigations lead the caseload by a wide margin, with meaningful depth across web attacks, proxy, and Exchange alerts.

Malware

34

Web Attack

15

Proxy

13

Exchange

11

Data Leakage

4

LOLBin

3

Unauthorized Access

2

Threat Intel

2

Brute Force

2

Privilege Escalation

1

SECURITY RESEARCH & WRITING

Cybersecurity Technical Author
Medium Publication | 2022-Present
26 published articles covering threat intelligence, OSINT, malware analysis, and SOC operations - approved in System Weakness and OSINT Team publications.

Story	Presentations	Views	Reads
Investigate Web attack. Letsdefend challenge #blueteam 3 min read · Apr 21, 2022 · View story	-	7.9K	4.8K
Email OSINT (open source intelligence for email) 4 min read · Jun 21, 2023 · View story	-	6.4K	2.4K
Checking Internet Speed with a Python Script 2 min read · Oct 24, 2023 · View story	-	6.5K	2.6K
Analyze malicious .doc file_Letsdefend challenge #blueteam #Malware_Analysis - · View story	-	4.4K	2.3K
Incident Report: Lumma Stealer Deployment via Click Fix Phishing (DLL Side-Loading) System Weakness · Jun 2025 · View on Medium	-	-	-
Simulating Ransomware in a Controlled Environment with Python Dec 2024 · View on Medium	-	-	-
OSINT with Python: Scan IPs with VirusTotal OSINT Team · Oct 2023 · View on Medium	-	-	1.6K

View all 26 articles on Medium

                # Article Research & Development Workflow

                def research_topic(topic):

                    gather_osint_sources()

                    analyze_attack_vectors()

                    create_lab_environment()

                    document_findings()

                    publish_technical_guide()

Education

Bachelor of Technology in Information Security and Assurance
Harare Institute of Technology | 2017-2021
Specialized in Threat Intelligence, Digital Forensics, and Defensive Security Operations
Best Graduating Student Award & Book Prize - Top Design & Innovation Project

GET IN TOUCH

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+263 782 354 610

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Professional Network

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shokom95

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LOCATION

Based In

Harare, Zimbabwe

UTC+2 (Central Africa Time)

Availability

Remote & On-site Opportunities

Full remote work capability

Languages

English, Shona

Fluent in technical communication

Harare, Zimbabwe

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MELUSI SHOKO

CISSP | Cybersecurity Specialist

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

CORE COMPETENCIES & TECHNICAL SKILLS

SECURITY OPERATIONS

THREAT INTELLIGENCE & MALWARE ANALYSIS

VULNERABILITY & RISK MANAGEMENT

AUTOMATION & SCRIPTING

CLOUD & EMAIL SECURITY

PLATFORMS & TOOLS

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

SECURITY BADGES & CREDENTIALS

Proofpoint AI Email

Proofpoint AI Data

CISSP

CTI Master

Dark Web

Phishing Expert

Network Cable

HANDS-ON TRAINING & ACHIEVEMENTS

LetsDefend Platform

HackTheBox

LetsDefend Leaderboard - Zimbabwe

Scripting & Analysis

Malware & Forensics

Defense & Detection

Investigated Alert Types

SECURITY RESEARCH & WRITING

Education

GET IN TOUCH

Email

Phone

Professional Network

PGP Encryption

Send a Message

LOCATION

Based In

Availability

Languages

Harare, Zimbabwe