{"id":189176,"date":"2026-02-20T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/in-cybersecurity-and-penetration-testing-no-two-days-are-the-same\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T11:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T16:25:13","slug":"in-cybersecurity-and-penetration-testing-no-two-days-are-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/in-cybersecurity-and-penetration-testing-no-two-days-are-the-same\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018In cybersecurity and penetration testing, no two days are the same\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018In cybersecurity and penetration testing, no two days are the same\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.siliconrepublic.com\/people\/cybersecurity-penetration-testing-skills-career-development-tcs<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-02-20 07:32:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.siliconrepublic.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points.
\n TCS\u2019s Gavin McPaul discusses how he got his start in cyber and the benefits of working out of picturesque Donegal.
\n\u201cFrom an early age, I\u2019ve always been fascinated by technology: phones, laptops, any new gadgets really,\u201d says Gavin McPaul, the head of enterprise vulnerability management at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
\nHis family soon noticed his skill in the area of IT and at home he became the go-to person for all things tech related. \u201cAnd I still am, unfortunately,\u201d he jokes. \u201cTowards the end of secondary school, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in IT.\u201d
\nBut like many young people at that stage of their lives, he was unsure of the educational direction he wanted to take, especially as his research showed him just how vast the IT sector was, indicated by the sheer volume of courses available at his chosen college, ATU Letterkenny.\u00a0
\nHe explains: \u201cOne course immediately jumped out at me because of its title, Computing with Computer Security and Digital Forensics. It sounded incredibly interesting, and I\u2019m certainly glad I made that choice. It was towards the end of my degree that I realised I wanted to specialise in penetration testing.\u201d
\nHow have you progressed in your career as quickly as you have?
\nI believe my quick progression comes down to curiosity. I\u2019ve always been driven to learn new things, take on more responsibility, question the status quo to find better ways of working, and I\u2019m always interested in helping other people.
\nWhen I first started at TCS, we had a large team, but much of the work was individual projects. I made an effort to speak to everyone, understanding how they approached their tasks. I quickly realised everyone had their own methods. This led me to create a central collaboration space where ideas could be shared, benefiting the entire team and new joiners alike.
\nMy curiosity and fresh perspective straight out of college meant that within my first five months, I identified an opportunity for improvement with one of our applications. This was a significant career boost, demonstrating my ability and knowledge. It got me noticed by senior leadership and opened doors to new projects.
\nWhat aspects of the TCS culture do you believe make it an attractive place to begin a career?
\nWhat I truly appreciate about TCS is the incredible team environment. An office space with genuine collaboration and where you can learn from team members is invaluable, especially early in your career. Nobody at TCS wants to see you fail. There\u2019s a robust support system ready to guide you in the right direction.
\nAs a large consultancy, our core goal at TCS is to support clients through their technology transformation journeys. Working with numerous clients across diverse sectors means there are always opportunities to explore and specialise in areas of interest. Our clients are often undergoing significant transformations, actively seeking fresh ideas and innovative solutions, and they truly value the insights and solutions we bring.
\nWhat does a typical day look like for you?
\nThe most exciting aspect of cybersecurity and penetration testing is that no two days are the same; you truly never know what challenges might arise. I\u2019m fortunate to work with one of our financial services clients in the US, collaborating with an excellent team spread across the US, Ireland and India. As a lead within their offensive security team, I\u2019m currently helping them transform their entire penetration testing programme.
\nAs the technical lead for our teams in Ireland and India, I provide advice, guidance and support on all aspects of penetration testing. Our core goal for the client is to secure their applications and data from external threats.
\nBeyond that, my work is diverse and includes meeting potential new clients, building out new capabilities, developing internal training programmes, interviewing and onboarding new resources, and helping manage our team of 10 people, which we\u2019re looking to expand by another six.
\nWhat do you enjoy most about living and working in the north-west?
\nI love the beauty and quiet of living in Donegal. We\u2019re fortunate to have several large organisations here, which is fantastic for our county. These provide great opportunities for people living in the area, especially with a local university like ATU Letterkenny feeding directly into places like TCS.
\nI feel incredibly fortunate to have found a cybersecurity career in Donegal, working here since college and still being given opportunities to further my career with TCS, even after six years.
\nWhat advice would you give someone looking to start a career in cybersecurity or penetration testing?
\nWe all leave college with the same degree after four years, but what truly sets you apart from everyone else? Most students haven\u2019t considered this question, so they often don\u2019t have an immediate answer. When I interview graduates, I\u2019m really looking for passion and genuine interest in cybersecurity. Often, this shines through in what they\u2019ve done outside of their degree. Here are a few things I always recommend to students.
\nSign up for any IT or cybersecurity societies at your college. If there isn\u2019t one, take the initiative to start it. Attend conferences like BSides, IRISSCON, or OWASP local chapters. Get involved in \u2018capture the flag\u2019 competitions, like Zero Days CTF or the many free online options. These are fantastic for hands-on experience and for networking with other students and industry professionals. You can even prepare for them through your college society.
\nCreate a LinkedIn account. It\u2019s an excellent way to connect with like-minded people, and recruiters are always on the lookout there. During summer, reach out to companies about internship programmes. They offer invaluable insight and hands-on industry experience.
\nIf you can, pursue certifications. In Ireland, anyone can access industry-recognised certs like CompTIA Security+ or Pentest+ for free, funded by the Irish government. Research areas you\u2019re interested in, read blogs, follow specialists, or even start a personal project.
\nIf application penetration testing interests you, get to know OWASP \u2013 it will become your best friend in this field.
\nTCS are currently recruiting for application penetration testing roles. Click here to apply.
\nDon\u2019t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic\u2019s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.<\/p>\n

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\u2018In cybersecurity and penetration testing, no two days are the same\u2019 https:\/\/www.siliconrepublic.com\/people\/cybersecurity-penetration-testing-skills-career-development-tcs Publish Date: 2026-02-20…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":189177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.siliconrepublic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Gavin-McPaul.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[33,24,27],"class_list":["post-189176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cybersecurity","tag-computer-security","tag-cybersecurity","tag-vulnerability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189178,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189176\/revisions\/189178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}