Who are you, and what do you do?

My name is Favian Eric Raygoza and I am a Security Architect. I use my experience as a computer forensics examiner to build and architect secure technological systems for corporate entities. I spend a lot of my days split (pun intended) between the Linux terminal and reverse engineering malware to understand how to build better security systems. Then I spend the rest of my time translating and presenting all of that information to corporate executives.

What hardware do you use?

My setup has gotten immensely simple and clean as I’ve gained more experience in my career. Where I used to have a docking system connected to multiple monitors, that is no longer the case.

I have a custom desktop rig that I built with an ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 in it. I’m running Ubuntu Linux on the box with i3-gaps as my daily window manager. The 1060 works wonders when I have to run hashcat and brute forcing operations, every once in a blue moon. I have all of this hooked up to an LG 34UM61-P 34” Ultrawide Monitor, which works amazing with i3-gaps. I don’t use anything special for my mouse setup, just a simple Arc mouse.

For audio, I have an AudioQuest DragonFly Black USB DAC with my Audio-Technica ATH-M20x’s plugged in for powering me through my work day.

I sit all of this on a Coavas industrial wooden desk. And I spend my long days sitting in front of my setup on a MARKUS black swivel chair. It’s a simple and clean setup that works great for me.

And what software?

On my Linux setup, I do a lot of development work in VS Code. Python and Javascript are a massive part of my life. I work from the terminal a lot: ssh, nmap, openssl and hydra are daily toolsets for me. Sometimes I’m just doing security administration on servers (server hardening). Other times, I’m auditing information systems from a distance or testing security controls/protections. I also run Steam, as I love gaming.

When I need to do something more corporate, which is usually building architectural drawings, I remote into my Windows box for running Visio. Other times, I’m just running my own custom software that I built to execute simple tasks, such as sift through thousands of log entries for specific security events.

For securing accounts and my online presence, I run 1Password and Google Authenticator for my authentication needs. I also have Privacy Badger, HTTPS everywhere and uBlock Origin running, to augment traffic my DNS server’s security suite might not catch.

What’s your keyboard setup like? Do you use a custom layout or custom keycaps?

My setup is very simple. I just wanted something completely black, on black. I decided to keep white lettered keycaps on it. I have the Cherry MX Brown switches, which I love. I haven’t modified my layout, yet. I have adapted pretty well to the setup, out of the box, thus far. I almost never take my hands off the board anymore. It works perfectly with a Linux and i3 setup.

What would be your dream setup?

I would have to say custom keycaps. I want to custom design an entire keycap set for myself and then get them printed. It would help when switching language inputs, as well.