Rise of an Ethical Hacker

Editorial Approach

For this piece, I focused on the "adversarial mindset" as a professional asset. My approach was to frame his lifelong habit of deconstructing systems—from mechanical toys to digital security—as the foundation for a career in offensive security. By connecting his innate curiosity to enterprise-level defense, I demonstrated how specialized talent can be identified and cultivated into a high-impact technical role that protects institutional infrastructure.

In childhood, Dalton Goulding was a self-taught reverse engineer. Whether he was deconstructing mechanical toys to understand their internal logic or bypassing the analog "security" of his sister’s diary lock, his mind was wired for vulnerability research. He didn’t realize it at the time, but he was developing the exact diagnostic framework needed for a career in offensive security. Today, he applies that same curiosity to protecting enterprise infrastructure as a professional, identifying systemic cracks to build a more resilient defense against cyber attacks.

“I have always felt this need to tinker with things,” he recalls. “I loved to break things and put them back together. Hacking was at the forefront of my mind as soon as I knew what computers were.”

After initially attending CCBC in 2014, Dalton returned to pursue thecybersecurity program. Motivated by high-profile security breaches, such as the pipeline hack, he recognized the importance of this field. He was drawn to CCBC’s unique combination of networking and cybersecurity and its fully online format.

“Studying online was very satisfying and exceeded my expectations,” said Goulding. “Everything was so organized. I was able to work, go to school and study on my own schedule. I loved having that freedom.”

He also found support from financial aid advisors who made securing funding a breeze. He utilized the Pell Grant and, during his last two semesters, the Lockheed Martin vocational scholarship, which helped cover his expenses and allowed him to focus on his studies.

“Even though I don’t think I presented as someone who needed a ton of help, everyone at CCBC was constantly throwing opportunities at me,” he said, highlighting mentorship, clubs and extracurricular opportunities.

A pivotal moment came when an instructor invited him to participate in a cybersecurity competition.

“I had my ‘gym bag moment’,” said Goulding. “Being in these cyber competitions lit a fire under me and gave me experience working as part of a team.”

Teamwork experience has helped Goulding excel in his work at Advanced Business Systems, a job that he learned about through CCBC and began before graduating. “The systems I was using at work were comparable to what I was being taught in class,” said Goulding. “It was like CCBC was inadvertently providing me with on-the-job-training.”

Now working full-time, he looks forward to growing his cybersecurity career and seeing others join him.

“It’s a growing field,” he says. “We need people to fill these cybersecurity positions to keep our country safe.”