Unlocking success: Insider tips from an Elastic Gold Contributor with Wagner Souza

Wagner Souza, an information security specialist focusing on vulnerability management, threat hunting, SIEM, ISO 27001 audit support, and LGPD compliance for six years, is an Elastic enthusiast and a Gold Contributor. He has presented multiple times at tech and security conferences and educational events. His hobbies include philosophy, literature, history, and religion. He also likes to work out and run to relieve stress and take care of his health. Check out his tips and learn from his experience as a community contributor.

I was introduced to the Elastic Contributor Program through one of the participants and a teammate at the company I worked for in 2021. I understood that it was a healthy competition aiming to share knowledge using the Elastic Stack. The program aligned with my concepts, and I have always liked studying new technologies and sharing discoveries with others. With that, I started writing articles for the program, where I was awarded a Silver Contributor in my first year. From the other cycles onwards, I made a lot of effort to contribute articles and videos and achieved the gold tier for two years in a row.

As an information security analyst, using Elastic as a SIEM provided faster threat investigation. This made my work more productive since it was quite laborious to access assets for log investigation. The set of Elastic Security resources, SIEM and EDR, enabled a greater context of monitoring, detection, and responses in SOC activities offered to our customers.

When I started my studies on Elastic Security, I had difficulty finding tutorials and updated articles about the stack's features in Portuguese. So, I wanted to maintain a repository on Telegram and a blog on Medium to share content related to Elastic Security both in my language and in others. I am one of the leading producers of content associated with Elastic Security in Brazil, and I am happy to help other people learn more about Elastic for security operations.

I would like to invite everyone to participate in the contribution program. If we share a little of our knowledge, this will become an extensive network of information that will add much value to the entire community.

Firstly, it would be the ability to share knowledge and participate in face-to-face and online events, strengthening my network. Elastic swag and giveaways are exciting as they encourage healthy competition and motivate each participant to bring more relevant content to our community. My advice is: don't underestimate your skills. A simple answer in the discussion forum or a straightforward article can significantly benefit someone needing that information. The spirit of contribution is a hallmark of the Elastic community.

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