Mark A. Basco

I'm a Filipino Cybersecurity Professional with years of experience in Identity & Access Management, Windows Server, & Active Directory. I'm also interested in photography, web design, traveling & food trips.

Hello there, I'm Mark!

Welcome to my personal website! I'm a cybersecurity professional with a strong foundation in Information Security, Identity and Access Management (IAM), and Privileged Access Management (PAM). I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology specializing in Systems Engineering, and I’m currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Cybersecurity. Over the years, I've worked across various industries, including IT services, manufacturing, oil & energy, and financial services, where I've designed, implemented, and managed a range of IT security solutions.

With extensive experience, I have led and supported initiatives in IAM, security frameworks, and multi-platform administration. My passion for technology drives me to stay at the forefront of the industry, continuously expanding my skill set to meet emerging security challenges. I hold several certifications and am actively working towards further professional development in cybersecurity.

In my most recent role, I contributed to achieving maturity level 3 in our PAM program. My responsibilities included providing advisory support on user access within cybersecurity, developing and maintaining security strategies and policies related to IAM, and leading efforts to define and implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) across the organization.

I created this website/visual resume to share my thoughts and showcase my expertise. Keep scrolling to learn more about me!

What I can do

Technical Skills

I posses a wide range of skills I have acquired and developed over the years during my college years and through my professional career. Some were acquired through self-studies. Below are some of the skills and tools I used. This is not a complete list and in no particular order:

  • IAM & Security

    • Identity Lifecycle
    • Access Control
    • RBAC
    • Privileged Access
    • AD Domain Services
    • Azure AD
    • SailPoint IIQ
    • CyberArk
    • ISO 27001/2
    • NIST Cybersecurity
    • CIS Control
    • Data Privacy Act of 2012
    • MITRE ATT&CK
    • Kali Linux
    • Qualys/Nessus
    • SIEM/Splunk/Elastic
    • SecurityOnion/AlienVault
    • WireShark/NMAP
    • Burp Suite
    • Maltego
  • OS/Platforms

    • Windows Server
    • PowerShell
    • Group Policy
    • Windows OS
    • MacOS X
    • Linux/Unix
    • MS Exchange
    • MS SQL/Sybase/Oracle
    • File Services (NTFS/DFS)
    • NAS/CIFS/NFS
    • Cloud Computing
    • AWS/Azure/GPC
    • Office 365
    • Splunk
    • Change Auditor
    • DNS/DHCP
    • Symantec Backup Exec
    • Altiris CMS
    • VMWare Workstation/Fusion
    • VirtualBox
  • Web & Graphics

    • HTML/XHTML/HTML5
    • CSS/CSS3
    • XML/JSON
    • Wireframing
    • Prototyping
    • Responsive Design
    • UI/UX Design
    • Bootstrap
    • Joomla/WordPress
    • Git/GitHub/GitTower
    • Sketch/Adobe XD
    • Illustrator
    • Photoshop
    • SublimeText/Atom/Brackets
    • Visual Studio Code
    • Dreamweaver
    • InDesign
    • MS Publisher
    • EdrawMax
    • MS Visio
  • Other Skills

    • Agile
    • Scrum/Kanban
    • ITIL
    • Project Management
    • Process Mapping
    • Process Improvement
    • Knowledge Management
    • Technical Writing
    • Confluence/Jira
    • PowerBI
    • Video Editing
    • Final Cut Pro
    • Premiere Pro
    • ScreenFlow
    • SnagIt
    • Photography
    • Lightroom
    • Capture One
    • EdrawMind
    • Markdown

Things I have done

Work Experience

I have extensive experience working at various companies, focusing on network and system design, implementation, and administration within Windows Server environments, Active Directory infrastructure, and Identity and Access Management (IAM). Below is an overview of my work experiences:

Technical Engineer

IT Services 💻

June 2008 to May 2012

I began my career as a Technical Engineer for a local IT service company, working within the Service department. In this role, I was responsible for providing phone, email, and on-site technical support to external clients. This position exposed me to a wide range of IT products and solutions, catering to both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as large organizations. I had the opportunity to enhance my technical skills and expand my knowledge through various training sessions, product launches, and bootcamps. While the learning curve was challenging, it was also incredibly rewarding. Eventually, I was designated as the subject matter expert (SME) for Storage and Backup solutions, allowing me to further specialize in this critical area of IT infrastructure.

IT Consultant

Manufacturing 🏭

August 2008 to February 2012

During my time as a Technical Engineer, I was assigned by my manager to one of our clients as an in-house IT Consultant. The client was a global manufacturing company, where I was responsible for managing their local network and Active Directory infrastructure. In this role, I led several projects, collaborating closely with international counterparts, vendors, and external partners to ensure seamless operations and successful project execution. In addition to technical responsibilities, I occasionally conducted training sessions for users, focusing on IT trends and security best practices, helping to enhance their understanding of evolving technologies and reinforce cybersecurity awareness.

Systems Administrator

Oil and Energy 🛢

May 2012 to January 2014

I was hired as a System Administrator for a multinational oil and energy company, which proved to be my most engaging and challenging role to date. In addition to my daily responsibilities of administering the IT infrastructure, I was actively involved in several high-level projects. These included the deployment of Active Directory, migration of MS Exchange, design and implementation of file servers, disk and file encryption, and the rollout of a client management system. I also took on the task of designing the IT service desk portal, which streamlined support operations and enhanced user experience. These projects allowed me to collaborate with various stakeholders and apply advanced technical skills, driving significant improvements across the organization's IT environment.

IT Security - IAM

Financial Services 🏦

January 2014 to March 2022

As my career progressed, I was hired by one of the largest investment companies to work within their Identity and Cybersecurity division. I am part of a global team responsible for managing access control and the identity lifecycle. This role involves overseeing user access management (UAM), privileged access management (PAM), and actively participating in ongoing security reviews and audits. Additionally, I focus on reviewing and enhancing UAM processes, writing and documenting procedures, and providing advisory support to educate the business on security standards and policies. My contributions help ensure the organization maintains strong security practices while staying compliant with industry regulations.

User Access Specialist

Financial Technology 🏦

April 2022 to present

My responsibilities include offering expert advisory support on the user access components of cybersecurity, developing and maintaining comprehensive security strategies and policies related to Identity and Access Management (IAM), and leading initiatives to define and implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) across the organization. These efforts have enhanced access management, strengthened security controls, and ensured alignment with regulatory and industry standards.

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For my complete professional profile, you can check my LinkedIn account.

A little more about me

Personal Bio

Here’s a brief history of who I am: I grew up in a small town (now a city) called Alaminos, Pangasinan, about four hours from Manila. I was raised by my grandparents in a home surrounded by fruit trees and rice fields. It was a laid-back, simple place, where malls, cinemas, and bars didn’t exist. I lived there until I finished grade school, then moved to Caloocan City to join my parents and siblings for high school. In my second year, my parents bought us a personal computer—a Pentium 4, Windows XP machine—which sparked my interest in computers. Later, I attended Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila, where I earned my Bachelor's degree in Information Technology. After graduation, I landed my first job at a local IT services company, and I’ve been working as an IT professional ever since.

When I’m not glued to a computer screen, I enjoy reading books, watching films, and listening to music or audiobooks. In my free time, I also love playing badminton and bowling, going to the gym, or traveling and exploring new food spots with friends and colleagues.

Life is short, and the world is wide...

Ever since I was a child, I’ve dreamed of a life filled with adventure and exploration. ✈️ I would immerse myself in adventure films, devour travel shows, and pore over geography books. I had a fascination with memorizing the capital cities of countries, learning their flags, and pinpointing their locations on a map. 🗺️

Traveling has become one of my greatest passions. It’s the best investment you can make—not just for the experiences and memories, but for the lessons it teaches you about life. Each journey offers something new: it teaches perseverance, pushes you to adapt to unfamiliar environments, and helps you discover your own strength. Traveling builds self-confidence, especially when you’re faced with unexpected situations and need to make quick decisions.

It’s more than just visiting new places; it gives you a profound sense of freedom and accomplishment, a reminder of how vast the world is and how much there is to explore. It sparks creativity, challenges your resourcefulness, and constantly encourages personal growth. 🏆

Project 82

One of my travel goals is to visit all 82 provinces of my country. I’m passionate about experiencing the full richness of our culture, language, food, and arts, and witnessing the incredible diversity that each region offers. So far, I have explored 36 provinces, each bringing its own unique charm and character to my journey. 🌴 To keep track of my adventures and progress, I’ve created a dedicated page where I document my travels and share the stories and insights I gather along the way. Feel free to follow my journey and discover the beauty of our diverse nation through my experiences. mlbas.co/project82

Where I have been... so far

Of course, my ultimate goal is to travel around the world, 🌏 immerse myself in different cultures, learn various languages, and savor the best cuisines each country has to offer. My journey began with my first international trip in 2016. Since then, I have visited 12 countries and territories across three continents, and I’m eager to explore many more in the future.

Where else to find me

Social media

I am very much active on different social media platforms. Feel more than welcome to send me a friend or follow request. Don't forget to add a message so I know you are not a spambot or a total stranger. Click the icons below.

Travel Gallery

Here are some of the photos I took during my travels and food trips. Tap or click the images to browse more.

Stay in touch

Contact me

Do you have questions? Want to talk about your next project? Or do you have information you want to share? If you like what you see, please get in touch, I'd love to hear from you.

Contact me here at: mlbas.co/contactme

I will respond to you as soon as possible. If you have not received my reply, try checking your junk and spam folders. Sometimes email end up in these folders.

NOTE: My mailbox does not accept e-mail containing zip and other archive file formats. Please attach the files as is.

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