Nicolas Southern
Nicolas Southern

Austin, TX

Application Security & IT Operations | OSWE, OSCP+

New Market Entertainment / Highland Consulting

I work on application security and IT operations for regulated gaming products, in venues and in the cloud. I pen test and review the code we build, threat model critical apps with our team and outside vendors, and harden hundreds of gaming terminals, from signed updates to physical controls on the cabinets. I also run the day-to-day ops that keep it all online.

Full stack engineer for regulated real-money gaming products, from cloud APIs to hundreds of venue gaming terminals.

Certs

OSWE
Jun 2026. A proctored, monitored 48-hour exam with no AI tools allowed. You review web app source code, find vulnerabilities, and write working exploits for a one click remote shell using a chained path.
OSCP+ and OSCP
Jul 2025. A proctored, webcam-monitored 24-hour penetration test of a live network, including Active Directory, with no AI tools allowed, plus a professional report.
OSWP
Apr 2026. A hands-on wireless penetration testing exam.
eJPT
A hands-on junior penetration testing exam.

CompTIA

A+
Done
Network+
Done
Security+
Done

Education

B.S. Cybersecurity and Information Assurance, Western Governors University, 2026-2027 (expected)

FAA Commercial Pilot License

Experience

Security & Software Engineer, IT Operations Lead at New Market Entertainment / Highland Consulting

2011 – Present · Austin, TX

Related: eTabs, VSweeps.

  • Threat model critical applications with first-party code bases and third-party contracted vendors, then manually test them (dynamic testing) before release.
  • Penetration test our platforms, web apps, APIs, and gaming terminals, black-box and white-box.
  • Security code review in TypeScript, Python, and C#/.NET.
  • Hardened hundreds of gaming terminals with signed updates, locked-down devices, and physical access controls such as cabinet door switches tied into the software.
  • Led Manatee Bingo under New Market Entertainment. GitHub Actions CI/CD where Semgrep findings block merges, and IaC using Terraform.
  • Lockhaven for WireGuard access, Axiom alerting, and AI log agents.
  • Regulator and state gaming lab certification support.
  • Full stack engineer for regulated real-money gaming products, from cloud APIs to hundreds of venue gaming terminals.
Full experience →

Projects

Manatee Bingo

Manatee Bingo

Electronic pull-tabs for the Florida market, under New Market Entertainment. Unity/C# venue client, cloud licensing, accounting, deploys, and field support.

Learn more →
Lucky Spur

Lucky Spur

A sweepstakes platform for the Texas VFW market. Built in Unity under New Market Entertainment, next to Manatee Bingo and VSweeps.

Learn more →
USVSD Application Portal

USVSD Application Portal

Application portal for United States Veteran Service Dogs. Intake, staff review, case management. HIPAA-aware. Live at usvsd.org.

Learn more →
All projects →

Cyber

Lockhaven

In-house WireGuard access plane. Internal services stay off the public internet.

View tool →

API Griffer

Lightweight API route discovery for authorized testing and lab work.

View tool →
All cyber work →

Writing

The Case For Gray

blogworkgaming

Why gray area gaming is more nuanced than people admit, and why treating it as purely black-and-white misses the operational, market, and consumer realities.

Life Lately

blogpersonal

A lot has changed again. Family, flying, hunting, work, travel, and a reminder that time is a lot shorter than we like to pretend.

Conventions and Airplanes

blogpersonal

I've been to a convention, and I'm going to another one next week. I'm excited to see where this goes, and I'm excited to share my journey with you.

All writing →