Security Engineer

Chandler
Camarena

I build security tooling: compiler-level static analysis, systems-level vulnerability review, and a growing focus on Linux systems and graphics-driver work. Based in Phoenix, AZ, August 2026.

Security Engineering Static Analysis Linux Systems LLVM / Clang C / C++ / Rust
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Security engineering,
headed toward Linux systems

// whoami
identity "Security Engineer"
focus "Static analysis · Systems security · Linux graphics stack"
available "Based in Phoenix, AZ, August 2026"

I build security tooling: static analysis that catches vulnerability classes other tools miss, and systems-level review grounded in real compliance work. I'm looking for security or systems engineering roles, and building toward Linux graphics and driver work as a longer-term direction.

My M.Sc. thesis is a Clang-Tidy static analysis tool that catches trust-boundary information leakage in C/C++: programs that are syntactically correct and free of undefined behavior, but still leak sensitive data across a trust boundary through object representation and struct padding, a class of bug conventional scanners miss entirely. It draws on some formal-methods groundwork underneath, but the tool itself is the point: evaluated on real-world C libraries with zero false positives.

I'm currently building Project Datum, a multi-year effort to make the Linux gaming graphics stack measurable and reproducible. Today, when a frame is late, the cause is buried across game, translation layer, driver, kernel, and compositor, with no unified view across the boundary. I'm early: working through Vulkan fundamentals, reading the source of MangoHud and Gamescope, and standing up a non-NVIDIA machine, before I start contributing upstream and building the measurement tooling itself.

Before this: six years as an Information Systems Security Officer in the Air National Guard, running security authorization and continuous monitoring for a mixed classification environment, including TEMPEST and COMSEC responsibility.

Location
Budapest, Hungary → Phoenix, AZ (Aug 2026) · Open to remote
Thesis Repository
Open To
Software Engineer · Security Engineer · Systems Engineer
Focus Areas
Static analysis · Systems security · Linux graphics stack

What I'm building

01
Project Datum Early Stage, 2026
Independent Research · Multi-year, in progress

The Linux gaming graphics stack is a tower of opaque, interacting layers: game binary, translation layer, Vulkan, userspace driver, kernel graphics subsystem, compositor. When a frame is late, no single tool sees why. Project Datum is a measurement substrate for cross-layer frame causality, paired with a reproducibility methodology and a declarative configuration manager built on top of it.

  • Currently in the on-ramp phase: building Vulkan fundamentals, standing up a non-NVIDIA secondary machine, and reading the source of MangoHud and Gamescope before contributing upstream
  • Planned Phase 1: a single-layer frametime capture tool with cross-layer correlation, built in dialogue with an upstream compositor or translation-layer project
  • Long-term goal: a public, queryable dataset of measured Linux-gaming configurations and a declarative configuration manager built on top of it
Vulkan Rust Linux Kernel Mesa Wayland
02
M.Sc. Thesis: Clang/LLVM Trust-Boundary Security Analysis Complete, 2026
ELTE Faculty of Informatics · Advisor: Prof. Zoltán Porkoláb · open source ↗

Formalized trust-boundary information leakage as a confidentiality invariant violation over compiler-visible ABI semantics. Programs can be syntactically correct, undefined-behavior free, and still violate system-level security invariants through object representation and padding behavior, a semantic class the type system cannot enforce.

  • Defines a confidentiality property that catches leaks a type system can't: code can be well-formed and free of undefined behavior and still leak sensitive data through object representation
  • Evidence lattice (E0–E3) ranks finding confidence instead of returning flat true/false results
  • Clang-Tidy implementation using RecordLayout metadata, annotation-driven boundary modeling, and AST-level initialization heuristics
  • Evaluated on zlib, libuv, raylib, Chipmunk2D: validated true positives, correct suppressions, zero false positives on real-world findings
LLVM Clang clang-tidy CodeChecker C/C++ x86-64 SysV ABI Python
03
Linux Device-Tree Hardening Complete, 2024
ASU Capstone · Sponsor: General Dynamics Mission Systems

Bootloader-stage mechanism to selectively disable hardware devices in the Linux device tree on a secure mobile platform, reducing attack surface before userspace initialization. A hardware-software boundary security problem: enforcing a source-level security policy across cross-compilation toolchains, U-Boot, and embedded Linux internals.

  • Cross-compilation toolchains targeting embedded Linux on secure mobile hardware
  • Device-tree manipulation at bootloader stage to minimize hardware attack surface
  • Direct exposure to the semantic gap between policy specification and deployed binary behavior on real hardware
Linux U-Boot Device Tree Cross-compilation C Secure Boot

Academic foundation

Eötvös Loránd University
M.Sc. Computer Science · Graduated July 2026
Budapest, Hungary
Advisor: Prof. Zoltán Porkoláb
Dept. of Software Technology and Methodology
Thesis: Detecting and Explaining Cryptographic Misuse in C/C++ via LLVM/Clang
Arizona State University
B.S. Computer Science (Cybersecurity) · May 2024
Summa Cum Laude, GPA 3.81 / 4.00
Tempe, AZ
Capstone: Linux Device-Tree Hardening (GDMS)

Recognition & awards

Fulbright U.S. Student Scholar
2024 – 2025
Awarded for graduate study at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
Critical Language Scholar
Russian · 2023
U.S. State Department competitive language-immersion fellowship

Where I've worked

2026 –
ongoing
Independent
Project Datum: early stage

Building toward a measurement substrate for the Linux gaming graphics stack. Currently in the on-ramp: Vulkan fundamentals, reading the source of MangoHud and Gamescope, and standing up a non-NVIDIA machine, ahead of upstream contributions and a first frametime-capture prototype.

2025 – 2026
ELTE, Budapest · Fulbright Scholar
M.Sc. Thesis Researcher, Compiler Security

Built a formal model of trust-boundary information leakage grounded in C/C++ object representation semantics and ABI layout behavior. Implemented a complete Clang-Tidy static analysis module with CodeChecker integration, evaluated on open-source C libraries with manual validation of all emitted diagnostics. Zero false positives in real-world findings.

Aug 2023 –
May 2024
ASU · GDMS Sponsor
Capstone Researcher, Hardware-Software Security

Built a bootloader-stage device-tree hardening mechanism for a secure mobile platform, reducing hardware attack surface before userspace initialization. Worked across cross-compilation toolchains, U-Boot, and embedded Linux internals; direct exposure to the semantic gap between source-level security policy and deployed binary behavior on real hardware.

Oct 2018 –
Oct 2024
Arizona Air National Guard · 161st ARW
Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO)

Six years executing security authorization and compliance for mission-critical operational systems. NIST 800-53 controls, ATO packages, POA&M management, and incident coordination. TEMPEST enforcement per AFMANs, controlling electromagnetic emanation risks from hardware systems. COMSEC management including KMI operations and cryptographic material accountability.

Tools & concepts

Languages
C C++ Python
Compiler & IR
LLVM Clang Clang-Tidy CodeChecker Static Program Analysis
Security & Systems
NIST 800-53 COMSEC / KMI TEMPEST Linux Kernel Cross-compilation Secure Boot
Linux Graphics — Learning
Vulkan Rust Mesa Wayland DRM/KMS
Formal Background
Trust Boundary Modeling Evidence Lattices ABI Reasoning

Let's connect

I'm actively looking for software engineering and security engineering roles starting August 2026, based in Phoenix or remote. My background is strongest in compiler security, static analysis, and systems-level security work. I'm also early into Project Datum, a long-term effort toward Linux graphics and driver work.

If you're working on problems in systems security, compiler infrastructure, or Linux systems more broadly, I'd genuinely love to talk.


Send an email ↗