Vancouver, BC — Cybersecurity × Adventure

Merlin Duong

Protecting infrastructure. Adventuring everywhere.

Digital forensics & cybersecurity student at BCIT on a mission to protect global travel and transport infrastructure — trained by the water, the trail, and the open road.

The story

Chapter 01 — The Water

Discipline lives in the water

Every morning lap is a systems check: breath, stroke, rhythm. Swimming taught me that control isn't dramatic — it's a thousand small corrections nobody sees. That's the same patience I bring to digital forensics: methodical, calm, precise under pressure.

Chapter 02 — The Trail

Strategy is drawn on the trail

A mountain doesn't care about your plan — it tests it. Route-finding, reading weather, knowing when to push and when to turn back. Hiking BC's backcountry taught me threat modeling before I knew the term: map the terrain, respect the risks, always have an exit.

Chapter 03 — The Road

Adaptability is earned on the road

Road trips are incident response with better scenery. Closed passes, dead batteries, wrong turns at midnight — the plan survives only if you can rewrite it while moving. Every detour taught me to stay calm, re-route, and keep going.

Field Notes

The story is real.

Shot on the trail, over the valley, and beside cold water — mostly in British Columbia and Alberta.

Glowing tents beside a still alpine lake at dusk in the BC backcountry — Lights out late — alpine lake, BC backcountry

A wildflower held up in front of a glacier lake and snowy peaks — Small things, big places — Whistler alpine

Blue tent pitched on rocky alpine ground with cloud-wrapped peaks behind — Basecamp above Whistler, 6 AM

Tandem skydivers under an orange parachute coming in to land against forested mountains — Sometimes the trail is vertical — Pemberton

Friends gathered between tents beneath a massive scree slope — Good company under a big wall

Sweeping view of the Banff townsite, Bow River and surrounding Rockies from Sulphur Mountain — Banff from Sulphur Mountain

A pink and yellow parachute high over a forested mountain ridge — Full commit — canopy over the valley

The Mission

The same instincts protect infrastructure.

Discipline, strategy, adaptability — the water, the trail, and the road trained them into me. Now I'm aiming them at something bigger: protecting the global travel and transport infrastructure that moves people safely through the world. Digital forensics and cybersecurity at BCIT. Data analysis in the field. Community service with the Vancouver Police Department.

Selected Work

Proof, not promises.

Data Analysis

BCRFA Analytics Platform

Led data integration across MailChimp, MembershipWorks and survey data for BC's restaurant association — a live dashboard exposing retention risks and engagement patterns for 1,000+ members.

Community & Leadership

VPD Cadet Program

Nearly five years of community policing: coordinating simulated emergency scenarios, mentoring new cadets, and building trust between the VPD and the neighbourhoods it serves.

Cybersecurity

Forensic Investigation @ BCIT

Bachelor of Technology in Forensic Investigation & Cybersecurity, on top of a diploma in Business IT Management — building the skills to defend the systems the world depends on.

Let's build something.

Security research, data projects, or anything at the intersection of technology and the outdoors — if you're building it, I want to hear about it. Grab a time that works for you.

Book a call Email me

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