// Based in the United Kingdom

Max Curtis

Cyber Security Specialist & Software Engineer

I break things professionally and build things obsessively. By day I'm a penetration tester and security consultant at BT. Outside of that I'm a Source Engine enthusiast who loves pushing the engine to its limits and seeing what it can do: running game communities, writing engine-level C++ modules, automating infrastructure, and building tools that make hard things fast.

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01 Projects

lambda.tf

Founder / Lead Developer

An online Garry's Mod community that brings the best of Counter-Strike into Garry's Mod: core gameplay, and a full skin economy with shaders that faithfully match CS:GO and CS2.

  • Game logic in Lua, backend services in C#, web platform in PHP with Laravel.
  • Interconnected game servers with live updates, Redis caching, and automated server builds via custom C# tooling.
  • Distributed game server management and a WebSocket RPC system in C# and .NET, giving the Discord bot, website and game servers real-time communication across systems around the world.
  • OpenAI API integration powering AI features such as news post summaries and an agent chat bot.
  • A full content creation ecosystem, including tooling for creating Music Kits, Graffiti Sprays, Weapon Finishes and Stickers, plus a workshop where users can view, rate and vote for new content to be added.
  • Multiple C++ binary modules extending the server engine, including a threaded player-tick recorder for timer gamemodes (Surf, Bunny Hop) that saves and loads large recordings without blocking the game thread.
  • On-prem infrastructure across Windows and Linux (Active Directory, SSSD), automated with Ansible and Terraform; cloud workloads on AWS (S3) and Azure (Entra ID).
  • Planned and executed a migration of the community's virtualisation platform from VMware ESXi to Proxmox across the live server estate.
  • Lua
  • C#
  • C++
  • PHP / Laravel
  • HLSL
  • Redis
  • Docker
  • Proxmox
  • OpenAI API
  • Ansible
  • Terraform
  • AWS
  • Azure

Lambda Content Authoring Tools

Lead Developer

A NativePHP and Electron desktop application that lets lambda.tf content creators build and publish community-made content, providing a polished cross-platform interface for authoring and managing custom content workflows.

  • Electron
  • NativePHP
  • JavaScript / TypeScript
  • Laravel

Place Forge

Developer

A part of Content Authoring Tools, Place Forge is a tool that generates navigation meshes for Source Engine maps far faster than the game engine can, paired with a web interface that fully loads Source BSP maps, textures and skyboxes included.

  • Fast, out-of-engine nav mesh generation for Source maps, with a 24.7x faster performance improvement when generating a nav mesh for gm_bigcity (48.6 seconds vs 20 minutes)
  • Full in-browser BSP rendering with materials and skybox support.
  • Visual management of navigation areas: set flags, add and remove areas, assign place names.
  • C#
  • JavaScript / TypeScript
  • GLSL

Cartographer

Developer

A part of Content Authoring Tools, Cartographer is a C# rewrite of Terri's Auto Radar from CS:GO to work with Garry's Mod.

  • Consumes map source map files (VMF) and uses a GLSL compositor to generate a top-down radar image with the appropriate radar configuration file
  • Added better support for the Garry's Mod mounting system including reading of models from mounted games, addons and mounts specified in mount.cfg
  • Native Hammer integration with FGD entities
  • Added support for VTF output and automatic VMT creation
  • C#
  • GLSL

02 Skills

Languages & Frameworks

  • PHP / Laravel
  • C# / .NET
  • Python
  • Lua / GLua
  • C++
  • C
  • JavaScript / TypeScript
  • React
  • CSS / TailwindCSS
  • HLSL
  • GLSL
  • PowerShell
  • Bash
  • Electron / NativePHP
  • WebView2 / Chromium

Security

  • Penetration Testing
  • Red Teaming
  • Security Consultancy
  • Vulnerability Assessments
  • Incident Response
  • Tenable Nessus
  • Tenable Security Centre
  • nmap
  • Metasploit Framework
  • Burp Suite
  • Kali Linux
  • Wireshark
  • CIS / STIG Compliance
  • Cyber Essentials
  • ISO 27001

Infrastructure & Cloud

  • Active Directory
  • Windows Server
  • Linux / SSSD
  • UNIX / macOS
  • Proxmox
  • VMware ESXi / vSphere
  • Docker
  • Ansible
  • Terraform
  • MySQL / MariaDB
  • Redis
  • nginx
  • IIS
  • AWS
  • Azure / Entra ID
  • Microsoft 365
  • Bunny.net

Networking

  • Cisco Firewalls
  • Juniper Firewalls
  • OPNsense
  • DNS
  • DHCP
  • Routing
  • TCP/IP v4 & v6
  • SSL/TLS

AI & LLM Deployment

  • vLLM
  • Ollama
  • OpenWebUI
  • NVIDIA AI Enterprise
  • NeMo Guardrails
  • Mistral
  • DeepSeek
  • Qwen
  • OpenAI API
  • ChatGPT / Codex
  • Claude

3D & Game Development

  • SourceSDK
  • Source 2 SDK (HL Alyx and CS2)
  • s&box
  • Blender
  • Substance Painter

03 Experience

Jun 2019 - Present

Technical Cyber Security Specialist

BT Group · Ipswich, United Kingdom

  • Led internal security assessments and red-team exercises using Nessus, Metasploit and Burp Suite, identifying critical vulnerabilities and enhancing overall security posture.
  • Security design and deployment of an offline, air-gapped AI/LLM solution using vLLM, OpenWebUI, NVIDIA AI Enterprise and NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails, running publicly available models such as Mistral, DeepSeek and Qwen.
  • Implemented an on-premises LLM API to provide AI-based threat detection on an Elasticsearch SIEM.
  • Led development of a PHP and Laravel web application that delivers secure, clear security assessment reports for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Conducted proactive threat and vulnerability hunting, producing actionable internal vulnerability advisories that mitigated potential risks.
  • Provided strategic consultancy to internal IT teams on new system designs, and collaborated with physical and information security teams to achieve accreditation requirements for internal IT systems.
Apr 2020 - Present

Community Lead

Lambda Networks · Remote (hobby project)

  • Designed and built user-focused web interfaces for lambda.tf, including dashboards, content tools and community-facing pages, with a strong focus on usability and responsive design.
  • Built a distributed game server management system in C# and .NET, centrally managing game server processes across systems around the world, with a WebSocket RPC layer giving the Discord bot, website and game servers real-time communication.
  • Integrated the OpenAI API for AI-powered features such as news post summaries and an agent chatbot.
  • Wrote low-level C++ binary modules hooking into the Source Engine, and HLSL pixel and vertex shaders for user interfaces and cosmetics such as weapon skins.
  • Extensive use of Docker to run web services, Redis for caching and queues, and Blender for 3D models.
May 2011 - Jun 2019

Senior Systems Administrator

NEC Digital Studio · Ipswich, United Kingdom

  • Implemented and maintained server infrastructure, including virtualisation and storage systems, alongside the on-premises estate: Active Directory, Exchange, and Skype for Business (Lync).
  • Monitored network activity and security protocols to detect and prevent potential cyber threats, with regular system backups and disaster recovery planning.
  • Conducted a full-scale migration from on-premises to cloud (Microsoft 365 and Amazon Web Services).
  • Worked with compliance teams to achieve ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials certification.

Certifications

Cyber Scheme Team Member (CSTM), awarded November 2025 by The Cyber Scheme (NCSC-recognised). A UK government-recognised certification validating hands-on competence in vulnerability assessment, penetration testing and security analysis.

  • Cyber Scheme Team Member (CSTM)

04 Contact

Whether it's security work, infrastructure, or something game-engine shaped, I'm always happy to talk.

max@maxcurtis.co.uk
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